Doyle Brunson Beats Cancer for the 4th Time!

Poker Hall of Famer Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson has reported he’s successfully fended off cancer for the fourth time in his life. Posting on his @TexDolly Twitter account, the legendary mixed-games player and 10-time WSOP bracelet winner wrote that he’d been given an “all clear” after recent surgery for squamous cell cancer, a form of skin cancer. Brunson tweeted:

The 87-year-old “Godfather of Poker”’s recurrent battles with cancer have become a part of his legend, in particular his original and nearly-fatal episode back in 1962. Brunson had only recently married his wife, Louise, who would soon become pregnant with the couple’s first child, but near that year’s end physicians discovered a malignant and metastasized tumor in Brunson’s neck, with a grim prognosis. 

Brunson’s physicians decided to operate in hopes of extending Brunson’s life long enough to see his newborn child, but after that initial operation, Brunson went into complete remission and was able to resume his poker career, and within years he would become one of the world’s most famous poker players.

Brunson credited his faith for his remission and recovery, as did his wife, who underwent her own cancer battle (with a similar tale of medically unexplained remission) a few years later.

Brunson’s later battles with cancer over the past two decades have involved skin cancer, which is one of the most treatable forms of the disease, if caught early. Squamous cell cancer is the second most form of skin cancer, and as with any such cancer, it can metastasize. Further complicating the issue is that even if successfully treated, such forms of skin cancer have an increasing likelihood of recurring, as has happened with Brunson. Nonetheless, the good news means that he can continue holding court at the newly renamed “Legends Room” at the Bellagio, his near-exclusive home for playing poker in recent years.