Tag Archives: Doyle Brunson

On Different Views and Scenarios

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Hi,

I have several questions to ask. Hope you have time. Thanks in advance!

  1. In NL100, I oftentimes witness players buying in with $10, $15, $20 or may be $40. Well, I believe playing the short stack has its own advantages. However, I’m wondering if how should I deal and play with it when I have a full buy-in, at least. Any idea?

    Consider that I was in early position and with 88 I limped in. At middle position, with $20, I folded to a short stack. Such player raised to $4 and everyone else folded including both the small and big blinds. It was then my turn, but I don’t know what to do. I was considering if I’d call his raise or just re-raise him. If I’d call his raise, it would be a goodbye for my set on the flop and if I’d re-raise him, he might opt to go all in. At some point, I thought of folding. What do you think? I’m really sick and tired playing at a table full of short stacks, any advice?

  2. I really wonder if there’s any difference playing at NL tournaments than at cash games. I believe in NL tournaments, I have to lose first a lot of chips before I could have my set. And in a cash game, you can always reload, and there is always a chance to win back any losses.

    Because of the difference, I just always try to play big pairs and AK, AQ and may be KQ and AJ. I’ve always stayed away from suited connectors. And typically, I’m on all-in or fold mode. And in the event my hands are hold up, I go back to average or even above average at the later stage of the game. But sadly, I always end up with the least chips. Any advice for me? Is there any specific hand I should play?

  3. Professionals at High Stakes Poker on GSN tend to always play very loose cash games. In fact, there was one player who raises with A4o. He was then called by someone with K9s. Flop came and brought 9. The player with K9s earlier thought he had the best hand. I don’t know what’s going on. I believe they were just playing loosely then.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Raymond Feld
Raymond,

  1. Players with short stacks are going to try and push with big hands and try and double up. My suggestion is to try and play small ball poker and keep the pot small. The other option is to be aggressive and raise more often than normal and get out the way when they push with big hands.
  2. Tournaments are very different than cash games. You have to change your starting hand requirements based on what position that you are in on the table. I would recommend picking up a book or DVD on Texas Holdem. Phil Hellmuth and Howard Lederer have good DVD’s but Dan Harrington’s Harrington on Holdem is the best set of tournament books you can buy.
  3. Players on High Stakes Poker are very loose and very aggressive with their hands. You will also notice big fluctuations with their stacks overall. Watch some of the better players like Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, David Benyamine, and Jennifer Harman and you will see a good mix between loose and solid. Overall, those 4 are usually among the biggest winners around. This year Phil Ivey and David Benyamine are #1 and #2 in amount won online on Full Tilt Poker.

Phil Ivey

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As professional wrestler Ric Flair would say, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.” Right now, “The Man” in professional poker would be Phil Ivey. Phil Ivey started his poker career in Atlantic City casinos where he used to play with a fake ID and go by the name “Jerome.” Once he was old enough to actually play in the casino legally, he went to his regular casino buddies and told them the truth.

Phil Ivey is one of the few players that can consistently win at both cash games and tournaments. Ivey actually prefers to play cash games due to the amount of money that can be won at the game. He is a regular player in the “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio and has been mentored by all-time great poker players such as Doyle Brunson and the legendary Chip Reese. With the recent passing of Reese, many consider Ivey to be the all around best poker player in the world.

Although he prefers cash games, his success in tournaments has him among the all time greats in poker. He has 5 bracelets at the World Series of Poker. His first came in 2000 when he won the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event. He then tied a WSOP record by winning three bracelets in a single year in 2002. He won the $2,000 S.H.O.E. bracelet, the $2,500 Stud 8 or Better bracelet, and the $1,500 7 Card Stud bracelet. He would then go on to win the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Event in 2005.

Ivey also has one WPT title to his claim. He took down the WPT event at the L.A. Poker Classic in early 2008 for his first WPT title and $1.5 Million. In total, Ivey has 8 final tables with the WPT. In addition to his WSOP and WPT titles, he holds numerous titles around the US and the World, including the $25,000 No Limit Holdem event at the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions and the $120,000 Full Tilt Poker Invitational.

