Peat, or turf, is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world. By volume, there are about 4 trillion m³ of peat in the world covering a total of around 2% of global land area (about 3 million km²), containing about 8 billion terajoules of energy.

Geographic distribution

Peat deposits are found in many places around the world, notably in Ireland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Scotland, Northern England (Particularly in the Pennines), Wales, Poland, northern Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and in North America, principally in Canada, Michigan, Minnesota, the Florida Everglades, and California's Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The amount of peat is smaller in the southern hemisphere, partly because there is less land, but peat can be found in New Zealand, Kerguelen, Southern Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands, Indonesia (Kalimantan (Sungai Putri, Danau Siawan, Sungai Tolak, Rasau Jaya (West Kalimantan), and Sumatra). Indonesia has more tropical peat land and mangrove forests than any other nation on earth, but Indonesia is losing wetlands by 100,000 hectares per year.

Approximately 60% of the world's wetlands are peat. About 7% of total peatlands have been exploited for agriculture and forestry. Under proper conditions, peat will turn into lignite coal over geologic periods of time.

Formation

Peat forms when plant material, usually in marshy areas, is inhibited from decaying fully by acidic and anaerobic conditions. It is composed mainly of marshland vegetation: trees, grasses, fungi, as well as other types of organic remains, such as insects, and animal remains. Under certain conditions, the decomposition of the latter (in the absence of oxygen) is inhibited, and archaeologists often take advantage of this.

Peat layer growth and the degree of decomposition (or ''humification'', transformation to humus) depends principally on its composition and on the degree of waterlogging. Peat formed in very wet conditions accumulates considerably faster, and is less decomposed, than that in drier places. This allows climatologists to use peat as an indicator of climatic change. The composition of peat can also be used to reconstruct ancient ecologies by examining the types and quantities of its organic constituents.

Under the proper conditions, peat is the earliest stage in the formation of coal.

Most modern peat bogs formed in high latitudes after the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age some 9,000 years ago. They usually grow slowly, at the rate of about a millimetre per year.

The peat in the world's peatlands has been forming for 360 million years and contains 550 Gt of carbon.

Types of peat material

Peat material is either fibric, hemic, or sapric. Fibric peats are the least decomposed, and comprise intact fiber. Hemic peats are somewhat decomposed, and sapric are the most decomposed. Phragmites peat is one composed of reed grass, ''Phragmites australis'', and other grasses. It is denser than many other types of peat. Engineers may describe a soil as peat which has a relatively high percentage of organic material. This soil is problematic because it exhibits poor consolidation properties.

Characteristics and uses

Peat is soft and easily compressed. Under pressure, water in the peat is forced out. Upon drying, peat can be used as a fuel. It has industrial importance as a fuel in some countries, such as Ireland and Finland, where it is harvested on an industrial scale. In many countries, including Ireland and Scotland, where trees are often scarce, peat is traditionally used for cooking and domestic heating. Stacks of drying peat dug from the bogs can still be seen in some rural areas.

Peat's insulating properties make it of use to industry.

Peat fires are used to dry malted barley for use in Scotch whisky distillation. This gives Scotch whisky its distinctive smoky flavour, often called "peatiness".

Although peat has many uses for humans, it also presents severe problems at times. Wet or dry, it can be a major fire hazard, as peat fires can burn almost indefinitely (or at least until the fuel is exhausted). Peat fires can even burn underground, reigniting after the winter, provided there is a source of oxygen. Peat deposits also pose major difficulties to builders of structures, roads, and railways, as they are highly compressible under even small loads. When the West Highland Line was built across Rannoch Moor in western Scotland, its builders had to float the tracks on a mattress of tree roots, brushwood and thousands of tons of earth and ashes.

Peat bogs had considerable ritual significance to Bronze Age and Iron Age peoples, who considered them to be home to (or at least associated with) nature gods or spirits. The bodies of the victims of ritual sacrifices have been found in a number of locations in England, Ireland, and especially northern Germany and Denmark, almost perfectly preserved by the tanning properties of the acidic water. (See Tollund Man for one of the most famous examples of a bog body).

Peat wetlands formerly had a degree of metallurgical importance as well. During the Dark Ages, peat bogs were the primary source of bog iron, used to create the swords and armour of the Vikings.

Many peat swamps along the coast of Malaysia serve as a natural means of flood mitigation. The peat swamps serve like a natural form of water catchment whereby any overflow will be absorbed by the peat. However, this is effective only if the forests are still present, since they prevent peat fires.

