In honor of PokerNews’ Texas Week, here is a look at seven most legendary Texas road gamblers, from the proposition bet-obsessed Thomas 'Amarillo Slim' Preston to the sharp-dressed Crandell Addington.īut life on the road was equally challenging, and the poker godfather has no shortage of stories about his road gambling days about getting cheated, held at gunpoint or taking down massive pots. The “nucleus” of players who grinded the dangerous Texas Circuit in the late 1950s and early 1960s were known as road gamblers, the earliest of poker pros who, as Brunson put it, “traveled to wherever the action could be found.” The foremost threat was getting hijacked, which usually meant getting robbed at gunpoint.”

“Killers, con artists, cheats and thieves were a fixture of the gambling landscape … (in) Texas and the South. “Anytime there was a lot of money involved, somebody was going to try to get it,” Brunson recalled in his autobiography Godfather of Poker. Players on the Texas Circuit didn’t only have to worry about taking a bad beat or losing a buy-in, but also getting cheated, robbed, arrested or killed. At the time, most of the action in the country could be found on the Texas Circuit, which “consisted of thirty or forty towns around Texas and the South where poker games were held regularly,” according to poker legend and Texas native Doyle Brunson.īrunson is one of many now-Poker Hall of Famers who got their start on the Texas Circuit, grinding out games in small towns throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama and other southern states.īut these poker games weren't like most games today.

Poker games in Texas were a lot harder to come by in the mid-1900s than they are today. In this article from 2022, Connor Richards dives into the history of the legendary Texas Road Gamblers.Įveryone from PokerNews would like to extend their condolences to the friends and family of Doyle Brunson, one of the greatest and most beloved poker players of all time. In honor of Doyle Brunson's passing, PokerNews has selected some of our best 'Texas Dolly' stories to celebrate the life of The Godfather of Poker.

TOP POKER MOMENTS BEST OF DOYLE BRUNSON