They say you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but the legendary Doyle Brunson apparently doesn’t subscribe to that. This week he described golf-mad gambler Tyson Leonard as “a jerk”…
I don't have anything nice to say except he had a lot of gamble. Other than that he was a jerk. Goodbye. https://t.co/U1yhuxApXK
— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly) August 15, 2021
Doyle Brunson has nothing nice to say about Leonard
Doyle, the granddaddy of poker, met or knew almost every single gambler worth knowing during his Texas Road Gambler years. He traveled from town to town playing poker and betting on everything imaginable in seedy bars and smoky cardrooms.
Tyson Leonard, who passed away last year, was one of those gamblers. Even though it’s not clear who won the $500,000 bet that allegedly occurred between the pair, or what the bet was on.
With lucrative businesses in nightclubs, aluminium, and Lear camper covers, Leonard is described as “a successful handicapper, bookie, and poker player”, by Alan Blondin who says Leonard, “never turned down a bet because of the amount.”
“The limit was however much cash you could put in front of you,” said Leonard himself, who liked to call himself Texaco Tex, despite hailing from Georgia.
Leonard was known as a fish to fellow gamblers, among them Duane “Dewey” Tomko.
The 3-time WSOP bracelet winner revealed: “First time I won a million was playing golf against a guy named Tyson Leonard. He’d get a hold of some dough, then gamble ’til he lost it. People would fly from all over to play him.”
Having already been taken for $240k, Leonard was now “really mad”, according to Tomko. ‘You goddamn gamblers,’ he says. ‘You’re gonna have to bet me a million!’
Tomko added: “He thinks I’ll be afraid to play for that much, but I don’t think twice. He winds up paying me in gold Krugerrands. Called them his ‘little babies.’ “
That story was backed up by another legend of the betting world, Billy Walters, who is currently serving the remainder of a 5-year jail in home confinement.
“Tyson is what amateurs call a fish”
Walters, who was the mastermind behind a six-year-long, $multi-million, insider-trading scheme, stated: “Tyson is what amateurs call a fish,” adding, Pro gamblers call him it.”
“It was the biggest stickup known to man,” Walters said of the golf game that took place the next day. “We drew up a contract with a commitment to keep playing until one team won a million dollars.
Walters then revealed, “We beat ’em three days in a row, but then Tyson faked a heart attack, so he didn’t fulfill the freeze-out. To his credit, he did pay up what he lost. And he did pay in Krugerrands. I have no idea why.”
Leonard was described as “the biggest sucker in golf I’ve ever seen,” by Bascom “Junior” Belk, who added: “He could lose five days in a row, and come back and make the same bet on the sixth day.’”
Although Doyle Brunson admits to Leonard having “a lot of gamble”, it was clear he wasn’t too keen on Leonard’s other traits. Although little is known about the man, something his nephew’s book hopes to change.
It might sound unlikely, but perhaps the most famous modern-day stuntman, Evil Knievel, has a place among those stories, having also won a massive sum of money from Leonard on the golf course.
“I won $100,000 on a game of golf once,” revealed Knievel, pictured below as you’ve probably never seen him. “I was playing Tyson Leonard at the Bay Tree golf course at Myrtle Beach. I eagled the first hole, which surprised both of us. I have only ever had a couple of eagles in my life. Then I didn’t drop another shot over par for the rest of the game. He paid up.”
Brunson’s brutal tweet had his fans split, however, with some praising him for his honesty…
https://twitter.com/PaulyWalnuts76/status/1426937444209922052?s=20
…while others weren’t impressed with his public put-down of Leonard…
Classy answer Doyle. Could have sent that to him privately. You are better than that.
— Mike Fletcher (@SoonerFletch) August 15, 2021
Of course, in the days of highstakes gambling that Doyle indulged in away from the poker tables, there were elements and situations that went well beyond “jerk” status.
Brunson was robbed at gunpoint several times, and beaten too, as he travelled what became known as “Bloodthirsty Alley” — the chain of back-room card games and underground gaming dens that spread across Texas and beyond.
He eventually teamed up with Bryan “Sailor” Roberts and Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston and the trio shared adventures, bankrolls, and travels through the underground scene.
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