Doyle Brunson

Doyle F. Brunson was born on 10th August, 1933, and has played poker professionally for over 50 years.

Brunson was a promising basketball player in high school and college, and was a member of the Texas All-State basketball team. It was during this time that the Minneapolis Lakers were scouting him, though a work-related knee injury permanently shattered that dream.

While stuck in a cast for the better part of two years, he began playing more and more poker, and found it quite “easy”, which helped cover his expenses. After borrowing a month’s salary from some fellow employees at his job, he promptly quit and became a professional poker player.

He is the first two-time consecutive winner of two World Series of Poker championships, and is the first person to win $1,000,000 in tournament play. He is currently tied for second place all-time with Johnny Chan for winning 10 WSOP bracelets, and earned four of these in consecutive years (1976-1979), tying with Bill Boyd.

Only Phil Hellmuth has won more, with a total of 11. Brunson won WSOP Main Events in 1976 and 1977, making him one of only four players to have done so. He was the first of only five players in history to win both a WSOP Main Event as well as a World Poker Tour title. Brunson has won a total of $2,944,303 in WSOP events, with a total of 34 money finishes. He has also one World Poker Tour title, 23 final tables, and six money finishes.

His son Todd, also a professional poker player, won a bracelet in 2005, making them the first father-son duo to win WSOP bracelets. His daughter Pamela also plays professional poker.

Brunson was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2005, for his spontaneous offer to purchase WPT Enterprises, Inc., at a price well above its market value. After a public relations firm hired by Doyle publicly announced the offer, WPT’s stock experienced a steep rise in value, purportedly with the intent of overinflating the stock’s value. The Commission has yet to set a date for any hearing.

Brunson was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1998, and Bluff Magazine voted him as the number one most influential force in the world of poker in 2006.

He wrote what is likely the most influential book on Poker, titled Super/System in 1978 (updated as Super/System 2 in 2004), in addition to Poker Wisdom of a Champion (1984) and My Fifty Most Memorable Hands (2007). He has played on television on many occasions, and endorses the online gaming site Doyle’s Room.