The World Series of Poker has released the official series schedule and poker fans received some unexpected news afterward. Poker legend Doyle Brunson announced that he’ll be returning to the Rio to play in a few events this fall.
The 10-time bracelet winner announced his retirement from the WSOP after playing in 2018. The 87-year-old’s return to action will be welcome news by many players and fans alike.
Texas Dolly back in the WSOP action
In his return to WSOP, a few events stand out for the Poker Hall of Famer. That includes the event that was expected to be his final WSOP tournament.
Brunson made the final table of the $10,000 Deuce to Seven No Limit Single Draw in 2018. That led to a final table appearance and sixth-place finish for $43,963. He’s now looking for a return appearance.
The pandemic’s effect on live poker apparently played a role in Brunson heading back to the WSOP as well. His wife had also had some health problems in recent years and Brunson didn’t like leaving at night. The situation appears to have changed now.
“I am not getting along with not playing poker, so if everything goes okay with my wife I’ll play in a select few tournaments,” he told USPoker on Monday. “I’ll play the Deuce to Seven event and some Razz tournaments. I probably will play the (Hall of Fame) freeroll.”
This year’s $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Championship is set for Oct. 25. The freeroll refers to the $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty. This new tournament is scheduled for Nov. 17 and honors the Poker Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1979.
The tournament features a freeroll for all members of the hall. Each player has a bounty on their head equal to the year they were inducted.
Brunson was inducted in 1988, meaning almost an extra $2,000 for eliminating the Texan.
I'm planning on playing a few select tournaments in the WSOP this year. https://t.co/9um2zalbIR
— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly) June 15, 2021
A look at the career of Doyle Brunson
The poker legend’s return is certainly good for the game. The Godfather of Poker will be 88 by the time the WSOP kicks off in September.
Age hasn’t slowed down his poker playing. Brunson still plays in some of the biggest cash games around.
The former Texas road gambler offers a link to poker’s past, a time when players like Brunson, Amarillo Slim Preston, and others traveled through the south looking for underground games.
Born in Longworth, Texas, Brunson won the $10,000 WSOP Main Event in 1976 and ‘77. Both times his final hand was the 10-2, which has since become synonymous with “Texas Dolly.”
In 1979, Brunson released his book Super System: A Course in Power Poker. The book set a course for modern poker’s more aggressive approach.
Among all his accomplishments, Brunson also holds a World Poker Tour record. In 2004, Brunson became the oldest man to win a WPT event. he took down the Legends of Poker at age 71, a record that still stands today.
“It was my most satisfying win in a long time, probably since my World Series Main Event victories several decades earlier,” Brunson wrote in his autobiography, The Godfather of Poker. “It was even more important to me than the $1.2 million first prize, though I didn’t mind that at all, because I replenished my bankroll and shored up my formerly sagging confidence.
“If I hadn’t done well in that tournament, I might have quit right then and there. But at this crossroads in my life, whatever doubts I had disappeared like the whirling dust devils that blew through my old west Texas prairie.”
Still loves playing poker
Seeing Brunson back at the tables provides a reminder of poker’s unique history beyond modern casinos. The Stetson cowboy hat-wearing Texan brings some real uniqueness to the tables as well as plenty of poker skills.
A final table appearance would make for huge news and some great televised poker.
Even after decades at the tables, Brunson still just loves to play. That may also explain his return to the WSOP this year.
When asked a few years ago to name one of the simple things in life that he enjoys, Brunson had this response: “Poker, poker, and poker.”
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