Doyle Brunson Announces Retirement From Poker

The greatest living legend of the poker world announced his retirement from the game today, 84-year old Doyle ‘Texas Dolly’ Brunson stating that he was giving up tournament play - and his beloved Bobby’s Room cash games - after the summer to spend time with his ailing wife…

“I’m planning on retiring after the summer. My wife is not in very good health, and I will stay with her for the duration of either her life or mine,” Brunson told Remko Rinkema, adding “every day that I leave the house I feel guilty.”

Brunson’s 62 years as a poker player has seen him lift almost every great honour the game has, a two-time Main Event winner and boasting a further eight bracelets, although he said:

“The tournaments were just a means to get players to come out to Las Vegas. I never cared for them much”, adding that he wishes he had, “because I could have won a lot more of them.”

Brunson was speaking before he entered the $10k No Limit 2-7 Single Draw bracelet event, crossing swords for perhaps the last time ever with fellow legends of the game Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth, although it was old friends, not new, that he remembers most fondly.

Brunson explained:

“We all had a really tight bond, the original poker players that started the World Series of Poker… these days I don’t remember more than two people in this room. Sadly, most of my close friends have passed away, but it’s that companionship that I look back on so fondly.”

Brunson’s tournament career brought him a recorded $6,132,774 in winnings, but his cash game prowess at the highest stakes is what many will remember him for, and it’s doubtful if Bobby’s Room will ever be the same when he leaves for the final time.