Doyle Brunson in Good Spirits Following Dental Surgery

Poker News Daily has learned that 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and DoylesRoom namesake Doyle Brunson is in good spirits following dental surgery on Tuesday. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The procedure lasted six hours and Brunson returned to his Las Vegas home afterward. A source close to Brunson told Poker News Daily that the industry icon “sailed” through surgery, is in good spirits, and will play in tonight’s Bounty Tournament on DoylesRoom. In a blog posted on the official website of DoylesRoom dated February 4th, Brunson told readers that he’d be undergoing “a 5 1/2 hour surgery on my teeth and gums. That is going to require a lot of change in my schedule.” Brunson was originally slated to play in this weekend’s PartyPoker Premier League; Phil Laak will serve as a last-minute replacement.

Brunson also hinted at axing appearances at the Commerce Casino for the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Celebrity Invitational and L.A. Poker Classic as well as the North American Poker Tour’s (NAPT) stop at the Venetian. Despite the possibility of being sidelined until the 2010 WSOP in May, Brunson quickly returned to his blonde joke-telling self on Wednesday, Tweeting the following: “A blonde’s house caught fire and she called the fire department. They said ‘calm down, how do we get there?’ blonde.. duh, in a big red truck.”

On Monday, Brunson told Poker News Daily in an e-mail, “2 hours and counting. Not looking forward to it,” referring to his procedure. Brunson’s final Tweet prior to the surgery came on Monday and was directed at UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke: “Palin used cheat notes written on her hand. Obama uses a teleprompter for everything:-) I’m not supporting her by the way.”

Brunson had previously found himself in hot water for a President Barack Obama-related Tweet that read, “The Democrats say ‘give Obama time.’ Us Republicans agree, 25 to life seems appropriate!” The gaffe was posted on January 20th and led to an outcry from some customers on DoylesRoom who preferred that Brunson refrain from commenting on the political arena.

Tonight, Brunson will return to the virtual felts of his USA-friendly online poker site to compete in the weekly $50,000 Bounty Tournament. The Bounty takes place every Wednesday night and this evening’s installment features Brunson, recent WPT Southern Poker Championship winner Hoyt Corkins, and “The Mad Genius of Poker” Mike Caro. First-time Bounty players can receive a full refund of their $27.50 buy-in and the festivities kick off at 9:30pm ET. Knocking out a single bounty earns a player $1,000, while eliminating two bounties means a $10,000 bankroll boost. Finally, knocking out all three bounties results in a $50,000 jackpot.

When we will next see Brunson on the live felts is anyone’s guess. In the same blog post, the poker pro noted that he didn’t want to invest time and money while not feeling up to snuff: “There is no use playing unless you are at your best. The competition has gotten so good you need to feel good physically as well as mentally to have a chance to win.” Brunson is tied with Johnny Chan for the second highest number of bracelets all-time at 10, trailing only Phil Hellmuth’s tally of 11. Brunson has nearly $3 million in career WSOP earnings dating back to 1976.