There are exactly 169 possible starting hands in a game of Texas Hold’em Poker. The most famous ones of all are the goodies – the pocket Aces, the A-K suited, or even the worst possible 7-2 off-suit, things of this nature. So what it is that makes a menial hand like 10-2 so significant?

For all intents and purposes, 10-2 doesn’t sound like a very good hand. Suited or not, it just doesn’t have all that much potential to develop into a winner. However, there is one legendary card player who will take this hand every time it comes his way, and that’s the infamous Doyle Brunson; good old Texas Dolly himself.
The significance of the 10-2 hand in poker, for Doyle Brunson anyway, is that it has been the luckiest hands among his long, illustrious career. Having played professionally since back before the very first World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 1970, Brunson is the proud receptacle of 10 coveted WSOP bracelets, leaving him tied in second place with Johnny Chan, just a single bracelet behind the current leader Phil Hellmuth.

The luckiest hand in poker or the “Doyle Brunson hand” Many hands in poker have special names: Pocket aces are called pocket rockets, pocket kings are the cowboys and the famous “dead man’s hand” is made of aces and eights in cross and spades. But there are not many hands named after a player in the world of poker.

Two of those sought-after bracelets were awarded to Texas Dolly for winning the WSOP Championship Main Event, and they just happen to be in consecutive years, 1976 and 1977. The most phenomenal aspect of those achievements was that both of the final hands, at the final tables, were won by Doyle Brunson while holding the obsequious hand of 10-2.

1. “You played that hand like a vegan.” Erick Linderer (to Daniel Negreanu) 29. “May the flop be with you.” Doyle Brunson. “Poker is 100% skill and 50% luck.” Phil Hellmuth. “It’s not whether you won or lost, but how many bad beat stories you were able to tell.” Grantland Rice.
2. And as every poker fan knows by now, Brunson wound up winning the final hand holding the innocuous 10-2. The following year was more of the same for Brunson, as he took down his third gold bracelet in a preliminary event, then repeated as World Champion in the Main Event.

At the end of a tedious WSOP Main Event in 1976, Brunson found himself competing heads-up against worthy opponent Jesse Alto for the championship. When the oh-so fallible 10-2, suited in spades, appeared in Brunson’s hand, he was the strong chip leader. Alto, on the other hand, was dealt A-J off-suit, an excellent starting hand for heads-up play and the perfect opportunity to make a comeback. Alto raised, Doyle called, the Flop came down A-J-10 (2 hearts, 1 spade).

Alto clearly had the advantage, pairing his Ace and Jack, while Brunson held only a pair of 10s. With few other options and a heavy stack, Brunson hoped to intimidate Jesse out of the pot with an all-in shove. However, Alto’s confidence led to a decisive call. The Turn brought another 2, but still left Brunson trailing until the River came down, a 10, completing a Flush and $220k prize for Brunson, on top of a horrifically bad beat for Alto.

Poker Brunson Hand Signals

The 10-2 had struck on a fluke, or so everyone thought at the time. Brunson was on top of his game and found himself back in the hot seat one year later at the 1977 WSOP Main Event final table, face to face with Bones Berland.

Brunson Poker Hand

Once more, Texas Dolly had the lead on chips when the mystic hand arrived before him – 10-2. It was not suited this time, but neither was Berland’s decidedly pitiful 8-5. It wasn’t until the Flop came down, 10-8-5 rainbow, that either player showed any interest in shoveling chips into the pot. Doyle felt pretty confident with his top pair 10s, but Bones had to know he had the best hand pairing the 8s and 5s.

Being the low stack, Berland slow-played his pairs, which may have been his biggest mistake. Brunson called up to the Turn, when a 2 dropped giving him the better two pair hand. Brunson bet high and Berland pushed his whole stack, only to be instantly called the by defending champion. Then the most mysterious thing of all happened – the River came up a 10. It was the exact same hand, the 10s-over-2s Full House that had given Brunson the championship bracelet the year before. He took the consecutive bracelet and another $340k in prize money.

The Brunson Poker Hand

From that moment on, the confounding 10-2 has been known to all in the poker world as The Doyle Brunson Hand.