He is known in the poker community as ‘Texas Dolly’ thanks to Jimmy Snyder misreading his cue card when introducing Doyle Brunson during a tournament. The name stuck and if you are friend of Brunson’s, you can get away with simply calling him ‘Dolly’ for short. He is well-known to poker players and fans alike and he has over 50 years of professional poker playing under his belt. He’s a phenomenal player and he has yet to tire of the game.
Brunson was born in Texas in 1933 in a town of a population of 100. He was into sports and running and loved basketball. He had the opportunity to play with the Minneapolis Lakers – today’s LA Lakers – but was unable to follow that dream after he blew out his knee. Instead, he graduated college with a Masters in Administration Education. He found his love of poker while he was laid up with his knee injury and used his winnings to pay for his expenses while he was unable to work. While he started out as an avid five card draw player, he learned seven card stud and was able to win enough money one day to cover a month’s salary. That was when the icon was born.
Being a professional poker player in 1954 was not accepted as a proper career path. That didn’t stop him and he went ahead played poker in illegal poker rooms all across Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. He met Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts during this time and he would come up against them again through the years. Many of the games Brunson played in were operated by nefarious figures and there were plenty of times when he was robbed of all of his winnings.
Brunson and his wife Louise were married in 1962 and are the parents of three children, two of whom are still alive. His two sons have followed Brunson’s footsteps into the realm of professional poker. Even through cancer scares and other problems, he has managed to become one of the most well known players at the felt. So far Brunson has won over $5,000,000 in live tournament earnings. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelet’s, has wrote numerous instructional book and even has a poker room – ‘Bobby’s Room’ – named after him catering to high-rollers at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. With two Texas Hold’Em poker hands named after him and his own online poker room ‘Doyle’s Room’, he is not ready to stop playing anytime soon.
Here is a quick glance at his tournament placing over the last three years:
39th World Series of Poker 2008 Event #45 - WSOP H.O.R.S.E World Championship 16th $124,320 Jun 25, 2008
39th World Series of Poker 2008 Event #8 - WSOP World Championship Mixed Event 21st $16,243 Jun 4, 2008
NBC National Heads Up Poker Championship Poker Pages Ranking Heads Up - No Limit Hold’Em NBC National Championships 12th $25,000 Feb 29, 2008
38th Annual World Series of Poker Event #50 - WSOP Pot Limit Omaha World Championship 6th $123,967 Jul 1, 2007
38th Annual World Series of Poker Event #26 - WSOP H.O.R.S.E 22nd $9,024 Jun 15, 2007
37th Annual World Series of Poker Event #45 - WSOP No Limit Hold’Em 21st $3,372 Aug 9, 2006
37th Annual World Series of Poker Event #20 - WSOP No Limit H.O.R.S.E 8th $274,560 Jul 14, 2006
Five-Star World Poker Classic - WPT Championship Season 4 WPT No Limit Hold’Em Championship 47th $58,585 Apr 24, 2006
Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic / WPT Event Season 4 Event #14 - No Limit Hold’Em WPT Event 3rd $563,485 Dec 16, 2005
36th Annual World Series of Poker Event #31 - WSOP No Limit Hold’Em 1st $367,800 Jun 29, 2005