For his poker career, Ivey has won $10 Million in live tournaments, which puts him 7th on the all-time money list. The amazing thing about his story is that he has accomplished all these feats at just 32 years of age. He is commonly known as the “Tiger Woods of Poker” due to his dominance of the poker world. Ivey also is capable of dominating players in any game. His best game is considered to be Stud, but when he is at any poker table, players tremble.

The measuring stick for the poker world is Phil Ivey. Although players such as Doyle Brunson and T.J. Cloutier get respect for what they have accomplished, all up and coming players look at Phil Ivey as the player they would most want to be like. Normally a player this dominant would be prone to an eventual burnout, but with Ivey’s background and the mentoring he has received, it is safe to assume that Ivey will continue to be the measuring stick to come for at least the next 20 years.

Gary “Bones” Berland

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Gary “Bones” Berland grew up in California and started off his gambling career much like many pros from the 70’s, inside of a pool hall. He at one point also worked as a dealer in a casino, but eventually moved to Vegas to try and get an education at UNLV. For two years he put all of his efforts into trying to get an education, but just like many of his contemporaries, he gave up college for poker and he began his career as a professional poker player.

Berland started playing at the World Series of Poker in 1976, cashing zero times, but the experience at the tables would prove invaluable in 1977. First, he finished first in the Razz event, taking home $8,300 and his first WSOP bracelet. He then decided that he would take his shot at the Main Event. The Main Event would see Berland go heads-up with the current world champion at the time, Doyle Brunson. Doyle had won it all the year before with a 10-2 on the last hand. If you know anything about history, you now know who Doyle beat the 2nd time with 10-2. It was Berland. Berland flopped two pair and only one pair. The turn gave Doyle a better two pair and the river a full house. Brunson would take home $340,000 and Berland would take home the 2nd place prize, $0.

Many players would have a hard time rebounding from such a loss. How did Berland rebound? He rebounded by taking two bracelets in 1978. He won the $500 7 Card Stud bracelet for $17,100 and then took the $1000 Razz event for $19,200. He nearly took a third bracelet but fell one spot shy in the Ace to Five Draw event, taking home $9,600.

The very next year, Berland did it again. He again took home two bracelets in the same series. First he won the $1,000 Stud 8 or Better bracelet and then he again won the $500 7 Card Stud bracelet. He would make final tables in the Razz event in 1983 and 1984 before achieving what would be his greatest poker accomplishment. The 1986 World Series of Poker saw Berland once again make the final table of the Main Event. This time, the format was no longer a winner takes all and the worst that he could finish was $39,900 richer. He did slightly better than that, finishing third in the event to the eventual winner Berry Johnston. Berland received $114,000 for his finish.

Sadly, Berland would die shortly after the 1986 World Series of Poker of a rare blood disease at the age of 36. Had he lived longer, it is hard to tell what this pro could have accomplished. In his brief career, Berland took home an astounding 5 WSOP bracelets and over $275,000 in prize money in live tournaments. Some stars shine brighter than others, but for a shorter time. This was the case with Gary Berland. In the end, Berland will be remembered as a phenomenal player that could bounce back from defeat and become a champion of poker.

Bobby Baldwin

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Have you heard the one about the guy that won the World Series of Poker and then gave up poker to take a job? If so, you were hearing about Bobby Baldwin. Bobby Baldwin started playing poker around the age of 12. He wasn’t any good but he caught the bug and played when he could. He was also a pool hustler and could outplay most anyone around his age by the time he was in high school.

Baldwin was attending Oklahoma State University while continuing to play poker and pool. He went out to Vegas and initially lost his whole bankroll. He then got $500 on credit and then ran it up to over $180,000. As with many gamblers, he was broke again in 3 months. He went back to trying to improve his poker game. His poker game was growing his bankroll but betting on sports was destroying it. It cost him his first marriage. After nearly losing his entire poker bankroll betting on sports, he gave up sports betting and went into poker exclusively.

