DoylesRoom is Back: Come On In

There are very few people who can become internationally recognized for their chosen vocation, even among those who know little or nothing about that profession. Doyle Brunson is one of that rare breed. Brunson is a legend by anyone's standards; it's hard to argue with 10 World Series of Poker gold bracelets and 50-something years of experience. He is known almost as much for his integrity as his poker prowess. He also is known for his ability to adapt to his opponents and his environment.

And adapt he did. Online poker is a lucrative and growing market, so Brunson made the obvious choice to throw his famous 10-gallon hat into the ring. DoylesRoom.com opened its virtual doors in 2004, and people rushed at the chance to try their hand at playing against the poker superstar himself. The waters turned a bit murky when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed in late 2006, but DoylesRoom.com reaffirmed its commitment to U.S. players in October of 2007 when it came back knocking with new software and an armful of awesome promotions.

Doyle's back, baby.

Bounty: Dead or Alive (or Just All of His Chips)
DoylesRoom.com has tons of tournaments and promotions worth checking out, but its most famous, by far, is The Bounty. Where else can you take a shot at taking out "Texas Dolly," a man who has won 10 World Series of Poker gold bracelets.

And this is no normal bounty tournament, either. Ordinary bounty tournaments come in two shapes and sizes: (1) players get a very small kickback when they eliminate any player from the tournament, or (2) players get an OK-sized payout for taking out any of a select group of players, and that payout is the same for each and every elimination.

The Bounty at DoylesRoom.com kicks bounty tournaments up a notch by offering escalating paydays up to $25,000 for bounty hunters. If players eliminate any of the designated bounty players, they get $500 credited to their accounts. If a player eliminates two key bounty players, he earns $5,000, and if he eliminates three key bounty players, he takes home $25,000.

The incredible thing is, players can get in on that action for a buy-in of just $25 (plus $2.50 entry fee). Even better, first-time players in The Bounty get a full rebate on their buy-in, meaning they can turn $0 into $25,000, plus any of the normal tournament prize pool associated with the tournament. And the bounty players themselves include poker megastars like Mike "The Mad Genius" Caro, Hoyt Corkins, a slew of TV and movie stars, and, of course, Doyle himself, meaning entrants can play poker and chat with some big-ticket celebrities. There are few, if any, tournaments anywhere else in which players can find that kind of value for their buy-in buck.

Guarantees: $4 Million Worth, to be Exact
Whether or not The Bounty suits your fancy, DoylesRoom.com has your number - that is, if 4,000,000 is your number.
The site offers $4 million in guaranteed prize pools on a monthly basis. Among those guaranteed prize-pool tournaments is a $175,000-guaranteed no-limit hold'em tournament that's held every Sunday with a buy-in of $60 (plus $5 entry fee). That buy-in is incredibly small, considering that buy-ins for comparable tournaments on other sites usually run in the hundreds of dollars. DoylesRoom.com also offers the Extreme Stack, a $50,000-guaranteed no-limit hold'em tournament with a 5,000 starting stack, on Saturdays.

From the Man Himself
Card Player spoke with Brunson about his site, and found out what he thinks makes DoylesRoom.com so special, what he thinks of being back in the U.S. (and how he feels about being forced to leave in the first place), and what he sees for the future of his site:

Card Player: What inspired you to endorse DoylesRoom.com?

Doyle Brunson: It was the challenge of lending my name to a better place to play on the Internet. It was also because I represented one of the first Internet poker sites, Highlands, which failed. I wanted to make amends for that failure. The site went bankrupt, but I personally paid every player who had money at Highlands.

CP: What makes DoylesRoom special, in your opinion?

DB: The personal attention we try to give our players. We have the best customer service anywhere.

CP: Both you and your site take honesty, trust, and integrity very seriously. Why do you think those things are so important, in particular?

DB: Because my name is on the site, I try to make sure of those things. Poker players, including me, have been taken advantage of for a long time. I think that poker players know their money is safe at DoylesRoom.

CP: How does it feel to be back in action in the U.S. with all-new software?