In Ireland

In Ireland, large-scale domestic and industrial peat usage is widespread. Specifically in the Republic of Ireland, a state-owned company called Bord na Móna is responsible for managing peat production. It produces milled peat which is used in power stations. It sells processed peat fuel in the form of peat briquettes which are used for domestic heating. These are oblong bars of densely compressed, dried and shredded peat. Briquettes are largely smokeless when burned in domestic fireplaces and as such are widely used in Irish towns and cities where burning non-smokeless coal is banned. Peat moss is a manufactured product for use in garden cultivation. Turf (dried out peat sods) is very commonly used in rural areas.

In Finland

The climate, geography and environment of Finland favour bog and peat bog formation. Peat is available in considerable quantities: Some estimates put the amount of peat in Finland alone to be twice the size of the North Sea oil reserves. This abundant resource (often mixed with wood at an average of 2.6%) is burned to produce heat and electricity. Peat provides approximately 6.2% of Finland's annual energy production, second only to Ireland. The contribution of peat to greenhouse gas emissions of Finland can exceed a yearly amount of 10 million tonnes carbon dioxide, equal to the total emissions of all passenger car traffic in Finland.

Finland classifies peat as a slowly renewing biomass fuel and that position has also been taken by the European Union. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has taken the position that peat is not a fossil fuel. Peat producers in Finland often claim that peat is a special form of biofuel, because of the relatively fast retake rate of released CO₂ if the bog is not forested for the following 100 years. Also, agricultural and forestry-drained peat bogs actively release more CO₂ annually than is released in peat energy production in Finland. The average regrowth rate of a single peat bog, however, is indeed slow, from 1,000 up to 5,000 years. Furthermore it is a common practice to forest used peat bogs instead of giving them a chance to renew, leading to lower levels of CO₂ storage than the original peat bog.

At 106 g CO₂/MJ, the carbon dioxide emissions of peat are higher than those of coal (at 94.6 g CO₂/MJ) and natural gas (at 56.1) (IPCC). According to one study, increasing the average amount of wood in the fuel mixture from the current 2.6% to 12.5% would take the emissions down to 93 g CO₂/MJ, though little effort is made to achieve this.

Peat extraction is also seen by some conservationists as the main threat to mire biodiversity in Finland. The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) in 2006 urged the local and national governments of Finland to protect and conserve the remaining pristine peatland ecosystems. This includes the cessation of drainage and peat extraction in intact mire sites and the abandoning of current and planned groundwater extraction that may affect these sites.

In Russia

Use of peat for energy production was prominent during the Soviet Union, with the peak occurring in 1965 and declining from that point. In 1929, over 40% of the Soviet Union's electric energy came from peat, which dropped to 1% by 1980.

In the 1960s, larger sections of swamps and bogs in Western Russia were drained for agricultural use and to generate peat fields for mining. Plans are underway to increase peat output and increase peat's contribution to Russian energy generation. However, there is concern about the environmental impact as peat fields are flammable, drainage degrades eco-systems, and burning of peat releases carbon dioxide. Due to 2010 forest and peat fires the Russian government is under heavy pressure to finance re-flooding of the previously drained bogs around Moscow. The initial costs for the programme are estimated to be about 20 to 25 billion rubles, which is close to 500 million euros.

Currently, Russia is responsible for 17% of the world's peat production, and 20% of the peat that it produces, 1.5 million tons, is used for energy purposes. Shatura Power Station in Moscow Oblast and Kirov Power Station in Kirov Oblast are the two largest peat power stations in the world.

Biological effects of peat

Use in agriculture

Peat is important for farmers and gardeners, who mix it into soil to improve its structure and to increase acidity. The most important property of peat is retaining moisture in soil when it is dry and yet preventing the excess of water from killing roots when it is wet. Peat can store nutrients although it is not fertile itself.

Peat is discouraged as a soil amendment by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, and has been since 2003.

Peat is an important raw material in horticulture. However, it is recommended to treat peat thermally, e.g. through soil steaming, in order to kill inherent pest and reactivate nutrients.

Freshwater aquaria

Peat is sometimes used in freshwater aquaria, most commonly in soft water or blackwater river systems, such as those mimicking the Amazon River basin. In addition to being soft in texture and therefore suitable for demersal (bottom-dwelling) species such as ''Corydoras'' catfish, peat is reported to have a number of other beneficial functions in freshwater aquaria. It softens water by acting as an ion exchanger; it also contains substances that are beneficial for plants, and for the reproductive health of fishes. It can even prevent algae growth and kill microorganisms. Peat often stains the water yellow or brown due to the leaching of tannins.

Water filtration

Peat is used in water filtration, such as for the treatment of septic tank effluent, as well as for urban runoff.

Balneotherapy

Peat is widely used in balneotherapy (the use of bathing to treat disease). Many traditional spa treatments include peat as part of peloids. Such health treatments have a very long tradition in Europe, especially in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. Some of these old spas go back to the 18th century, and they are still active today. The most common types of peat application in balneotherapy are peat muds, poultices, and suspension baths.

