He participated in the very first World Series of Poker and would eventually go on to win ten bracelets in the event, including two World Championships. What would the game of poker have been if Brunson were a good salesman? After years of traveling with Amarillo Slim Preston and Sailor Roberts, Brunson eventually would end up in Las Vegas. He would soon quit the salesman gig and ply his trade as a professional card player.

Although these games were against the law, eventually Brunson would become so skilled at the game he was making more money than his salary as a salesman. During his salesman days, he would often get involved with poker games that would be going on inside the businesses. An accident while working in a sheetrock plant, where he suffered a compound fracture of his leg that left him with a lifelong limp, ended his professional basketball dreams.Īfter receiving his teaching degree from Hardin-Simmons, Brunson instead moved into office equipment sales to try to provide for his family. While there, Brunson led the school’s basketball team to several championships and was reportedly being courted by none other than the National Basketball Association champion Minneapolis (now Los Angeles) Lakers. Despite receiving many scholarship offers, Brunson chose to stay close to home by attending Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX. An outstanding athlete, Brunson would be a Texas state track champion and an all-Texas basketball player.

Please keep Doyle and our family in your prayers – may he Rest in Peace.”īorn on August 10, 1933, in Longworth, Texas, there was not much that suggested that Brunson would become one of the iconic figures of the gaming world. We’ll have more to say over the coming days as we honor his legacy. “He was a beloved Christian man, husband, father, and grandfather. “It is with a heavy heart we announce the passing of our father, Doyle Brunson,” Balsbaugh said in a statement from the Brunson family. The news came from the longtime manager for the Texas poker professional, Brian Balsbaugh, and the announcement was as low-key as the gentleman himself was.

“Texas Dolly” was 89 years old, and no immediate cause of death was reported. On Sunday night, ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and back-to-back World Champion Doyle Brunson quietly passed away. The poker world was stunned late on Sunday night when word came down that one of the genuine legends of the world of poker, the man who basically taught the world how to play the game of Texas Hold’em, and whose very name was synonymous with the sport of poker had passed away.

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