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Poker Pro Profile - Doyle Brunson

The professional poker circuit has generated more than its share of great players over the decades. The list is long and it varies a little bit, depending on who you're asking. And yet, there is not a single reputable poker analyst or historian on the planet who would fail to place Doyle Brunson at the very top of his or her list.

In a crowded field of worthy champions, Brunson stands head and shoulders above most and has earned the status of living legend. No other poker player has revolutionized poker as Brunson, and his book Super System is considered to be the "poker bible" which took Texas Holdem to a completely new level when it was published in 1978.

Born in 1933 in the town of Longworth, Texas, Brunson did not wait very long to expose himself to the game of poker. He would often spend childhood afternoons playing with friends, picking up the intricacies of the game with a highly advanced sense of acumen and competence. An early love for basketball was brought to an abrupt halt when he broke his leg in an accident. This turned out to be a most fortuitous event, as it allowed Doyle to shift his focuses almost entirely to poker and especially Texas Holdem.

Like virtually all players at the time, Doyle Brunson started playing poker for money in games that were illegal. Along with fellow legends like and Thomas Preston and Sailor Roberts, he would travel across the country in search of high stakes games. Eventually settling down in Las Vegas, Doyle decided to turn his energies towards tournament play By all accounts, he was a rather successful in this endeavor, becoming the first man ever to win $1 million in poker tournaments.

Doyle has also garnered one of the most famous nicknames in all of poker: "Texas Dolly". In fact, this catchy moniker came about as the result of an incorrect read it by Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder. But it was just so catchy that Brunson did not even try to get rid of it.

Texas Dolly is one of only four players to ever win consecutive main events at the World Series of Poker. He pulled off this unbelievably difficult accomplishment in the years 1976 and 1977, a time when most of us didn't even know the Texas Holdem rules. He is the proud owner of a total of ten World Series of Poker bracelets, having finished in the money a multitude of times. And furthermore, he can claim four money finishes on the World Poker Tour to his credit, having appeared at three final tables.

Despite his colossal success in professional poker, Brunson has always remained a true gentleman in every sense of the word. A number of family tragedies brought about a spiritual awakening in him, which still guides his every move to this day. His career has not been entirely without controversy, particularly an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2005, but his reputation as a player and a gentleman remains fully intact.

He is in the minds of most poker players the personification of a champion. Nowadays, Brunson is running his own poker site - obviously called Doyle's Room. So if you wish to play online Texas Holdem against one of the greatest players of all time you might find him there grinding it out.