Environmental and ecological issues

Because of the challenging ecological conditions of peat wetlands, they are home to many rare and specialised organisms that are found nowhere else. Some environmental organisations and scientists have pointed out that the large-scale removal of peat from bogs in Britain, Ireland and Finland is destroying wildlife habitats. It takes centuries for a peat bog to regenerate.

Recent studies indicate that the world's largest peat bog, located in Western Siberia and the size of France and Germany combined, is thawing for the first time in 11,000 years. As the permafrost melts, it could release billions of tons of methane gas into the atmosphere.

The world's peatlands are thought to contain 180 to 455 billion metric tons of sequestered carbon, and they release into the atmosphere 20 to 45 million metric tons of methane annually. The peatlands' contribution to long-term fluctuations in these atmospheric gases has been a matter of considerable debate.

Peat drainage

Large areas of organic wetland (peat) soils are currently drained for agriculture, forestry and peat extraction. This process is taking place all over the world. This not only destroys the habitat of many species, but heavily fuels climate change. As a result of peat drainage, the organic carbon that was built up over thousands of years and is normally under water, is suddenly exposed to the air. It decomposes and turns into carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is released into the atmosphere. The global CO2 emissions from drained peatlands have increased from 1,058 Mton in 1990 to 1,298 Mton in 2008 (>20%). This increase has particularly taken place in developing countries of which Indonesia, China, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea are the fastest growing top emitters. This estimate excludes emissions from peat fires (conservative estimates amount to at least 4,000 Mton/CO2-eq./yr for south-east Asia. With 174 Mton/CO2-eq./yr the EU is after Indonesia (500 Mton) and before Russia (161 Mton) the World's 2nd largest emitter of drainage related peatland CO2 (excl. extracted peat and fires). Total CO2 emissions from the worldwide 500,000 km2 of degraded peatland may exceed 2 Gtons (including emissions from peat fires) which is almost 6% of all global carbon emissions.

Fires

Peat has a high carbon content and can burn under low moisture conditions. Once ignited by the presence of a heat source (e.g. a wildfire penetrating the subsurface), it smolders. These smoldering fires can burn undetected for very long periods of time (months, years and even centuries) propagating in a creeping fashion through the underground peat layer. Peat fires are emerging as a global threat with significant economic, social and ecological impacts. Recent burning of peat bogs in Indonesia, with their large and deep growths containing more than 50 billion tons of carbon, has contributed to increases in world carbon dioxide levels. Peat deposits in Southeast Asia could be destroyed by 2040.

In 1997, it is estimated that peat and forest fires in Indonesia released between 0.81 and 2.57 Gt of carbon; equivalent to 13–40 percent of the amount released by global fossil fuel burning, and greater than the carbon uptake of the world's biosphere. These fires may be responsible for the acceleration in the increase in carbon dioxide levels since 1998.

In North America, peat fires have a returning cycle (70–130 years) depending on the recolonization by Black Spruce (''Picea mariana''). Once a fire has burnt through the area normally hollows in the peat are burnt out, and hummocks are desiccated but can contribute to ''Sphagnum'' recolonization.

More than 100 peat fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra have continued to burn since 1997. Each year, the peat fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra ignite new forest fires above the ground.

In the summer of 2010, an unusually high heat wave of up to ignited large deposits of peat in Central Russia, burning thousands of houses and covering the capital of Moscow with a toxic smoke blanket. The situation remained critical until the end of August 2010.

Wise use and protection

In June 2002, the United Nations Development Programme launched the Wetlands Ecosystem and Tropical Peat Swamp Forest Rehabilitation Project. This project was targeted to last for 5 years until 2007 and brings together the efforts of various non-government organisations.

In November 2002, the International Peat Society and the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) published guidelines on the "Wise Use of Mires and Peatlands — Backgrounds and Principles including a framework for decision-making". The aim of this publication is to develop mechanisms that can balance the conflicting demands on the global peatland heritage, to ensure its wise use to meet the needs of humankind.

In June 2008, the International Peat Society published the book "Peatlands and Climate Change", summarizing the currently available knowledge on the topic.