While he was well known by many high stakes gamblers, it wasn’t until the 1977 World Series of Poker that he won his first major poker title. He won two bracelets that year, one in 7 Card Stud and one in 2-7 Lowball. Doyle Brunson asked him to write a chapter in his upcoming book Super System, and Baldwin obliged, writing the Limit Holdem chapter.

1978 saw Baldwin’s greatest poker accomplishment. This was the first year that the Main Event was not a winner take all prize pool. 42 players entered the event, with 5 people taking home money. At the end, it was Baldwin heads up with Crandell Addington. In the end, Baldwin took home the title and over $210,000. After this win, Baldwin would win another bracelet the following year in 2-7 Lowball again.

Baldwin shocked the entire poker world when he took a job with the Golden Nugget in 1982. Later he would become President of the Nugget and then later on moved to be the head of the Mirage. In 2000, when the Mirage and MGM merged, Baldwin was kept as the CEO of Mirage Resorts. He was then named the president and CEO of the Project City Center being built in Las Vegas.

Baldwin is still a poker player, and can be found playing in some high stakes games in Las Vegas, but poker is secondary to his business career. Overall, Baldwin has 16 total cashes at the World Series of Poker in addition to his 4 bracelets. He was inducted into the poker hall of fame in 2003.

Bobby Baldwin is the story of a man that came forth and took on one challenge, conquered it, and then moved on to another. While many might think that he was crazy to leave when he could have accomplished so much, in the end the success he has obtained in the business world in Las Vegas has been just as important to shaping the landscape of poker as any wins that he could have had at the table.

Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson

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When you think of champions of poker, the first person that should come to mind is Doyle Brunson. Doyle is known to the poker world as the Godfather of Poker and has been on of the true pioneers of the game of Texas Holdem.

Doyle grew up with aspirations of becoming a professional athlete, but an injury to his leg ended his playing days and he proceeded to get his masters degree in Administrative Education. He used to play 5 card draw in college to help pay for expenses. Soon after he graduated school, he took a job as a salesman. During his first day on the job he was invited to a 7 card stud game where he won enough money in 3 hours to pay his salary for a month. He left the company to pursue a life in professional poker.

For years, Brunson traveled around the United States playing in various games and living the lifestyle of the road gambler. He developed a reputation as being one of the top poker players on the planet and was among those invited to the first World Series of Poker in 1970.

Brunson is one of only four players to ever win the World Series of Poker Main Event twice. He won the event in both 1976 and 1977. Both years the winning hand was a 10-2, which is now known as the Brunson. Overall, Doyle has won 10 bracelets at the World Series of Poker which is tied for second all time with Johnny Chan. His bracelets are in Holdem, 2-7 Lowball, Stud, Stud 8, Razz, H.O.R.S.E., and the now defunct Mixed Doubles event. Doyle was also one of the final table participants in the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, which is considered to be the strongest final table in WSOP history.

Doyle is also well known for his book Super System which taught millions of poker players how to improve their game. The book was originally published in 1978. In 2004 Super System 2 was written. Both books featured a collection of some of the greatest poker minds in the world. Brunson self authored the No Limit Holdem chapters but the other games were covered by those he considered the best in the world. We shouldn’t neglect to mention that Doyle Brunson owns his Poker Room, DoylesRoom.

Brunson’s only WPT title came in 2004 when he won the Legends of Poker event at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, CA. He also finished fourth in the WPT Championship that year. Overall, Brunson has won over $5 Million in live tournaments over his lifetime and nobody really knows the amount of money he has won in cash games.

At the age of 75 Doyle Brunson is still a force to be reckoned with in poker. He is the first to admit that he may have lost a step or two, but his experience still keeps him near the top of the game. He is considered by many to be the greatest living poker player and there doesn’t seem to be any stopping this timeless legend.