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| | A True Legend of Poker | | |      |
By Duffy Riebe
As a poker player since 1968, I never played poker in a casino until some satellites in the 2003 Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, California.
I played in a couple of the events during the 2004 Legends of Poker, but my highlight of last year's tournament was having a front row seat to watch the final table as it was being taped for the World Poker Tour.As most of us know, Doyle Brunson masterfully played and won the tournament.
I can tell you that the TV showing of it doesn't even begin to show how great of a final table it was.
But what the tournament also did not reveal is what a true sportsmen and gentleman that Doyle Brunson really is.
Something I witnessed that day confirmed to me that Doyle is truly a legend of the game.While watching the tournament, to my left was Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri, and next to him sat Max Shapiro.
I had met Al during the previous few weeks while playing satellites, and we got our "tickets" to the final table together.
We cheered Doyle on, shared ordered food with Max, and had a great time.
Little did I know that Al Barbieri had a vested interest in the outcome of the tournament.What I didn't know was that on the first day of the tournament (3 days earlier), Al saw Doyle walking down the corridor at the Bike and yelled to him "Hey Doyle - how much for 1% of your action?" Doyle knew Al, and told him to give him $50.00 (which Al did).After Doyle won the final table, he looked over at Al and gestured for him to come over to him.
I still had no clue what was going on, but Al said "Hey Duffy, come with me and take my picture with Doyle." As we approached him, Doyle pulled two $10,000 pads of $100 bills out of his pocket, handed one of them to Al, broke the seal on the second one, and asked Al to peel off the rest that was owed to him (a total of 12,000).
Afterwards, I took a picture of Al with Doyle, and then Al took a picture of the two of us together.What amazed me was that Doyle seemed genuinely happy to share his winningswith someone else.
That day confirmed all of the beliefs that I had regarding Doyle Brunson as being a wonderful person, and as a great ambassador for poker.
I have seen Doyle on several occasions since then, and I am always in awe of him.
My goal is to someday be on a final table with him.Photos of Doyle Brunson and Al Barbieri are taken from the searchable Poker Photo Gallery located at mambo.Poker/gallery2/main.php
Please send them to EditorPoker.
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