See also

Acid sulfate soil

Acrotelm

Histosols

Irish Peatland Conservation Council

List of bogs

Peat-fired power stations

Tropical peat

Turbary

Unified Soil Classification System

References

External links

International Peat Society

International Mire Conservation Group

Gardening without peat information supplied by Kew gardens in London

Peat-free gardens from the RSPB

Massive peat burn is speeding climate change From The New Scientist

Cutover and Cutaway bogs from IPCC

King Class Torf in Turkey

Meadowview Biological Research Station

Category:Coal Category:Solid fuels Category:Sediments Category:Balneotherapy Category:Soil improvers Category:Types of soil Category:Fossil fuels

ar:خث be:Торф be-x-old:Торф bs:Treset br:Taouarc'h ca:Torba cs:Rašelina cy:Mawn da:Tørv de:Torf et:Turvas es:Turba eo:Torfo eu:Zohikatz fr:Tourbe fy:Turf (brânstof) ga:Móin gd:Mòine ko:이탄 hr:Treset io:Torfo id:Gambut is:Mór it:Torba he:כבול lv:Kūdra lt:Durpės hu:Tőzeg ro:Turbă nl:Turf (brandstof) nds-nl:Törf ja:泥炭 no:Torv nn:Torv oc:Torba nds:Torf pl:Torf pt:Turfa ru:Торф sk:Rašelina sh:Treset fi:Turve sv:Torv th:พีต tr:Torf uk:Торф ur:دلدلی کوئلا vi:Than bùn wa:Troufe yi:טארף bat-smg:Dorpės zh:泥炭

position	Left wing
played for	AHLHartford Wolf PackPhiladelphia PhantomsProvidence BruinsNHLNew York Rangers (1997–2000)Montreal Canadiens (2000)Philadelphia Flyers (2000–2001)Boston Bruins (2001–2004)
shot	Left
height ft	5
height in	10
weight lb	190
birth date	May 26, 1975
birth place	Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC, CAN
draft	''Undrafted''
career start	1997
career end	2004 }}

Philip Joseph Stock (born May 26, 1975) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Since retiring as a player he has become a regular member of the Hockey Night In Canada broadcast team.

Playing career

Stock played two years with the Victoriaville Tigres of QMJHL, where he was briefly a junior teammate of Alexandre Daigle. Upon graduating junior, Stock entered St. Francis Xavier University in 1996.

He was not drafted by an NHL team and signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers in 1997. He spent the next three seasons playing for both the Rangers and their AHL farm team, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Wolf Pack fans in Hartford remember him as scoring the team's first ever goal on home ice at the Hartford Civic Center in 1997. Prior to 2000–01, Stock signed a free agent contract with the Montreal Canadiens. He played 20 games that year with the Canadiens before being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Gino Odjick. After a brief return to New York in the following offseason, Stock was claimed by the Boston Bruins in the annual waiver draft.

After two full seasons in Boston, Stock was briefly sent to their Providence farm team before being loaned to the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL. Stock totaled five goals, 26 points and 523 penalty minutes in 235 NHL games before being forced to retire due to an eye injury sustained during an AHL game between Springfield and Philadelphia. Stock was being loaned to the Philadelphia Phantoms at the time.

Broadcasting career

Stock had his own show on Montreal radio called ''The Stock Exchange'' on Team 990. He presents sports on ''Montreal News at 6'' on CBMT (CBC) television on a segment named ''Stock Talk'' and he has some sporadic segments in a francophone sports debate program on RDS, ''L'antichambre''. He was also a game and studio analyst for The NHL On OLN in its first season.

Stock debuted on CBC's ''Hockey Night in Canada'' in 2007 as a panel member for ''The Hot Stove'' segment hosted by Ron MacLean, which appears between the second and third periods of the early (7PM Eastern) game. For the 2008–09 season, he was reassigned to handle the scores and highlights during the intermissions of the doubleheader telecasts.

On December 18, 2009, Stock hosted "The Intermission with Tony Marinaro and The Stock Exchange" for the final time. He has decided to take it easy for a while and hang out with his family more often. He will still be on Hockey Night In Canada and occasionally on RDS's program called L'Antichambre.

On February 3, 2010, Stock joined the morning show team of Chantal Desjardins and Pete Marier on CHOM-FM in Montreal. He brought a comedic element to the show by attempting to interview his family's hamster, Richard Gere. Stock left the station a year later.

Stock is known for his love of cheap neckties. On the CBC Sports Online post-game show, he revealed he bought 25 neckties from a local gift shop for a total of $150.

Stock was a participant in the second season of the CBC's reality competition, ''Battle of the Blades'', partnered with Russian figure skater Violetta Afanasieva.

