The Poker Hall of Fame inductee Doyle Brunson (born 1933) has a long and distinguished live poker career that spans more than half a century and includes both cash games and tournments. He is a two-time winner of the WSOP Main Event (1976 and 1977), and holds a total of 10 WSOP bracelets.
As a writer of multiple books on poker, Brunson has a had a huge influence on many professional and amateur poker players, and his 1979 book Super System is considered “the bible” of poker strategy.
Brunson was the first player to reach $1 million in poker tournament earnings, and also the first one to have both a WSOP Main Event and a WPT title on his list of achievements. As of 2018, his total live tournament winnings exceeds $6.1 million, including over $3 million from his 37 WSOP cashes. Trivia: Back in the early days of WSOP, the Main Event was winner-takes-all, so Brunson’s deep placements in these early tournaments do not count as cashes even though they would definitely be in-the-money with today’s format.
Brunson started out as a cash game player and never left that part of poker – just increased the size of the bets. He is a regular at high stakes and super high stakes cash games, including the famous $4k/$8k limit mixed-game in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.
During the 2018 World Series of Poker, Brunson announced that he was retiring from tournament poker that summer.
Short facts about Doyle Brunson
Nickname: Texas Dolly
Born: 10 August, 1933, in Longworth, Texas, USA
Current residence: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Family: Wife Louise, daughters Doyla (deceased) and Pamela, son Todd
Their daughter Doyla died at age 18 from a heart-valve condition.
Their son Todd is a professional poker player. When he won his WSOP bracelet in 2005, he and Doyle became the first father-son combination to both have WSOP bracelets.
Their daughter Pamela Brunson played in the 2007 WSOP Main Event and the 2009 WSOP Main Event, outlasting both her father Doyle and her brother Todd in each tournament.
WSOP
- Brunson has 10 WSOP bracelets.
- Brunson has won the WSOP Main Event twice; in 1976 and 1977.
- Brunson has finished in the money in 37 WSOP tournaments.
- Brunson has reached 26 WSOP final tables.
WPT
- Brunson has one WPT title. In 2004, he won the Legends of Poker WPT event, capturing $1.1 million in prize money.
- Brunson has reached three WPT final tables.
- Brunson has finished in the money in eight WPT tournaments.
Poker hands named after Doyle Brunson
Two different Texas Hold’em poker hands are referred to as a “Doyle Brunson”.
- Ten + Deuce
Brunson won the WSOP Main Event in both 1976 and 1977 holding these two cards. In both cases, his complete hand was a full house.
- Ace + Queen (of any suit)
In his extremely influential book Super System from 1979, Brunson claims to never play this hand (see page 519). In Super System 2, published in 2004, he instead states that he tries to never play this hand.
Background
Doyle Brunson was born in Texas. In his youth, he was very athletic. He was a member of the All-State Texas basketball team, and also did track and field. At the 1950 Texas Interscholastic Track Meet, he won the one-mile event with a 4:43 time. The NBA team Minneapolis Lakers showed interested in Brunson until a knee injury crumbled any hopes of a professional basketball career.
College
Brunson receieved offers from several colleges, but decided to stay close to home and attend the private Baptist university Hardin-Simmons (HSU) in Abilene, roughly an hour drive from Longworth.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in 1954 and a master’s degree in administrative education in 1955.
Poker instead of basket, and then instead of being a salesman
After the knee injury, Brunson became a more avid poker player, since his messed up knee wasn’t a problem at the table. While he was still in college, his poker winnings helped pay for his expenses. After college, he got a job selling business machines. On his first day at the new job, he was invited to a 7 Card Stud game where he ended up winning more than his monthly salary. Soon, he resigned from his sales job and began making a living playing in illegal poker games.
Poker career
Brunson started his career as a professional full-time poker player by participating in illegal games on Exchange Street in Forth Worth, Texas. He played together with his friend Dwayne Hamilton, and eventually they started travelling together to other places to play, mostly in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. This is how they got to know several other poker professionals, including Sailor Roberts and Amarillo Slim.
The games were often arranged by mobsters and it wasn’t exactly a safe work environment. In later interviews, Brunson has admitted to being held at gunpoint several times during this stage of his poker career, and he was also robbed and beaten up.
Eventually, Hamilton moved back to Fort Worth while Brunson continued to travel with Roberts and Slim, and the three pooled their money together. In addition to playing poker, they made bets on a wide range of things, including golf.
After six years of travelling, they made their first serious work trip to Las Vegas, where they lost pretty much all their money – a six-figure amount. After this, they amicably decided to end the partnership and start playing individually instead.
Brunson eventually settled down in Las Vegas and became a regular at high stakes games in the city.
World Series of Poker
Brunson has participated in the World Series of Poker, including the Main Event, almost every year since it premiered in 1970.
Between 1976 and 2005, he captured 10 WSOP bracelets:
| Year | WSOP Event | Prize (USD) |
| 1976 | $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw | $80,250 |
| 1976 | $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship | $230,000 |
| 1977 | $1,000 Seven-Card Stud Split | $62,500 |
| 1977 | $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship | $340,000 |
| 1978 | $5,000 Seven-Card Stud | $68,000 |
| 1979 | $600 Mixed Doubles (with Starla Brodie) | $4,500 |
| 1991 | $2,500 No Limit Hold’em | $208,000 |
| 1998 | $1,500 Seven-Card Razz | $93,000 |
| 2003 | $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. | $84,080 |
| 2005 | $5,000 No Limit Shorthanded Texas Hold’em (6 players per table) | $367,800 |
Brunson has made it to the money in the WSOP Main Event in five different decades.
Bibliography
Examples of books written by Brunson
- Doyle Brunson’s Super System (1979)
- According to Doyle (1984)
- Poker Wisdom of a Champion (2003; formerly titled According to Doyle when published in 1984)
- Doyle Brunson’s Super System 2: A Course in Power Poker (2005)
- Online Poker: Your Guide to Playing Online Poker Safely & Winning Money (2005)
- My 50 Most Memorable Hands (2007)
- The Godfather of Poker: The Doyle Brunson Story (2009)
Brunson’s first book about poker is known under several titles. Regardless of title, it is widely acknowledged as one of the most authoritative books on poker strategy. The 2004 book is an updated version of the original, and contains not just content by Brunson but also by several other highly successful poker players.
Doyles Room
Doyles Room was an online poker room established in 2004. It was a part of the Tribeca Poker Network until 2007. In 2007-2011, it moved to the Micrograming (Prima) network, then to the Cake Poker network, and finally to the Yatahay network.
Following the events of April 15, 2011, Doyle Brunson cut ties with the poker room, and in May that same year it was seized by the U.S. authorities.
In October 2011, Doyles Room was acquired by American Cardroom.
Personal life
After meeting in 1959, Doyle and Louise married in 1962.
Their daughter Doyla died at age 18 from a heart-valve condition.
Their son Todd is a professional poker player. When he won his WSOP bracelet in 2005, he and Doyle became the first father-son combination to both have WSOP bracelets.
Their daughter Pamela Brunson played in the 2007 WSOP Main Event and the 2009 WSOP Main Event, outlasting both her father Doyle and her brother Todd in each tournament.