Home / Poker News July 2012 / The Poker Grapevine – Brunson to Play in Main Event After all
The Poker Grapevine – Brunson to Play in Main Event After all
Posted by: Randy Williams - Tue, 2012-07-10 07:19
The 2012 WSOP may have broken several records, and attendance – despite the positively abysmal poker economy – has thus far been much better than expected. Unfortunately, another record shall fall shortly, and this one won’t have a positive twist to it. For the first time in the 43 years of its existence, the
WSOP Main Event will play out without Doyle Brunson – an iconic poker figure, whose name has pretty much become equivalent with the Big Dance. The 78 year old Brunson will skip the event this year. In a tweet he fired out the other day, he said he had really worn himself out over the last few weeks grinding away at the cash game tables 10-12 hours a day.
Brunson – who has 10 WSOP bracelets – has won the Main Event twice. Frankly, his first WSOP cash wasn’t a particularly impressive accomplishment, given the fact that it took place back in 1972, when the event barely managed to attract a tableful of contestants.
His Main Event wins came in 1976 and 1977. Since the poker popularity explosion of 2003-2004 though, ‘Tex Dolly’ hasn’t really managed to break into the top ranks of Main Event finishers.
Last minute update: Doyle seems to have had a change of heart. He bought into the event and he will play after all.
In other news: Phil Laak has held the record for the longest ever continuous poker session for quite a while, but records are meant to be broken. As of last week, the new holder of the record is Barry Denson, who played for a massive 120 hours and 20 minutes at the G Casino in Manchester. Denson has apparently prepared for the feat in advance: he said that over the few weeks preceding his record-breaking run, he had been gradually shortening his sleep till he got down to about 3 hours a day.
Although Guinness World Record hasn’t yet confirmed the record, Denson has sent video footage and paperwork to have his deed certified.
