Doyle Brunson was born on August 10, 1933, in Longworth, Texas. A gifted athlete, he excelled in track and basketball, narrowly missing out on a career in the NBA due to a career-ending knee injury.12 He first started playing poker in the years following his injury, and eventually took a job as a salesperson.3 Legend has it, that on his first day in the job he was invited to a card game and won a month's salary in a single night.1 Soon thereafter he embarked on a career as a professional poker player.13

Brunson's talent as a track and basketball star earned him a spot in the Hardin-Simmons Athletics Hall of Fame, though he was left out for years before the Baptist college's president, Eric Bruntmyer, convinced the school to let the poker legend in.2 Brunson carried his Christian upbringing with him throughout his career and was a deeply religious and family-oriented man.2

In the early years of his poker career, Doyle Brunson formed a group known as the "Texas Rounders" with fellow players Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts.12 They traveled across Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, participating in high-stakes, often illegal poker games.2 Brunson's stories from this era were filled with extraordinary characters, dangerous situations, and constant efforts to hone his poker skills.2

Eventually, Brunson relocated to Las Vegas, where poker was legal and the games were safer.2 He quickly became a fixture in the high-stakes poker scene there, cementing his reputation as one of the best players in the world.12 Brunson's transition from the lawless road games to the bright lights of Vegas marked his rise to prominence in the poker world.

Super/System, published in 1979, is considered one of the most influential and important books on poker strategy ever written.123 Authored primarily by Doyle Brunson with contributions from several other top players like Mike Caro, Chip Reese, David Sklansky, and Bobby Baldwin, it was one of the first comprehensive works covering advanced strategies for various poker variants.12

The book begins with general strategy concepts before delving into specific games like draw poker, seven-card stud, lowball, stud high-low split, limit hold'em, and no-limit hold'em.1 It also contains a probability and statistics section.1 Despite being over 40 years old, Super/System is still revered by many professionals as required reading that shaped modern poker theory and made expert-level strategies accessible to the public for the first time.23

While some content is now outdated, the book's profound influence is undeniable. Brunson himself believed it likely cost him more in future earnings than it made due to the strategies he revealed.1 Super/System opened the door for the widespread study and development of advanced poker theory that has evolved over subsequent decades.23