Doyle Brunson has been the face of poker for decades, and is one of the last remaining links between the wild and crazy days of poker (playing in high stakes illegal games in back rooms, roadhouses, and bars) and the more glitzy and glamorous games of today, broadcast on television and played in major casinos around the world. A member of the Poker Hall of Fame, Brunson has been an ambassador of poker and is one of the game’s most respected and feared players.

Doyle (also known widely as “Texas Dolly” or just “Dolly”) has been playing poker and gambling for more than 50 years, getting his start in games in Texas before making the move to Las Vegas, where he lives today. Brunson’s been playing in the biggest cash games in the world for the better part of forty years, taking on all comers in the biggest games at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio as well as playing in all the big World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT) tournaments each year.

Doyle Brunson’s success includes both cash games and tournaments, as he’s won 10 WSOP bracelets during his career (tied for 2nd all-time) and is one of a handful of players who have won the WSOP Main Event twice, doing it in back-to-back years in 1976 and 1977. Brunson was the first player to win $1 million on the poker tournament circuit and is one of only five players to win both a WSOP title and a WPT title.

Doyle is also the author of SuperSystem and SuperSystem II, which are two of the most influential poker books ever written. Doyle was the first top player to reveal strategies for playing No Limit Hold’em and other poker variants, giving beginning poker players and pros alike insight into how one of the world’s best players approaches the game. He’s also been active on the business end of the online poker boom, operating his popular online poker site DoylesRoom.com.

Poker is commonly referred to as a “young man’s game”, but Doyle Brunson has managed to buck that trend, still producing solid results as he plays well into his 70s. He still makes it to live tournaments around the world and has been a regular on the televised poker show High Stakes Poker, where he tangles with places such as Tom “Durrr” Dwan who are barely a quarter of his age and weren’t even alive when he won his first WSOP title.