Doyle Brunson was born in Longworth, Texas in 1933. In 1962 he married Louise and together they have three children – Todd, Pam, Cheryl, and Doyla. Doyla died at the age of 19 after she passed away from a heart problem in her sleep.

Todd has studied the way that his father has played and follows successfully in his footsteps by becoming a professional poker player. Both Doyle and his son Todd have become legends and have won not only WSOP bracelets – but also the $2500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo back in 2005

Before Doyle became a professional poker player he was a basketball player until a knee injury stopped him. He played basketball at Hardin-Simmons University where he became one of the 5 top basketball players in the state. He injured his knee not while playing – but while he was at work. A few tons of equipment lost balance and while trying to keep it from falling he broke his knee in two places. This shattered his dreams of becoming a more famous basketball player and helped him to focus more of his attention on poker.

He finished college and earned his master’s degree in Administrative Education. He had been playing poker for quite a long time but took it more seriously after he had his accident. He began to notice the different strategies that it required and was able to master the game in his own way. He soon became very successful in the game. It didn’t take him long after he had finished school to realize that he wanted to pursue it even further. Doyle together with Amarillo Slim and Johnny Moss searched for poker games all across America were they could perfect their skills and make some money.

During his days of serious poker playing he earned himself the nickname “Texas Dolly”. The only high stakes game that you are likely to find Doyle Brunson in is Texas Hold ‘Em – which also happens to be his favorite poker game. Usually the minimum bets at these games are $4000/$8000. This means that each hand he wins or loses could cost $50,000.