Doyle Brunson, often referred to by his nickname “Texas Dolly”, is arguably the most famous professional poker player today. His label, ‘The Legend’, proceeds him, and rightfully so, having earned a total of $4,946,188 in live tournament wins over his sensational career, and 10 World Series of Poker Bracelets, tied with Johnny Chan for the second most WSOP bracelets held by a single poker player; bested only by Phil Hellmuth with 11. Doyle Brunson is one of only four poker pros to win the WSOP Main Event in consecutive years, 1976 and 1977.

Born August 10, 1933 in the minutely small town of Longworth, Texas - with a population of about 100 - Doyle Brunson grew up with two younger siblings. Doyle was a gifted athlete as a young boy, having made frequent trips to nearby towns simply by running. A member of the All-State Texas basketball team, Brunson kept in shape during the off-season by running, though basketball was his true passion. Doyle entered the Texas Interscholastic Track Meet in 1950, winning the one-mile race with a time of 4:43.

Brunson attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas because he wanted to remain close to home, even though he had received offers from numerous colleges around the country, hoping to make use of his gifted athletic abilities. The Minneapolis Lakers were highly interested in acquiring Doyle Brunson, but unfortunately, a devastating injury to his knee ended his hopeful basketball career. Doyle was working at the time, and tried to catch a shifting stack of sheetrock that fell and broke his leg in two places. That fateful injury saw Doyle wearing a cast for two years and to this day sometimes requires a crutch to get around comfortably. Doyle Brunson was forced to re-evaluate his goals, turning from a promising athletic career to focus on education. Brunson went on to earn a master’s degree in administrative education.

Doyle had begun playing poker long before his injury, finding the game of Five Card Draw to be quite “easy”, but it was only a game played for entertainment. Doyle found himself with plenty of time on his hands during recovery, and began playing poker much more often during that time. Still in college, Doyle played poker often, earning enough to cover all of his expenses. In 1954, Brunson obtained his bachelor’s degree, followed by his master’s a year later.

Immediately after graduating college, Doyle took a job as a business machine salesman. His first day on the job, he was invited to play Seven Card Stud with his co-workers and that night, won more than a month’s salary in only three hours. This brought Doyle Brunson to make what became a prolific decision - he quit his job and became a professional poker player.

Traveling with his friend Dwayne Hamilton, Doyle began his poker career by playing in illegal games on Exchange Street in Fort Worth, Texas. The two started traveling across Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma in search of more action and bigger pots, where Doyle met up with poker pros Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts. Playing in illegal games, they were often run by organized crime members. This resulted in Doyle’s admittedly being beaten, robbed and even having a gun pulled on him more than once. Doyle’s friend Dwayne returned to Fort Worth, Texas, but Doyle Brunson remained on the road with Sailor Roberts and Amarillo Slim, traveling the country for better poker games.

From these notorious beginnings, Doyle Brunson has become one of the most influential poker players in the world, having written several famous books on the subject, including ‘Doyle Brunson’s Super System: A Course In Power Poker’, published in 1979, which was updated in 2004 as ‘Super System II’.

Doyle Brunson and the WSOP
Doyle Brunson’s history with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) started in 1976, winning his first two WSOP Bracelets while taking down the Main Event to earn his first WSOP Championship, worth $220,000. He also took 1st place in Event #3 NL Deuce to Seven Lowball, worth $80,250. The following year saw Doyle once again awarded two WSOP Bracelets, taking down the Main Event two years straight - the first, and one of only four professional poker players, to have done so - this time pocketing $340,000. Doyle’s other win that year was a 1st place finish in Event #5 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, earning $62,500.

In the 1978 WSOP, Doyle claimed his 5th WSOP Bracelet winning 1st place in a Limit Seven Card Stud event worth $68,000. In 1979, Brunson not only won another WSOP Bracelet playing Mixed Doubles NL Hold’em, awarding $4,500, he also finished and published his poker strategy book, Doyle Brunson’s Super System: A Course In Power Poker. Interestingly enough, before the publication of his poker book, Doyle Brunson had always achieved 1st place victories in all of the events he had won in the WSOP. After revealing his poker tournament strategies, he found many cashes in the WSOP, but his bracelets came much less frequently.

In the 1980 WSOP, Brunson earned two 2nd place cashes totalling $221,000; one being a 2nd place overall finish in the WSOP Main Event. Doyle finished 3rd in an early event of the 1982 WSOP, followed by a 4th overall finish in the Main Event, pocketing $66,625 altogether. In 1983, Doyle Brunson again finished 3rd in the WSOP Main Event, earning another $108,000. Brunson’s next WSOP cash did not come until 1986, earning $19,080 for a 4th place finish in Event #2