by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
December 18, 2008
Two poker legends, Doyle Brunson and Layne Flack, have been involved in something of an internet feud – throwing verbal jabs and accusations at each other – that was sparked by an article on CardPlayer.com. Columnist Stephen A. Murphy asked a number of WSOP bracelet winners whether they felt that players should be able to re-buy into bracelet events. The response from Flack, this year’s $1,500 Omaha tournament, did not sit well with Brunson.
When asked whether a re-buy format could be equated with “buying” a bracelet, Flack answered, “That’s bullsh--. It’s not like there is no play. The field is huge.” He noted that a player may only buy back in if he has the same number of chips or less as he did when he started, and so it wouldn’t set the player at an unfair advantage.
He then turned his argument to Doyle Brunson. “You want to talk about buying a bracelet? Let’s talk about Doyle’s bracelet when there were eight people in the tournament. The critics should look back in history and see where a bracelet has been bought.”
The tournament to which Flack refers was a 1979 $600 mixed doubles event where Brunson, alongside of Starla Brodie, defeated 14 opponents to take home a bracelet worth $4,500. With Brunson having been voted the most influential poker player in history, this comment was not well received in the online poker community, or by the cowboy himself.
Brunson responded in the form of a blog on his online poker room, Doylesroom.com. “As a rule, I don’t say anything about things people say in interviews,” the blog reads. “But I can’t help being deeply offended by the article… I thought this man was a friend of mine. Back in the early days of the WSOP, I certainly didn’t even consider that a bracelet would have any value.”
“I never won a tournament that had 8 people in it. There were only 14 entries in a mixed double tournament that Starla Brodie and I won. If I could find that bracelet, I would send it to Layne and tell him to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
Brunson goes on to say that he isn’t concerned with the bracelets, having failed to collect two that he had won in the past. He feels that the “bracelet race” is a way for television networks to add to the competitive nature of the game.
“I love anything that is competitive, but winning bracelets is not on my priority list. I still play poker because it energizes me and keeps me thinking young. I like playing real poker for real money and tournament poker for me is a second choice.”
When he’s not competing in tournament events at the WSOP, Brunson can be found playing online at his website, as “Texas Dolly”. His career in poker has lasted over 40 years, and as a result, Brunson has 10 bracelets on his belt. Now 75, many refer to Brunson as the Babe Ruth of poker.
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