TOM BOYLE

Weblog: Playing his cards right . . . some of the time

Brunson's presence in London is important

The last time I saw poker legend Doyle Brunson he was easing his way towards the televised feature table at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas this summer. He arrived serenely through a throng of poker groupies in a motorised buggy before taking a couple of dicey steps and hunkering down into his seat.

Poker legend Doyle Brunson

  PICTURE: Tom Boyle  

This week I spottedthe big beast while watching preparations for a televised game at the feature table in The Casino at The Empire in Leicester Square.

The central London venue may be able to host record-breaking entries for live events in the capitalbut it doesn't boast the hanger-like halls and wide mile-long corridors of the Rio All-suite Hotel in Vegas. So it was that Mr Brunson made the wise decision to leave the buggy at home.

In the USA he was surrounded by a throng of fans. Here he stood virtually alone.

The first thing you notice about the great man is the 30-gallon cowboy hat.  The next thing you notice is also the hat and only after you've got past the enormous titfer do you realise how big the guy is. During his college days he was rather a successful basketball player and he really is a lot bigger than one expects.

Denied electric wheels - Brunson was reduced to getting about with the aid of a pretty serious-looking crutch and once he'd repositioned himself onto a ringside chair I approached for a chat.

I think I was pretty polite. Brunson and his gang used to run sportsbooks in their heyday and he said he knew of the Racing Post. I told him I was a fan of his Super System books (by the way isn't that just about the greatest name for a poker manual?)

Anyway despite the pleasantries as soon as I mooted a couple of questions the big guy told mehe'd rather not chat. He was polite but there was going to be no debate on the matter. I wonder if he might have been a bit more interested if I'd offered a bit of tasty cash action at the baize?

The World Series Of Poker are keen to expand the brand into Europe and the ten times WSOP winner, who was there at the start and was a consecutive Main Event champion lends great credibility to the enterprise.

Brunson may not have been chatty and he may not attract the attention here that he gets in Vegas, but his presence in London is important. He provides a sense of history and continuity at a time of faceless online games and the arrival of a new teenage millionaire poker star every other month.