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    Doyle Brunson


    Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson (born August 10, 1933 in Longworth, Texas) is an American poker player who has played professionally for over 40 years. He is a former world champion of poker and the author of several poker books.

    Doyle Brunson

    The first player to earn $1 million in poker tournaments, Brunson has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career, tied with Johnny Chan and Phil Hellmuth for the record. He is also one of only four players to have won consecutive main events at the World Series of Poker, in 1976 and 1977.

    Brunson continues to play in the biggest poker games in the world, playing $4000/$8000 minimum bets and also at the World Series of Poker. He won his ninth gold bracelet in a mixed games event in 2003, and in 2004 he finished 53rd (in a field of 2576) in the No Limit Texas hold ‘em Championship event.

    He won the Legends of Poker World Poker Tour event in 2004 (garnering him a $1.1 Million prize), and finished fourth in the WPT’s first championship event. Early in the morning on July 1, 2005, less than a week after Chan had won his 10th gold bracelet - setting a new record - Brunson tied the record by earning his 10th at the 2005 WSOP.

    Brunson’s nickname, “Texas Dolly”, came from the incorrect reading of his name by Jimmy Snyder, and it stuck. Snyder was supposed to announce Brunson as “Texas Doyle” (since he was from the state) but incorrectly read Brunson’s first name as Dolly when announcing it. Many of Brunson’s fellow top pros now simply refer to Brunson as “Dolly”.

    Doyle Brunson in 1980

    Brunson has the honor of having two Texas hold’em hands named after him. One hand, a Ten and a Two of any suit, bears his name as he won the No Limit Hold ‘Em event at the World Series of Poker two years in a row with them (1976 and 1977), in both cases completing a full house. Doyle has expressed his displeasure at being known for what is a weak starting hand in Texas Hold ‘em; in fact, in both 1976 and 1977, he was the underdog, requiring Brunson to come from behind both times. Another hand known as a “Doyle Brunson,” especially in Texas, is the Ace and Queen of any suit because, as he says on page 519 of the Super/System, he “never plays this hand.”

    Brunson endorses the online poker room Doyle’s Room. He is currently appearing in the GSN series High Stakes Poker.

    As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceeded $4,900,000.