NY TIMES
LAS VEGAS - The poker faithful, pros and amateurs alike, part as the man in the white cowboy hat stiff-legs his way into the mammoth ballroom here at the Rio Hotel and Casino. They lean closer when Doyle Brunson offers a kind word in his honeysuckle Texas baritone along with his autograph.
Brunson is the old-school rounder who in the 1950`s and 60`s was held up at gunpoint in backrooms from Fort Worth to Austin, from Laredo to Lubbock, but now at age 71 only has to stare down battalions of television cameras.
In 1978 he wrote what is widely regarded as poker`s bible, "Super System: A Course in Power Poker." It still sells 10,000 copies a month and no doubt has been thumbed through by many of the more than 5,600 players here for the main event of the 36th annual World Series of Poker - no-limit Texas Hold`em.
The book was updated last year, and an autobiography is in the works. Then there is doylesroom.com, the poker-playing Internet site that had Brunson as host of the likes of Nikki Hilton, sundry Hollywood stars and a bevy of models young enough to be his granddaughters at a showy soiree that lasted into Saturday morning.
"I`m losing track of things with so much going on," Brunson said. "It`s flattering, but it is kind of a hassle to find time to play poker."
He may have meant it, but there is plenty of bluff in his act. By Friday, it was clear he had found a bigger game: word circulated that Brunson and some backers had anted up an unsolicited $700 million cash bid to the owners of the World Poker Television tour, which sent the stock of WPT Enterprises Inc. soaring 50 percent to a record of $26.50 a share as the market closed.
Whether or not the bid is accepted or Brunson wins a third no-limit Texas Hold`em championship to go with his titles in 1976 and 1977, this year`s World Series of Poker has already been a celebration of his contribution to bringing a backroom game to the masses.
Brunson won his 10th World Series of Poker gold bracelet on July 1, besting 301 players over more than 15 hours to tie his friend and rival Johnny Chan as the most decorated player in the tournament`s history. His victory, worth $367,800, also allowed him to become half of a World Series first: Todd Brunson captured the Omaha High-Low Split event in the tournament, making the Brunsons the first father and son to wear championship bracelets.
"I`m not sure people understand what Doyle`s accomplishment means," said Roy Cooke, a columnist for Card Player magazine and a former professional player. "It took intense focus and intensity and was physically and mentally grueling for a 70-something old man. But he played like a tough old guy who wanted to win, which is amazing when you consider he has zero need for the money."
Brunson`s face has more lines then a map of the backroads of his beloved Texas, and a wry smile punctuates the anecdotes he rattles off about the millions of dollars he has won and lost at poker tables.
He tells a story about a hijacking in Austin, Tex., when bandits burst into a big money game, asked for all the players` money and then told them to hit the wall and drop their pants. They leveled shotguns at the players and explained that they had neither the time nor the inclination to strip-search everyone, Brunson said, but they did promise to spot-check a couple and if any money was found they would blow their legs off. Immediately, Brunson said, his tablemates were throwing squirreled-away $100 bills on the floor.
Brunson said that led to an epiphany about high-stakes gambling. "You have to have absolutely no regard for money," he said. "You have to look at it as action and the money as units. What you`re trying to do is win as many units as possible."
He has been chasing the action ever since shattering his leg in a factory accident while on a basketball and track scholarship at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Tex. Brunson was an accomplished enough athlete to be drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers. He also was determined enough to finish school and earned a master`s degree in administrative education.
But Brunson was also adventurous, and in poker he found the perfect outlet for his competitive streak, agile mind and nose for mischief. He left his hometown, Longwood, Tex., and discovered a circuit of juke joint games contested by like-minded card players such as Johnny Moss, Sailor Roberts and Amarillo Slim.
They shared hotel rooms, swapped money and watched each other`s backs. By the 1970`s, each had found his way here, where casino owners, hoping to lure new money and a little romance into their poker rooms laundered their outlaw reputations. No one was more hospitable to them than Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino and the founder of the World Series of Poker.
When Brunson won his second no-limit Texas Hold`em championship in 1977, he had to beat only 84 players to rake in the $340,000 first prize.
"Now it`s mind-boggling," he said of the 200 poker tables that make this 60,000-square-foot convention hall look as if it were overrun with frogs. "You got wall-to-wall poker players gunning for millions of dollars."
Despite his protestations, Brunson still has time to play poker, preferring the cash game he presides over a couple of times a week at the Bellagio. It is known as the Big Game, requires at least a $100,000 bankroll and attracts a core of 20 of poker`s sharpest minds and biggest stars, including Howard Lederer, Chip Reese, Chan and a revolving bunch of well-heeled high rollers.
"You got guys from all over the country, the world, coming through here," said Brunson, who has lived here for more than 30 years. "And I play as long as the money is in town."
It was not without some melancholy, however, that Doyle Brunson sat down for the tournament this year. Last year, Harrah`s Entertainment bought the World Series of Poker from the Binion family, and though the final two days of the tournament will be played at the Horseshoe, an era has passed.
"It`s kind of a sad day, really, some romance is gone," Brunson said.
Still, beneath that cowboy hat, Brunson is looking forward as he has demonstrated with his Internet poker site and his bid to take over the World Poker Tour. He can even chuckle at becoming a television star and a party host to the celebrity set.
"I only have one speed: fast-forward," he said. "I have a better appreciation for what`s going on in the game than these young kids, because I know where poker came from."