Career statistics

CJAHLVictoriaville Tigres Victoriaville TigresSt. Francis Xavier UniversityHartford Wolf PackNew York Rangers New York Rangers Hartford Wolf Pack New York Rangers Hartford Wolf PackMontreal CanadiensPhiladelphia PhantomsPhiladelphia FlyersBoston Bruins Boston Bruins Boston BruinsProvidence Bruins Philadelphia Phantoms

colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"			! colspan="5"		Playoffs
Season (sports)>Season	! Team		! League		! GP	Goal (ice hockey)>G	Assist (ice hockey)>A	Point (ice hockey)>Pts	Penalty (ice hockey)>PIM	! GP	! G	! A	! Pts	! PIM
1992–93	Pembroke Lumber Kings		|		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994–95 QMJHL season	1994–95		|		QMJHL	70	9	46	55	386	4	0	0	0	60
1995–96 QMJHL season	1995–96		|		QMJHL	67	19	43	62	432	12	5	4	9	79
1996–97	|		Canadian Interuniversity Sport>CIAU		27	11	10	21	110	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98 AHL season	1997–98		|		American Hockey League>AHL	41	8	8	16	202	11	1	3	4	79
1997–98 NHL season	1997–98		|		NHL	38	2	3	5	114	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99 NHL season	1998–99		|		NHL	5	0	0	0	6	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99 AHL season	1998–99		|		AHL	55	4	14	18	250	6	0	1	1	35
1999–2000 NHL season	1999–00		|		NHL	11	0	1	1	11	—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000 AHL season	1999–00		|		AHL	64	13	23	36	290	23	1	11	12	69
2000–01 NHL season	2000–01		|		NHL	20	1	2	3	32	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01 AHL season	2000–01		|		AHL	9	1	2	3	27	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	|		NHL		31	1	3	4	78	2	0	0	0	0
2001–02 NHL season	2001–02		|		NHL	58	0	3	3	122	6	1	0	1	19
2002–03 NHL season	2002–03		|		NHL	71	1	9	10	160	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04 NHL season	2003–04		|		NHL	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04 AHL season	2003–04		|		AHL	4	1	0	1	2	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	|		AHL		66	5	18	23	207	12	0	2	2	34
NHL totals			! 235		! 5	! 21	! 26	! 523	! 8	! 1	! 0	! 1	! 19

External links

Putting Stock in a New Career : Boston.com

Category:1975 births Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Battle of the Blades participants Category:Boston Bruins players Category:Calder Cup champions Category:Canadian ice hockey left wingers Category:Canadian radio sportscasters Category:Canadian television sportscasters Category:Hartford Wolf Pack players Category:Ice hockey people from Quebec Category:Living people Category:Montreal Canadiens players Category:National Hockey League broadcasters Category:New York Rangers players Category:People from Dollard-des-Ormeaux Category:Philadelphia Flyers players Category:Philadelphia Phantoms players Category:Providence Bruins players Category:St. Francis Xavier X-Men ice hockey players Category:Undrafted National Hockey League players Category:Victoriaville Tigres alumni

fr:P.J. Stock

team	Carolina Hurricanes
former teams	Washington Capitals
league	NHL
position	Right Wing
shoots	Right
height ft	6
height in	2
weight lb	235
nationality	CAN
birth date	March 10, 1980
birth place	Princeton, BC, CAN
draft	32nd overall
draft year	1998
draft team	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
career start	2000 }}

Stephen Peat (born March 10, 1980 in Princeton, British Columbia) is a Canadian ice hockey right wing. He was drafted in the second round, 32nd overall, by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Anaheim traded his rights to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a draft pick before the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

Peat played five seasons in the Western Hockey League before joining the Capitals' American Hockey League affiliate, the Portland Pirates. Peat debuted in the NHL with the Capitals in the 2001–02 season, scoring four points in 38 games. In four seasons, Peat appeared in 130 games with the Capitals and recorded 10 points.

On December 28, 2005, the Capitals traded Peat to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Colin Forbes.

External links

Category:1980 births Category:Albany River Rats players Category:Calgary Hitmen alumni Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers Category:Danbury Trashers players Category:Hershey Bears players Category:Ice hockey people from British Columbia Category:Living people Category:Lowell Lock Monsters players Category:Portland Pirates players Category:Red Deer Rebels alumni Category:Tri-City Americans alumni Category:Washington Capitals players

name	Steve Peat
fullname	Steve Peat
nickname	Peaty, Sheffield Steel
birth date	June 17, 1974
birth place	England
height	6'3"
weight	14 stone
currentteam	Santa Cruz Syndicate
discipline	MTB
role	Rider
ridertype	DH and 4X
proyears	1995Mid 1990sLate 1990s2002–20052006 –
proteams	Saracen Team MBUKGT BikesOrange BikesSanta Cruz Syndicate
majorwins	GBR DH National Champion (8 Wins) EUR DH European Champion (3 Wins) UCI DH World Cup (17 Wins) UCI DH World Cup Overall (3 Wins) UCI DH World Champion (1 Win)
medaltemplates	}}

| updated = 19 May 2009 }}

Steve Peat (born 17 June 1974 in Chapeltown, South Yorkshire), nicknamed "Sheffield Steel" or more commonly just plain "Peaty", is a professional downhill mountain biker who was born and lives in Chapeltown, Sheffield, England. Prior to his career as a professional downhill cyclist Peat was employed as a plumber by James Lamb. He is married to Adele Croxon and has two sons, Jake and George Peat.

