When I was growing up in the hills of Western Pennsylvania, my siblings and I would never fail to make those Friday night horror flicks at the Sutersville Theater. 'Frankenstein,' 'The Thing,' 'King Kong,' 'Creature From Beneath The Earth,' and later 'Son of Frankenstein,' and even 'Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.'
After a while, we began wising up. We realized the a movie with the title 'Son Of -----' would not be nearly as good as the original. They were simply spin-offs from the real thing and made by film producers who wanted to capitalize on past successes.
Todd Brunson is the son of Doyle 'Texas Dolly' Brunson. He is a bearded overweight player who doesn't resemble his famous poker-playing dad in physical appearance or in the quality of his play.
Now that doesn't mean Todd isn't a decent player. He has played enough high stakes poker to earn a good living and even made a name for himself by once beating a Dallas billionaire named Andrew Beal out of $5 million. More about that later.
When I first met Doyle Brunson back in the 1960s and began interviewing him for newspaper and magazine articles, he emphasized the fact that poker was not for everybody. In fact, he went out of the way to stress that he would not push his children into playing poker.
Todd, who is 47, didn't begin playing poker seriously until he enrolled in college to study law at Texas Tech University. A burly, no-nonsense type of individual, he couldn't stand to lose an argument and would probably have made a good trial attorney had he stuck around for his degree.
Instead he dropped out of college in his junior year and began playing poker full-time.
When asked why he did it, Todd dances around the truth and doesn't give a straight answer. Although he and his father remain on good terms, Doyle never taught him anything about playing poker. He just watched his son play from the sidelines.
In a 2005 World Series of Poker Omaha High-Low tournament, he won a bracelet and picked up some good cash. But he hasn't done that well in WSOP tournaments and prefers cash games where he claims he makes his money.
His friends have nicknamed him 'Dark Horse.'
In one memorable matchup, Todd beat Antonio Esfandiari out of $400,000. That was a real accomplishment since Antonio is an above-average player.
Brunson also claims to have won $13.5 million over a two-day period in heads up competition where the stakes were $50,000 to $100,000. That was a game that Andy Beal and some other legendary players like Phil Ivey, Chip Reese and Doyle Brunson played. A boo was written about the game called 'The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King.'
Oldtimers still remember the night he played Beal matchup in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio and walked away with $5 million in pink $25,000 chips.
Now I have never met Todd Brunson. I have seen him in several Las Vegas casinos but he has an over-bearing attitude that makes him standoffish and so I chose to avoid introducing myself.
But he is Doyle Brunson's son and as readers on this website know, I have heaps of respect for Doyle. There's always a black sheep or two in a family, and until Todd does a better job of proving himself, I am afraid that's the category where I would place him.
In one interview, Todd boasted that at one time he thought he was one of the best no-limit Texas Hold'em players around. However, he has backed off that statement, admitting the current crop of players are tough.
He plays mixed games and always likes it when the WSOP comes around because of the variety of games available to players. Who knows? Maybe one of these days I will find myself sitting across from him in an Omaha High-Low tournament. Then I will be able to give my readers a more accurate portrayal of the Son of Doyle. Let the games begin.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