DB: It feels good to be back. I'm still very unclear about the reason that management thought we should leave in the first place. None of the other sites left except the publicly traded companies.

CP: So … is it really you playing in those bounty tournaments?

DB: Yes. I really enjoy playing in the bounty tournaments at DoylesRoom, and chatting with the players.

CP: The bounty tournament on DoylesRoom is very different from other bounty tournaments. Can you explain how you guys came up with the unique payout structure for the bounty eliminations?

DB: It is just a chance for our players to risk very little and win a lot. It is also a chance to get to play with me and different celebrities. We have had Nicky and Paris Hilton, Kevin Connolly, Pam Anderson, Cyndy Violette, Hoyt Corkins, Mike Caro, Todd, Pam, and Angela Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Minh Ly, Chau Giang, and many others as bounties in the tournament.

CP: What can players expect from DoylesRoom in the years to come?

DB: Continued growth and a concerted effort to give back to our players. Also, we hope to have the softest games on the Net. We really appreciate our players, and we will try to make playing at DoylesRoom a pleasurable experience.

Hoyt Corkins: The Other Champion in a Cowboy Hat

The DoylesRoom.com team of poker pros, affectionately called Team Brunson, has had a reputation for featuring some of the most respected players in poker history. Team Brunson member Hoyt Corkins is the proud owner of two World Series of Poker bracelets, more than $3 million in tournament winnings, and a World Poker Tour title. He's been nicknamed "Cowboy" (for the cowboy hat he's always seen wearing, much like Doyle himself), "Mr. Move All In," and "Nightmare." The latter nickname is a bit misleading, as Corkins is one of the nicest players on the tournament circuit today. Then again, maybe it has more to do with the nightmares you'll have about all of the money you could have won had he not been sitting at your table:

Card Player: You're currently a member of Team Brunson, which has included some of the biggest names in poker over the years. What does it mean to you to be a part of that team?

Hoyt Corkins: It's a big honor to be on Team Brunson, especially with Doyle Brunson being the legend of poker that he is. It's a big thrill. Doyle demands that you be an honest person, he has other standards he requires to be a part of the team for DoylesRoom, and given all of that, it means a lot to me.

CP: What do you do as a part of the team?

HC: I play poker on the site, promote DoylesRoom when I can, and support Doyle. I try to play every Wednesday night in the bounty tournament on the site.

CP: It's been said that you have no fear and raw courage at the table. What does that really mean?

HC: That is sort of the true deal. I have confidence that I can make it as a professional poker player, and if I get in a big pot and I lose it, I still have confidence that I can make it. When I play in a tournament, I try to go in with a lot of confidence. When I've got the best hand, I think it's going to hold up, and when I've got the worst hand, I think it's going to draw out.

CP: DoylesRoom is famous for its bounty tournament. Is your fearless nature detrimental in a tournament like that, in which your all-in bet is particularly tantalizing to call?

HC: Well, yes. In the bounty tournaments, they want to gamble with you. When you're playing in a bounty tournament and there's not that much money at stake, people will call you a lot more quickly. So, you can't intimidate the table.

CP: What's so great about DoylesRoom?

HC: I would say Doyle Brunson. Doyle Brunson stands for honesty and integrity, and he wants everyone to get a fair shake. So, that's what I would say is the main thing that sets DoylesRoom apart.

CP: What benefits are there to playing on a medium-sized poker site, in terms of player traffic, rather than a large one?

HC: The games are probably softer on a medium site than they are on a larger one, because all of the better players are

CP: So, do you think that it would be a good idea for people to sign up for DoylesRoom simply because they're likely to face worse opponents?

HC: Yes, I think that would be a consideration.

CP: Do you see that when you're playing in the bounty tournaments? Does it seem like the players on DoylesRoom are of a lower skill level than they are on other sites?

HC: Well, I wouldn't say "lower skill level"; I'd say that they play more for enjoyment than anything else. They play for the fun of it.

CP: What do you think the future holds for you and your involvement with DoylesRoom?

HC: I love being with Doyle, and anything that I can do for him, I'll do. Hopefully, it will be a big and bright future.