“This one lady kept saying, ‘Louise you’ve got to come.’”Īt the dance, Doyle happened to be in attendance along with gambling partner Bryan 'Sailor' Roberts, winner of the 1975 World Series of Poker Main Event. “I’d never even heard western music at that time,” she says. She tagged along looking for some fun after long, hard hours at the drugstore. One day after work, some of the girls she worked with were heading out to hear a country and western band. Two more years later with her pharmacist license in hand, Louise received 20 job offers but decided to head out to San Angelo for her new career.

After receiving a degree to be a lab technician from the University of Georgia in three and half years, she found out the salary to continue and earn a degree in pharmacology. Her father died when she was young, but she was persistent. She grew up in Florida, and Doyle was raised in Longworth, Texas. The couple met in 1959 in San Angelo where Louise was working as a pharmacist. “WE HAVE A LOT OF LOVE FOR EACH OTHER.” Bookkeeper or Bookmaker? She is quick to note that Doyle has a ton of great stories and that their marriage has lasted through many trials and tribulations – something she takes immense pride in. Louise always worried when he didn’t come home on time, worried that he might have been arrested – or worse. And I couldn’t wait just to get a new car because in those times it was tough. “They would come after them with guns and everything else. “It was terrible, just terrible,” Louise recalls. Finding enough action to make a living was tough enough, but players also carried firearms and dodged crooks and robbers frequently just to make it home with their winnings.Īt times, Louise worried whether Doyle would return from one of those trips. It’s the 1950s and ‘60s, and your husband travels across Texas and the Southwest playing poker – the life of a road gambler. Now imagine that scenario played out before poker players had the comfy confines of a Vegas card room and easy-to-find stakes high enough to support a family. Certainly, there can be tension over money. Trying to raise children and hold down the house while he’s away in a casino.

The wife of a poker player for more than 55 years, she knows the ins and outs of being married to a gambler.īeing married to a professional poker player can certainly be challenging for any couple. Have a conversation with 86-year-old Louise Brunson, and one thing is clear she deeply loves her husband Doyle.

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