1977 WSOP

In 1977 A legend further entrenched himself and a poker hand into poker lore.  The player was of course, Doyle Brunson, and the hand was his famous 10-2 with which he won his second WSOP Main Event in a row.  While the hand of 10-2 will forever be known as the “Doyle Brunson,” Doyle himself does not like having that named for him, as he readily explains that he doesn’t want to be remembered for lucking out with a horrible hand.

In 1977 Doyle was the dominant force throughout the entire WSOP Main Event.  Doyle had won a bracelet in one of the preliminary events and seemed on track to win another in the Main Event as he appeared to breeze through the best names in poker, making excellent decisions and building his hip stack.  When he made it to heads-up play his opponent was Gary Berland.

On the final hand Doyle was holding 10-2 and made top pair when the flop fell 10-8-5.  Berland made two pair with his 8-5, but made a common mistake, slowplaying two pair.  Berland checked which allowed Doyle to check behind him and see a free card on the turn, which turned out to be a 2, giving Doyle the better two pair.  Berland moved all-in here and Doyle quickly called.  Another 10 fell on the river to give Doyle a full house and put an exclamation point on his victory.  For the second year in a row, Doyle Brunson was the WSOP Main Event Champion.