Poker Player Pamela Brunson..full interview!

An Interview with Pamela Brunson

By: Derrick Oliver

So, I was actually retweeted by Doyle Brunson! Yes, the Godfather of professional poker himself, Texas Dolly, the author Super System, poker’s Bible, the author of Super System II, the Fred Flinstone to Chip Reese’s Barney Rubble.  (Chip Reese, by the way, in the eyes of Brunson, is the greatest poker player ever to have sat down at a table.)  It was a simple retweet, click of a button and my message was out there, cyberspace, for all to see.  I say ‘all’ but I really mean his 384,000 followers on Twitter.  Can you imagine - 384,000?  I have 96 right now. Still counting! 

A day earlier, over the phone, I had an enjoyable conversation with Pamela Brunson, Doyle’s daughter.  A week earlier I had requested an interview with her via my other social media vice, Facebook, and she kindly accepted.  The interview was to commence at 3 P.M. PST but when I called her cell phone was off, right to message.  After a few more tries, I was about to give up, she finally answered about 3:15 her time, maybe 3:16, and quickly apologized for being tardy.  Seems I had interrupted Pam and her mother in Bible study. 

     The interview lasted roughly 19 minutes but it was high quality stuff.  I have interviewed many people over the years, Wayne Gretzky, Ken Dryden, Phil Hellmuth, Bill Clinton, etc., and while most of them transpire in a smooth and relatively satisfactory fashion, informative and interesting, there is always the danger one might flop, that the interview might sour.  The Q&A between Pamela Brunson and Derrick Oliver on June 3, 2012 was not a flop. No, it was better than average. Personable, reflective, compelling, it was all of that and more!

    She spoke on a variety of topics; ranging from her mom, who she referred to as ‘the rock’ of the Brunson family, to her love of cats.  She talked about her legendary father, a ‘good Christian too’, about her brother Todd and her wish he’d cut off his long hair, both on his head and his face.  “He’s got the cutest dimples,” she said, her voice expressing her disappointment.  She likes to line dance, ride horses, and spend time with her family.  She’s a country girl at heart, born in Texas but living in Las Vegas, a longhorn inhabiting so-called Sin City.

Pamela is a pretty good poker player too.  Perhaps not on the same level as her father, whose illustrious career includes 10 World Series of Poker gold bracelets and two World Championship main event titles, but certainly on a level much higher than the vast majority of poker players who consider themselves better than average.  She’s pocketed more than $100,000 on the tournament circuit over the course of her career.  She’s won a tournament where the first place prize was a Harley Davidson.  She doesn’t ride but she’s still got it.  She also finished 364th in the main event in 2007, pretty decent considering 6,538 people entered the championship.  She maintains she took that deep run “hand-by-hand” but I wondered if she, somewhere in the recesses of her mind, had thoughts of putting another Brunson photo on the Wall of Fame at Binions, where the World Series of Poker originated and was played until 2004 when it switched over to the Rio.  Her father’s mug is on that legendary brick faced twice alongside the likes of Johnny Moss, Stu Ungar and Sailor Roberts.  “Hand-by-hand” she maintained.  I wonder.  It’s got to be hard not to think of fame and fortune and a world championship as the field narrowed with each and every elimination.  So late, so close, she was knocked out with one hour left in play on Day 3.  Her queens bested by an opponent’s Ace 5 offsuit.   “That’s my hand of death,” she lamented.  “But you gotta play them,” she said.

We exchanged pleasantries when the interview was done and I was left with a smile on my face.  I had just enjoyed an in depth, soulful exchange with the daughter of a poker God.  She enjoyed it too!  I felt it.  I had studied, researched my facts, had details that, to her, illustrated I put some effort into it.  I’m happy about that.  This wasn’t about her dad, wasn’t about the guy the entire poker world looked up to and admired.  This was about her, about Pam.  She liked that.

It took me a day to get back to the recording but it wasn’t long before Part 1 and 2 were up on my website, www.highrollerradioshow.com.  I also grabbed clips of the interview for future use; on the website, on ‘The Fabric of Poker’, a show I host in conjunction with my friends over at OnTiltRadio.com, and also to promote on Facebook and Twitter.  Then I noticed something strange, peculiar, an oddity that left me wondering again.  Recall, our chat was scheduled for 3 P.M. pacific time and I interrupted her Bible study.  We didn’t connect until about quarter after, maybe 3:16?  Well, I was pulling my last clip, I had already saved the quotes about her mother, her deep run in the series, and her rapid fire responses to ten names and phrases I threw her way, when I noticed it.  That last clip focussed on her hobbies the fact she was a Christian, born and bred.  Highlight the in cue, “I like horses and line dancing…,” and the out cue, “…how important faith and Christianity are to me.”  Check the length, 3 minutes 16 seconds, save it to file – wait a minute!  3 minutes 16 seconds? 3:16?  John 3:16?  One of the most famous versus’ the good book has to offer.  A clip about Christianity? A clip that length?  It gave me chills.  Thank-you Pamela Brunson.

If you’d like to listen to the entire Pamela Brunson interview with Derrick Oliver simply visit www.HighRollerRadioShow.com .  The most interesting poker/gambling magazine online. Soundbytes - Interviews - Flashbacks - Oddities.

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