Karala and Salonen take their readers backstage to give you pictures and other unreleased material from their trips to the coolest casinos in the world and interviews with poker superstars.

Doyle Brunson – a legend on a sunny Vegas Sunday

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday in Las Vegas on April 26th, 2009.  76-year old Doyle ”Texas Dolly” Brunson had invited us to his home.

”Why don't you stop by on Sunday”, Brunson had presented his invitation to me when I called his cell from my hotel room at the Mirage a few days earlier. Brunson, who has played poker since the 1950's, had a familiar low voice with a friendly tone. There are not many poker superstars who deal with you in such a pleasant, unassuming way.

Under the Sunday's midday sun, the Las Vegas Strip was quiet and sleepy. Myself and photographer Samuli Karala had packed our gear to a cab and headed ten miles away from the Strip. We were sure that the party goers from the weekend spent their morning after between the sheets or having a morning brunch.

Finally we were getting nearer to Doyle Brunson's house and it seemed like the whole world had sunk in some mysterious Sunday haze. Our cab drove through an area with idyllic American houses. Here and there were children playing, and the sprinklers made sure the grass yards could handle the hot desert sun.

”Wow! So this is Doyle Brunson's house”, our driver got excited when he stopped the car and saw the Doyle's Room advertisements on the cars in the front yard. ”Damn, I drove people to the home of a legend”, the middle-aged cab driver wallowed.

And there he was inside his house. Two small dogs, Cutie and Casper, barked with joy. He missed his wife, who had been out of town in Hawaii for medical reasons for a few weeks. He had a familiar, wide smile on his face. Doyle Brunson – a legend.

We started our two-hour meeting in Brunson's surprisingly modern home. We wanted to make an in-depth interview with Doyle Brunson, who was a young promising basketball player and ended up as a gambler. The story was also an advance story to Brunson's biography ”The Godfather of Poker” released autumn 2009.

It was a time just after the Cinema Blend released a sensational list of 100 people most likely to die in 2009. Doyle Brunson was in 16th place. A pretty high score. Fidel Castro was 32nd and Queen Elizabeth in place 36.

List or no list, it was clear that Doyle Brunson is one of the most experienced superstars in the world. ”Burn brightly, but don´t burn out”, he often says. That's almost the opposite to Nirvana vocalist Kurt Cobain, who got it all and passed away at a very young age.

We also wanted to take gallant profile shots that would reflect this Johnny Cash of Poker, the man who has seen almost everything during the seven decades of his career. These photos have won international awards. Our 10-page story was titled ”Good old man”.

The story was published in the Finnish Pokerisivut.com Magazine issue 3/2009.

Text
Pokerisivut.com Magazine managing editor Tero Salonen
Photos
Photographer Samuli Karala