The 40th Annual World Series of Poker is underway and for the last six weeks BluffMagazine.com has been presenting the 40 Greatest Champions in WSOP history exclusively on WorldSeriesofPoker.com. Today we wrap up the series

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Doyle Brunson is found at the top of the list. Brunson and poker today cannot be separated; he is poker’s most precious icon. He was the first to truly win back-to-back Main Event titles in 1976 and 1977. While at the top of his game he decided to unveil all of his poker secrets when he wrote Super/System.  It became the bible to poker players, influencing a generation. He released Super System 2 in 2005 influencing an entire new generation.

Born in 1933 in Longworth, Texas Brunson became a star athlete in his teens; playing basketball and running track. He attended Hardin-Simmons University on a basketball scholarship. He gained attention from the NBA and had the Minneapolis Lakers interested in him. His athletic career came to an end when he suffered a horrific break in two places in his leg. He was loading sheetrock in an off-season job when the load shifted and he tried to stop it. His leg remained in a cast for two years.

No longer able to play sports Brunson shifted his focus to his academic work. He finished his bachelor’s degree and went on to earn a master’s in education. Once out of school he got a sales job, but when invited to the company poker game he won a months pay. It didn’t take long for him to figure where his real talents lay.

Following the tradition of Texas road gamblers Brunson hit every game he could find. He developed friendships with Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts and the three of them went on to be the most successful of the road gamblers. In the 50s and 60s they only people that could afford to play with the trio were drug dealers, mobsters, and politicians. He openly admits that they had to carry guns with them for protection.

The foundations of the knowledge and theory that found it’s way into Super/System was pulled from endless hours of conversation that Slim, Roberts, and Brunson had while traveling. Eventually the three of them would find Las Vegas and reshape the town in their image.

Brunson was one of the original invitees to Benny Binion’s first World Series of Poker in 1970. He would win his first bracelet in 1976 in the Main Event. The next year he would win three bracelets; Deuce to Seven, Seven Card Stud HiLo, and the Main Event. He would close out the 70s with two more bracelets, one in 1978 in Seven Card Stud and another in 1979 in a Mixed Doubles event.

Brunson would go without a bracelet in 80s but came back to win his seventh bracelet in a 1991 No Limit Hold’em event. He won a 1998 Razz event, a 2003 H.O.R.S.E. event, and a 2005 No Limit Hold’em event.  He is currently tied with Johnny Chan with ten career bracelets, one shy of Phil Hellmuth’s eleven.  Brunson was the first person to win a WPT event and a WSOP Main Event.

Brunson’s achievements go deeper than ten bracelets.  In January 2006 BLUFF magazine voted him the #1 most influential force in poker in the world. His contributions to the game, his ever-present smile, and his friendly country drawl have made him a favorite for all media.

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