ESPN Poker Blog

Posted by Steve Rosenbloom

This was last year at the World Series of Poker. He was telling me how drained he felt, what with promoting the book "Super/System 2,'' still signing copies of the "Super/System 1,'' poker's version of the Old Testament, making appearances for his online poker site "Doylesroom" and continuing to be unfailingly polite with the hundreds of fans who wanted a picture or an autograph or just to say they spoke to perhaps the greatest poker player of all time -- and it was hundreds, it seemed, during every break during a poker tournament, believe me.

And so, the septuagenarian was lamenting not only how beaten down he was from all his poker-related obligations, but also because he wasn't getting to actually play poker.

It got to the point where he said he was thinking of skipping out on poker for a while and just going to Montana and his family spread up there for a long spell.

What's more, he was talking about how he might do it during this year's World Series.

"Yeah, I know,'' Brunson says with a chuckle, and he is saying it with a chuckle at this year's World Series on a day where he has been signing copies of "Super/System 2'' for at least an hour and had plans to play in a WSOP event that began an hour later.

What gives? Was it all a bluff?

"Actually, I'm doing more now than I've ever done,'' Brunson says with that Texas drawl of his. "It's just that I'm real fortunate that I'm blessed with the stamina and endurance that I've got. I'm sure it goes back to my athletic days and my training and everything.

"The truth is, I don't get tired anymore -- I don't get fatigued, let me put it that way. I get a little tired. But back when I was heavier, I would get fatigued and want to sit down or something. But now, even when I get a little tired, I can still keep going. It's just a blessing. It's something I'm very grateful for because most guys my age can't even come close to it. I'm just very lucky.''

The 72-year-old Brunson has lost weight and continues losing it after gastric bypass surgery less than three years ago. He looks and sounds great -- nothing like the beleaguered poker legend of last year, despite still needing a crutch to get around because of knee problems.

"I feel great,'' Brunson says. "I feel like I'm 30 years old. It's a wonderful feeling, I'll tell you the truth, to be able to do what you want to do and not get exhausted.''

They say that the more mentally active you are, the younger you feel and the sharper you act.

"I've always been very mentally active,'' Brunson says. "I think that's probably the reason I've still continued to play at this level. I've never let myself slow down mentally, even when I was more inactive physically. I read, I played poker a lot. I kept my mind busy.

"I write poker books, but I read anything. If I pick a novel up and start reading it and I like it, I won't put it down until I finish it. I was kind of a speed reader before it became popular. I could always read fast and comprehend what I read fast. Again, that's a gift. No one taught me how to do it; I just did it."

Any talk with or about Brunson always seems to include discussion of the best poker player of all time. This time, however, was a little different. I asked the man considered by many to be best ever to create the best poker player by listing the major skills to succeed and naming the player who's best at it.

"I'd start with having Chip Reese's composure and his steam factor, or whatever you want to call it,'' Brunson said. "He stays the same all the time. He never gets upset.''

Never gone on tilt?

"I've never seen it,'' Brunson said. "I've played with him for a long time and he's never done it. All the rest of us have. I've never known anybody that didn't, besides him.

"He's also very competitive. All around, I'd say he's got to be the best poker player alive. Maybe not in one specific game, but he just won the [$50,000 buy-in] H.O.R.S.E. event. I think if they'd have finished the thing out in H.O.R.S.E. the way they had played it [mixed games instead of no-limit hold 'em at the final table to please ESPN], I think it would've come down to me and him and maybe Phil Ivey. I was second in chips when I got to the final table, and I lost two pots and I was the first one out.''

Next trait: Memory of hands and playing styles.

"I'd like to have my son's recall,'' Doyle said of Todd. "He can remember things better than anyone I've ever known. He remembers things back when he was 1 year old. You'll be watching a movie that he's seen one time 20 years ago and he'll tell you the next line that the person is going to say. Again, that's a gift. That's not something I think you can develop. I think you've either got that or you don't. Mine's good. Really good. But his is better.

"I actually think that ability is the most important thing a poker player can have -- recall -- because you remember situations that happened previously and you remember what transpired in that same situation against a player of the same caliber that you're up against.''

OK, now people-reading skills.

"I think Mike Caro's probably the best reader of people because he's spent so much time writing books on tells and so forth,'' Brunson said. "I'd say he's as good or better than anybody.''

Alright, how about math skills?

"Barry Greenstein is probably the best mathematician among the poker players,'' Brunson said. "He's one of the great players. He also has a very good composure about him. But I think he's probably the most brilliant mathematician in the poker world.''

Fine, now hand-reading abilities.

"It's a little different skill,'' Brunson began. "Some people put more emphasis on that. I think Jennifer Harman is very good at that. She spends a lot of time and effort on that in her game. She's a little bit more deliberate than most of us and I know she's trying to read her opponent's hand.''

Going deeper: postflop play.

"Hmmm, postflop,'' Brunson said. "I think Daniel Negreanu is very good at that. He likes to play small pots because he believes he can outplay his opponents after the flop.''

And lastly, bankroll management, which, frankly, is kind of strange in poker, seeing as how you need a disregard for money in order to get more of it.

"I think Dewey Tomko is probably the best at that,'' Brunson said. "He can get up and quit when the game's not right. I'm not sure that that's correct or not. My philosophy's always been, 'If the game's worth playing in, it doesn't make any difference whether you're a winner or a loser -- you should play.' That's backfired on me a few times. But Dewey is very good at that. He won't go off for big numbers. He'll win a big number, but he won't lose a big number.''

Indeed, those major parts would make for a great poker player. Maybe the best ever.

But in all of the anatomy of the perfect player, Brunson didn't select anything from, um, you know, Brunson.

"I'd rather my peers be the judge of that. I'm sure I'm adequate at all of them pretty much because I've been around for so long. I would never put myself at the top of anything. Someone else would have to do it.''

Or all of the poker world would.

That's why Brunson received the first Lifetime Achievement Award at the Card Player magazine blowout last February. Brunson received two loud standing ovations that night, one as he was introduced by Caro and another after his wonderfully passionate speech that reflected his thankfulness for what poker has allowed him to enjoy and his full embrace of the responsibility as poker's legendary ambassador, a role many people in other games and sports shrink from.

"I think some of these younger guys think that poker owes them something,'' Brunson said, and there is some force in his voice on this subject. "Poker don't owe us; we owe poker. We were a bunch of hustling poker players who were fortunate to be here at the right time when America found out what a great game poker really is and we're all reaping the benefits. I appreciate it. Some of them act like that's something that should happen. It didn't just happen. It evolved. It makes me a little bit mad when I see some of them who aren't appreciative.''

Brunson uttered that last part with some extra emphasis. Respect for the game is something he takes personally. This is not some tired, cranky old man talking. This is a sharp guy with the wisdom of seven decades who says he feels like he has the energy of a 30-year-old. And you know, that's right around the age Brunson was when he went back-to-back in the WSOP main event. Just fair warning.