Peat began his career with little success riding for the Saracen team alongside Rob Warner, before moving in the mid 90s to Team MBUK. He rode for GT Bicycles in the late 90s and for the Orange team between 2002 and 2005, winning the Fort William downhill world cup round in 2005. He then joined the Santa Cruz Syndicate team for the 2006 season, which saw him finish 1st overall, and has continued with it since.

As last man down the hill, Peat won the La Bresse downhill world cup round 2 on May 10, 2009 with a time of 02:07.14 knocking Sam Hill out of the hot seat for his 16th world cup round win, tying at the top of the all-time leader-board with Nicolas Vouilloz. Just one week later on May 17, 2009, at the third round of the UCI World Cup in Vallnord, Peat won again (besting compatriot Gee Atherton by just 0.02 seconds) making him the most successful downhill mountain bike racer ever by number of wins.

Other successes include placing second in the Mountain Bike World Championships in 2000, 2001, 2002 and again in 2008 and becoming World Cup champion in 2002, 2004 and 2006. He has also won the Lisboa Downhill, held in Lisbon, Portugal, eight times. On September 6, 2009, Peat won the World Championships in Canberra for the first time in his career, with a winning time of 2:30.33, just 0.05 seconds ahead of his Santa Cruz team mate Greg Minnaar.

Aside from his professional riding career, Peat has other involvements with the sport, including contributing to the design and manufacture of specialist riding clothing made by Royal Racing of which he is part owner. Peat also has involvements with young cyclist academies, and is a proponent of youth involvement in the sport.

Following his recent world champ status he has released his own game 'Steve Peat - Downhill Mountain Biking' for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Palmarès (Incomplete)

;1998 :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Snoqualmie, USA

;1999 :9th DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships

;2000 :10th DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships

;2001 :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Maribor, Slovenia :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 2, Vars, France

;2002 :5th DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Series Overall

;2003 :1st DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships

;2004 :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 2, Oisans (Les Deux Alpes), France :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 4, Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada :1st DH, European Mountain Bike Championships, Wałbrzych, Poland :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Series Overall

;2005 :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 1, Vigo, Spain :1st DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 8, Fort William, Scotland

;2006 :1st Lisboa Downtown, Lisbon, Portugal :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 3, Willingen, Germany :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Series Overall

;2007 :1st Lisboa Downtown, Lisbon, Portugal

;2008 :1st Lisboa Downtown, Lisbon, Portugal :1st DH, British National Mountain Biking Championships

;2009 :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 2, La Bresse, France :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, Round 3, Vallnord, Andorra :1st Lisboa Downtown, Lisbon, Portugal :1st DH, UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships, Canberra, Australia

References

External links

Steve Peat - official site

Twitter

TwitPic (photos)

Category:1974 births Category:English cyclists Category:Four-cross mountain bikers Category:Downhill mountain bikers Category:People from Sheffield Category:Living people

cy:Steve Peat de:Steve Peat eu:Steve Peat fr:Steve Peat it:Steve Peat no:Steve Peat

Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is an American professional poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is the first two-time World Series of Poker main event champion to win consecutively, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.

Brunson is the first player to earn $1 million in poker tournaments and has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career, tied with Johnny Chan for second all-time, one behind Phil Hellmuth's eleven. He is also one of only four players to have won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker multiple times, which he did in 1976 and 1977. He is also one of only two players, along with Bill Boyd, to have won bracelets at the WSOP in four consecutive years. In addition, he is the first of five players to win both the WSOP Main Event and a World Poker Tour title. In January 2006, ''Bluff Magazine'' voted Brunson the #1 most influential force in the world of poker.

Early life

Brunson was born in Longworth, Fisher County, Texas, a town with a population of approximately 100, and was one of three children. Because of Longworth's small size, Brunson frequently ran long distances to other towns, and became a promising athlete. He was part of the All-State Texas basketball team, and practiced the one-mile run to keep in shape in the off-season. Although he was more interested in basketball than running, he entered the 1950 Texas Interscholastic Track Meet and won the one-mile event with a time of 4:43. Despite receiving offers from many colleges, he attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, because it was close to his home.

The Minneapolis Lakers were interested in Brunson, but a knee injury ended his playing days. He had taken a summer job and was unloading some sheetrock; when the ton of weight shifted, Brunson instinctively tried to stop it, but it landed on his leg, breaking it in two places. He was in a cast for two years, and the injury ended his hopes of becoming a professional basketball player. He still occasionally requires a crutch to get around because of the injury. Brunson changed his focus from athletics to education, obtaining a bachelor's degree in 1954 and a master's degree in administrative education the following year.

