He went on to win 10 World Series tournaments, picking up the nickname Texas Dolly, and he became the first player to win a million dollars in tournament play. So everybody laughed about it for years.ĬHANG: Soon, though, Brunson and the game took on a higher stature with the 1970 launch of the World Series of Poker. He said, I said who runs this poker game? I told him, that guy right down there in the green shirt. And he cocked both of the hammers on his double-barrel shotgun, and he set it right here between my eyes. Once, at a farmhouse in Austin, he says seven guys in ski masks took the players' money and held Brunson at gunpoint.īRUNSON: So he had one of those old-fashioned shotguns where you cock the hammers. He said he got arrested multiple times, got cheated and robbed. SHAPIRO: He did encounter some gangsters while frequenting illegal games. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, 'POKER SUPERSTARS')ĭOYLE BRUNSON: People that you thought were your friends actually looked down on you because they thought you were some kind of a gangster or something because you were a poker player. It was a reputational risk at the time, as he said on the show, 'Poker Superstars.' Then, he broke his leg, and that injury set him on a different path.ĬHANG: He started out small, playing weekend poker games around Texas. He played college basketball and was on track to join the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s. Doyle Brunson's career in many ways parallels the trajectory of the game he played - from an illicit backroom card game to a widely televised sport.īrunson didn't start out as a card player. 'There will never be another Doyle Brunson,' he said.The man known to some as the godfather of poker has died. In a tweet, one of Brunson's longtime poker opponents, Daniel Negreanu, called him a legend. No one will ever fill your seat.'īrunson also wrote a well-known book on poker strategy, entitled 'Super/System,' which includes his tips on important poker strategies, such as controlling emotions and watching competitors play to predict their next moves. Thank you for being the consummate player and gentleman. In a tweet, the World Series of Poker said, 'Rest in Peace to the Biggest Legend of Them All. May he rest in peace,' his family said.Īlso dubbed 'Texas Dolly,' Brunson won 10 World Series of Poker tournaments, second only to Phil Hellmuth's 16. Please keep Doyle and our family in your prayers. 'It is with a heavy heart we announce the passing of our father, Doyle Brunson.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada: Two-time world poker champion Doyle Brunson, known as the 'Godfather of Poker,' has died in Las Vegas at the age of 89, according to a family statement shared on Twitter.

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