Did some reading this weekend about one of my favorite poker players. Every night I would just try to read an hour of this book before crashing out and every night I would end up reading until 3am. Doyle Brunson’s life was just that amazing. Your not going to learn anything about playing better poker but you will be very entertained.
First quarter of the book is about growing up in Texas and his run at being a pro basket ball player which ends sadly and he needs to find a new career.
Second part of the book is about being a rounder in Texas and trying to make a living playing poker with the salt of the earth. I have played in a few places were I did not like my chances of making it to the door without a fight and even saw a dealer get knifed once. This in nothing compared to what Doyle has lived through. He has been robbed and beat up, seen people get knifed and gunned down at the table. His stories about playing at places guarded by a .50 cal machine gun to keep away raiders just blows my mind. Life was really different back then.
Third part of the book is about his life after moving to Vegas and playing with the big crime bosses. These times are even crazier, less worried about being rob but more worried about getting cheated at the table or not pissing off a mob boss which would get you killed. This by far my favorite part of the book. It really blew my mind how much gamble this guy has and how honest he was about his mistakes. He could make millions playing poker and then blow them the next day in bad investments. Also amazed at how much money Doyle won but never got paid, I get pissed when someone defaults on 100$, people have not paid him single bets over 800k.
Last part of the book is a look at the growth of poker and how things changes really fast. It was interesting to get the perspective of were things are going from someone that has lived through the past and all the changes that we take for granted. I also like his story of a 2 year 100 pound weight loss bet Chip Reese and a bunch of other pro’s. With over 1 million of prop bet motivation he finally managed to take the weight off. I think everyone should read this book, it would as it would give them a lot more respect for the game. Highly recommend clicking image below and getting yourself a copy of it.
♣♥♦
Tags: Doyle Brunson, Poker, The Godfather of Poker