Brunson had begun playing poker before his injury, playing five-card draw and finding it "easy." He played more often after being injured and his winnings paid for his expenses. After graduating, he took a job as a business machines salesman but, on his first day, he was invited to play in a seven-card stud game and earned over a month's salary in under three hours. He soon left the company and became a professional poker player.

Poker career

Brunson started off by playing in illegal games on Exchange Street, Fort Worth, Texas with a friend named Dwayne Hamilton. Eventually, they began traveling around Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, playing in bigger games, and meeting fellow professionals Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts. The illegal games Brunson played in during this time were usually run by criminals who were often members of organized crime, so rules were not always enforced. Brunson has admitted to having a gun pulled on him several times and that he was robbed and beaten. Poker was not a socially accepted career path during this time and, given the reputation of those running the games he was playing in, he had little legal recourse.

Hamilton moved back to Fort Worth, while the others teamed up and travelled around together, gambling on poker, golf and, in Doyle's words, "just about everything." They pooled their money for gambling and after six years, they made their first serious trip to Las Vegas and lost all of it, a six-figure amount. They decided to stop playing as partners yet remain friends.

Brunson finally settled in Las Vegas. He has been a regular player at the World Series of Poker, since its creation in 1970, playing in the Main Event nearly every year since then in addition to many of the other preceding bracelet-awarding events. He made some WSOP championship event final tables before his back-to-back wins, but since this was when the event was winner-take-all, they are not counted as cashes. Besides his two championship wins in 1976 and 1977, Brunson's other main event cashes are: 1980 (runner-up to three-time champion Stu Ungar), 1982 (4th), 1983 (3rd), 1997 (16th), and 2004 (53rd).

Other than his poker success, his greatest achievement is probably his book, ''Super/System'', which is widely considered to be one of the most authoritative books on poker. Originally self-published in 1978, ''Super/System'' was the book that transformed poker by giving ordinary players insight into the way that professionals such as Brunson played and won, so much so that Brunson believes that it cost him a lot of money. An updated revision, ''Super/System 2'', was published in 2004. Besides Brunson, several top poker players contributed chapters to ''Super/System'' including Bobby Baldwin, Mike Caro, David Sklansky, Chip Reese and Joey Hawthorne. The book is subtitled "How I made one million dollars playing poker," by Doyle Brunson. Brunson is also the author of ''Poker Wisdom of a Champion'', originally published as ''According to Doyle'' by Lyle Stuart in 1984.

Brunson continues to play in the biggest poker games in the world, including a $4000/$8000 limit mixed poker game in "Bobby's Room" at the Bellagio. He also plays in many of the biggest poker tournaments around the world. He won his ninth gold bracelet in a mixed games event in 2003, and in 2004, he finished 53rd (in a field of 2,576) in the No Limit Texas hold 'em Championship event. He won the Legends of Poker World Poker Tour event in 2004 (garnering him a $1.1 million prize) and finished fourth in the WPT's first championship event. Early in the morning on July 1, 2005, less than a week after Chan had won his 10th gold bracelet - setting a new record - Brunson tied the record at the 2005 WSOP. He is currently one bracelet behind Phil Hellmuth, who earned his 11th bracelet at the WSOP on June 11, 2007.

Brunson's nickname, "Texas Dolly," came from a mistake by Jimmy Snyder. Snyder was supposed to announce Brunson as "Texas Doyle," but incorrectly pronounced the first name as Dolly. It stuck and many of Brunson's fellow top pros now simply refer to Brunson as "Dolly."

Brunson has the honor of having two Texas hold'em hands named after him. One hand, a ten and a two of any suit, bears his name because he won the No Limit Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker two years in a row with them (1976 and 1977), in both cases completing a full house. In both 1976 and 1977, he was an underdog in the final hand. Another hand known as a "Doyle Brunson," especially in Texas, is the ace and queen of any suit because, as he says on page 519 of ''Super/System'', he "never plays this hand." He changes his wording in ''Super/System 2'', however, noting that he "tries to never play this hand."

Brunson has played on these televised poker shows on many occasions, and with the popularity of poker rising thanks to poker on TV, he has also created some of the most famous quotes in poker history. As a result of the shows stated above, some have even become popular with the general public, and have also been used in introductions for certain shows. In the fifth season of ''Poker After Dark'', the intro clip is of Doyle Brunson reciting some of his more famous lines, such as; "That's poker folks" and "You don't stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing". Other famous lines from Brunson include "It's always good to win the first one" (in reference to dealing out the poker board more than once) as well as shouting "Boom" across the table whilst the cards are being dealt when 2 players are all-in.

