Texas Hold’em poker legend Doyle Brunson has died at the age of 89

That wide-brimmed Tex Willer hat that stood out among the tables and thousands of players was the unmistakable signal that you were in the right place if you wanted to play a big poker tournament. Now that hat will never be seen again because Doyle Brunson said goodbye to us at the tender age of 89. He held the cards in his hand as long as he could, that is just before leaving us, fueling his legend about him. He was one of the pioneers of hold’em, poker with two cards in hand and 5 face up on the table for everyone, which remained confined to the United States for 30 years to then explode all over the world in the early 2000s. The legendary challenges of the first World Series, with him and other movie characters, such as Amarillo Slim and Stud Ungar, are handed down from player to player.

former sportsman

—

Doyle Brunson was the most “normal” of all, in the sense that he didn’t drink, he didn’t do drugs, he didn’t go crazy with money. He had a different imprinting from the others because he came from sports: first running, where he set the mile record in high school, then basketball where he was named among the best five promises in the state of Texas. In college, Brunson was followed by the Minneapolis Lakers (now the Los Angeles Lakers) but breaking his knee in two places cut short his promising career.

Doyle’s hand

—

So after graduation he devoted himself to his other passion, poker. He won two main events in a row, in 1976 and 1977, and 8 more bracelets (the winner’s trophy) in World Series tournaments. As a good legend, he had his nickname and his favorite “hand”. His nickname was Texas Dolly, for his country of origin (he was born in Longworth) and the hat, Dolly for the mistake of a commentator who calls him that during a tournament. His favorite hand is 10-2, actually very bad cards to play, but with those he won the two main events by making full houses both times. In his career he has pocketed more than 6 million dollars with sports poker tournaments (that is, you only pay the entry and if you run out of chips you are eliminated). But the smile, sympathy and elegance at the table were always there, even when he lost maybe due to a crazy stroke of bad luck. We are direct witnesses. We will miss that hat.