The legendary Doyle Brunson has always been a fighter. After a freak injury took away his ability to play sports, he moved on to poker and soon found himself in the toughest and potentially deadliest high stakes games in the country. Later, he became an icon of the game and continued to dominate players one-third his age. Now at 81, Doyle is facing his 12th major surgery and third cancer surgery.

Brunson confirmed the surgery late last night via Twitter: “Got my 3rd melanoma confirmed today. Early stages, should be simple operation. Fortunately, it’s on my head and everybody knows I’m hardheaded.”

Brunson later recognized the seriousness of his surgery despite it being relatively minor. He then decided to deal with it the way he has for over 60 years, by playing poker: “Simple or not, this will be my 12th major operation. Gonna play poker now because i always heard u get lucky right before u die.”

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