Brunson mentions in his book ''My Fifty Most Memorable Hands'' that he has seen three people die at the poker table. One man, shot in the head at point blank range in a domestic dispute, sat next to Brunson. Two others died of heart attacks, one seemingly from a mixture of drugs and alcohol; the other appears to have died from the shock of losing a massive pot to him.

As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $5,900,000. He has totaled $2,944,053 in earnings at the WSOP.

World Series of Poker bracelets

!Year	!Tournament	!Prize (US$)
	$5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	$80,250
1976	$10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship	$230,000
	$1,000 Seven-Card Stud Split	$62,500
1977	$10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship	$340,000
	$5,000 Seven-Card Stud	$68,000
	$600 Mixed Doubles (with Starla Brodie)	$4,500
	$2,500 No Limit Hold'em	$208,000
		$93,000
	$2,000 H.O.R.S.E.	$84,080
	$5,000 No Limit Shorthanded Texas Hold'em (6 players per table)	$367,800

Family life

Brunson met his future wife, Louise, in 1960 and married her in August 1962. Louise became pregnant, but later that year, a tumor was discovered in Doyle's neck. When it was operated on, the surgeons found that the cancer had spread and declared it incurable. They felt that an operation would prolong his life long enough for him to see the birth of the baby, so they went ahead with it. After the operation, no trace of the cancer could be found. The doctors said that his recovery must have been a miracle, and Brunson has attributed his cure to the prayers of friends of his wife and their correspondence with Kathryn Kuhlman, a self-proclaimed Christian faith healer. Louise developed a tumor shortly afterwards and, when she went for surgery, her tumor was also found to have disappeared. In 1975, their daughter Doyla was diagnosed with scoliosis, yet her spine straightened completely within three months.

Doyla died at 18 when she took too much potassium for a heart-valve condition. Over the following year, Brunson read Christian literature and converted to Christianity.

His son, Todd, also plays poker professionally. Todd has won a bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo at the 2005 WSOP, making the Brunsons the first father-son combination to win World Series bracelets. His daughter Pamela played in the 2007 World Series of Poker and 2009 World Series of Poker main events, outlasting both Doyle and Todd both times.

SEC investigation

On December 14, 2005, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an action to enforce subpoenas issued to the attorneys of Doyle Brunson regarding his unsolicited offer in July 2005 to buy WPT Enterprises, Inc., the publicly traded owner of the World Poker Tour, at a high premium over its then-market value. Shortly thereafter, the Commission contends, a public relations firm Brunson hired, and a website he endorses, publicly announced the offer. The Commission asserts that publication of this offer, widely covered in the media, triggered a steep rise in WPT's stock price on record trading volume.

When pressed for details, Brunson and his lawyers immediately stopped responding to the WPT and the media. Instead, after delivering the offer, Brunson withdrew from the engagement. When the WPT publicly disclosed Brunson and his law firm's unresponsiveness, its stock price sharply declined, costing investors tens of millions of dollars in lost market value. The offer eventually expired by its terms.

The SEC is formally investigating whether Brunson's offer and its publication violated federal securities laws, including the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As part of its investigation, the SEC subpoenaed documents and testimony from Brunson's lawyers. However, Brunson, who has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to testify in the investigation, directed his lawyers to withhold certain documents and not to testify on critical aspects of the offer, under the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine. The subpoena enforcement action seeks to set aside these privileges on various legal grounds, including the crime-fraud exception, and to compel Brunson's firm to provide the requested documents and testimony. The court has not yet set the Commission's action for hearing.

Bibliography

''Doyle Brunson's Super System: A Course in Power Poker'' (1979) ISBN 1580420818

''According to Doyle'' (1984) ISBN 0897460030

''Poker Wisdom of a Champion'' (2003) (formerly titled ''According to Doyle'' when published in 1984) ISBN 1580421199

''Doyle Brunson's Super System 2: A Course in Power Poker'' (2005) ISBN 1580421369

''Online Poker: Your Guide to Playing Online Poker Safely & Winning Money'' (2005) ISBN 1580421326

''My 50 Most Memorable Hands'' (2007) ISBN 1580422020

''The Godfather of Poker: The Doyle Brunson Story'' (2009) ISBN 1580422578

References

Notes

External links

Official site

Doyles Room

World Poker Tour profile

Poker Pages interview

ALL IN Magazine interview

Category:1933 births Category:American gambling writers Category:American gin players Category:American poker players Category:Basketball players from Texas Category:World Poker Tour winners Category:World Series of Poker bracelet winners Category:World Series of Poker Main Event winners Category:Super Bowl of Poker event winners Category:People from Fisher County, Texas Category:Living people Category:Hardin-Simmons University alumni

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