Doyle F. Brunson is an American
former poker player who has
played professionally for over 50
years. He is a two-time World
Series of Poker (WSOP) Main
Event champion, inducted into
the Poker Hall of Fame, and the
author of several poker books.

Brunson was the first player to
win $1 million in a poker
tournament. He has won 10
wSOP bracelets during his
career, tying Johnny Chan and
Phil Ivey for second most in
history and behind Phil
Hellmuth’s 16 bracelets. He is
also one of only four players to
have won the World Series of
Poker Main Event multiple times,
in 1976 and 1977. He is also one
of only three players, the others
being Bill Boyd and Loren Klein,
to have won a WSOP tournament
four years in a row. He is also the
first of six players to win both the
WSOP Main Event and the World
Poker Tour Championship.

In January 2006, Bluff Magazine
named Brunson the most
influential person in poker.
On June 11, 2018, Brunson
announced that he would be
retiring from tournament poker
over the summer. He entered the
$10,000 2-7 singles drawing at
the 2018 wSOP that day. He made
it to the final table in sixth place
for $43,963.

Brunson was born in Longworth,
Fisher County, Texas, one of
three children. He was a member
of the Texas State All-State
basketball team. [1o] At the 1950
Texas Interscholastic Athletic
Meet, he won the mile with a
time of 4:43. [11] Despite
receiving offers from many
colleges, he enrolled at Hardin
Simmons University in Abilene,
Texas.

The NBAs Minneapolis Lakers
showed interest in Brunson, but
a knee injury ended his hopes of
becoming a professional
basketball player. He still needs
crutches occasionally because of
the injury, and he said his broken
leg ended his lifelong dream of
playing in the NBA. [13] Brunson
earned a bachelor’s degree in
1954 anda master’s degree in
executive education the
following year. Later served as
school principal.

Brunson started playing poker
before his injury, playing five-
card. After his injury, he gambled
more and won enough to cover
his expenses. After graduation,
he found a job as an office
equipment salesman. On his first
day in office, he was invited to
play a game of seven-card stud
and won more than a month’s
salarv. He soon left the company
to become a professional poker
player.