When poker was played with a gun and with courage
It was the late 1950s and a trio of Texans - Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts - decided to join forces. They lived like poker nomads - crisscrossing the southern states of the USA, always with cash, guns and cards. Their goal was one thing: to find a game with sufficiently rich opponents and weak abilities.
"In those days, you needed not only good cards, but also courage. Sometimes you could win money, other times a bullet," recalled Doyle Brunson in his autobiography, The Godfather of Poker.
Slim was a showman, known for his charm and ability to get anywhere. Doyle was a quiet strategist, and Roberts - known as "Sailor" - had a reputation as a fierce player with military discipline.
"I doubt there will ever be three progressive players with the same talent we had," Amarillo Slim said in an interview years ago."Any one of us could fill in for the other when he was tired or not feeling well. Doyle, Sailor and I dedicated our lives to becoming three of the best poker players in the world."
Three legends, three WSOP bracelet winners
Although the legendary players were also friends in real life, sooner or later their paths were bound to diverge. The partnership eventually lasted about 7 years, and it wasn't until a disastrous trip to Vegas that convinced them that it was time to go their separate ways. According to some sources, they lost a large sum as a team, almost the entire joint bankroll.
That, of course, wasn't the last time the three Texans found themselves at the same table. In fact, after years of traveling and gambling together, their fates were forever etched in World Series of Poker history:
- Amarillo Slim won the WSOP Main Event in 1972 and became an ambassador for the game, appearing on television, writing books and challenging celebrities to crazy bets.
- Sailor Roberts won the title in 1975. He was less well-known to the public, but maintained a huge amount of respect among players.
- Doyle Brunson dominated the WSOP Main Event in 1976 and 1977, both times with the same final hand: 10-2, which is still called the "Doyle Brunson Hand". Overall at the WSOP, Doyle recorded 37 cashes, and as many as 10 bracelets from them.
The end of an era that will never go away
Sadly, neither of this trio is with us today. Roberts passed away back in 1995, Slim in 2012 and the legendary Doyle Brunson left us in 2023. But their spirit lives on, and always will - in every hand played, every WSOP bracelet won, and every player who dreams of a big win, there's a little bit of their legacy.
Sources - Wiki, PokerNews, WSOP, The Sporting Tribune, Fox 9