Poker WI - Doyle Brunson not hurt

OK - time for a poker WI.

Doyle Brunson is a living legend in the poker world - the grand old man of poker, who's won millions and is credited with bringing Texas Hold 'em to the mainstream of the poker world.

What many people don't know is that Brunson in his youth was an amazing athlete who was headed towards a pro basketball career. In college, he was working am industrial plant, had an accident, and his leg was shattered. While he recovered, Brunson's hopes for a pro basketball were ended, and he continued with Poker.

So, obvious WI ... Brunson isn't ever in that accident. Handwaving away, let's say he does become a pro basketball player, with a successful career. What happens to poker, and, more specifically, does Texas Hold 'Em become the monster that it is today?

Mike Turcotte
 
I think this has the potential to be a very subtle but interesting TL. From an obvious standpoint, there aren't major events that stand out as being contingent on Brunson. Most people tend to credit Chris Moneymaker's win at the WSOP in 2003 is generally credited as kicking off the Texas Hold 'em boom, and I think that (or something like it) could still happen in a world without Texas Dolly.

That being said: no Doyle Brunson means no Super/System, which was the first publicly available, comprehensive guide to Texas Hold 'em. Eliminating that book would, IMO, cause massive ripples in the development of poker pros in the 80s.
 
I think the problem with a "what if" like this is that for all we know someone may have done exactly what the person you're butterflying away did.

Someone (or somones) else may have taken up the slack, so to speak, seizing the opportunities that would then be available to write a best-selling book on poker or to win lots of money.

Bottom-line for me is that people like to gamble and Texas Hold'em is fun and can suit everyone from beginners to professionals.
 
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