Alan Goehring, the Perennial Bridesmaid, Catches the $1 Million WPT Championship Bouquet

Until now, often a bridesmaid but never a bride had been the fate of Alan Goehring, who had finished second in several major tournaments, including the 1999 World Series championship event and last year's $3,000 no-limit hold'em event at Bellagio. But he caught the million-dollar bouquet by winning the five-day World Poker Tour Championship event at Bellagio's Five-Star World Poker Classic championship finale, his first-ever major tournament win.

And he won it in spectacular fashion. On the final hand, he started with 8-5 against Kirill Gerasimov's 8-6. He took the lead by flopping two pair, lost it when Kirill made a straight on the turn, and then took it all with a full house on the river! It was like something out of the movies, and certainly all that the WPT and Doug Dalton, Bellagio's director of poker operations, could hope for as a memorable climax.

(Andy Glazer, incidentally, was looking forward to covering this cutting-edge tournament, but his pesky bad back wouldn't cooperate, and this writer was pressed into service at the last minute.)

Goehring came to the final table with nearly as many chips as all of his five opponents combined, thanks to repeatedly catching just about everything he needed. For example, look at how Layne Flack, who finished 10th, described what Goehring did to him. Phil Ivey had raised $80,000 before the flop. Goehring and Flack called. When the flop came J-3-2, Layne, holding K-J, moved in for $383,000. Goehring, who had come in with only J-3, called with his two pair and busted him. A tournament player who had been intently watching the prior day's action shook his head as he recalled that Goehring had knocked out Allen Cunningham in 13th place with 7-3 when a 7 came on the river, and another player with 9-3 when a trey flopped. "It's like he didn't care," the player marveled.

Well, in a sense Alan didn't. A 40-year-old recreational player who retired from Wall Street (his poker play is largely restricted to April and May during Bellagio and WSOP action), Goehring still is involved in stock and bond trading and wasn't exactly playing with his mortgage money. And his loose image stood him in good stead after he got to the final table, as he got calls that he wouldn't have if he were, say, John Inashima (a very tight player).

The Magic Glasses

Both finalists wore dark shades, but Goehring's were special. It was the same pair of glasses he wore when he was the WSOP runner-up in 1999. But when that pair didn't do him much good in subsequent events, he stopped wearing them. On a hunch, after two years, he took them out of retirement for this event, and they came through for him again.

Just Like a Fairy Tale … Almost

Even more intriguing is the story behind the second-place finisher. Kirill Gerasimov is a 32-year-old Russian with a small insurance business in Moscow who's been playing tournament poker for only 18 months, but is the reigning champion of Heads-up Poker, a European event that he won in Vienna last year. Interestingly, Noel Furlong, who beat Goehring for the WSOP championship, also held that same title. (When Gerasimov and Goehring got heads up, Kirill informed him that he was the heads-up champ. "Thanks a lot for telling me," Goehring said he thought to himself. "I hardly play any heads-up poker.") Kirill invested in a $180 satellite at Bellagio, won his way into a $1,500 supersatellite, and then won one of the nine $25,000 seats. Even more amazing, he actually moved into better than a 2-1 chip lead at one point in the heads-up match. He might have gone all the way had he not made what might well have been one of the most ill-timed and disastrous bluffs in major tournament history when he moved all in with absolutely nothing against Goehring, who held … queens full! Oh, well, running $180 into a half-million smackers isn't exactly a bad parlay.

Midway through their heads-up match, Goehring got what he felt was a pretty good line on Gerasimov's play. He realized that Kirill wasn't much on raising before the flop, but would try to power the pot if he thought the board was scary. Also, Goehring liked raising with small cards because Gerasimov would then put him on big cards, and Gerasimov tended to bet big or move in when, for example, a 4 paired the board, figuring there was little chance that Goehring held that card.

Here's How it Started

Each of the 111 original entrants had started with $50,000 in chips, so there was $5,550,000 in play at the final table. Playing two-hour rounds and starting with blinds of $15,000-$30,000, here's how the final table looked:

Seat Name Chip Count

3 Alan Goehring $2,597,000

1 Kirill Gerasimov 784,000

6 Phil Ivey 637,000

4 James Hoeppner 568,000

5 Doyle Brunson 522,000

2 Ted Forrest 445,000

These players had made it here by outlasting the toughest field in anyone's memory. It was studded with world champions and there was very little, if any, dead money. "It was the best in the world, absolutely," Goehring declared emphatically afterward.

The first four hands didn't get to the flop. On the first hand, the venerable Doyle Brunson, holder of eight gold bracelets and two WSOP championships, author of the groundbreaking poker book Super/System, and just four months shy of his 70th birthday, button-raised to $80,000 and got no callers. On succeeding hands, Phil Ivey twice and Ted Forrest once opened for 90K and got no action. Finally, Forrest, who once won three gold bracelets in a single year, bled some chips off Goehring by opening for $90,000, betting another 90K on a flop of J-6-2, then betting again and getting Alan to fold when a 4 came on the river. Alan dropped more chips on the next hand when he bet 100K into an 8-6-4 flop and folded when Ivey bet the river. And then he lost 90K more when he raised preflop and Forrest pushed him out with a 300K reraise. Goehring now was down to roughly $2 million, with his opponents closely grouped together with counts ranging from about $500,000 to $800,000.

We lost our first player on hand No. 8. Hoeppner, whose background is in accounting, raised preflop with pocket jacks. Ivey, on the button, came over the top with pocket kings, and Hoeppner went all in. The board came A-6-2-4-4 and James cashed out in sixth place for $93,326.

On hand No. 10, Brunson made his first all-in move. There was three-way action after he and Goehring called Forrest's $50,000 raise. On a flop of 4-4-2, Doyle moved all in and took the pot. Then, Ivey picked up a $345,000 pot on hand No. 15. The first to act, he raised to 90K. Holding the button, Forrest made it 300K to go. Phil shoved in all of his chips and Ted surrendered. Ted made a recovery nine hands later. Phil raised to $130,000 with K-Q and Ted moved in for about $250,000, winning when his two black eights held up after the board came A-J-3-7-4.

Two Seats are Emptied

A few hands later, two players were suddenly eliminated. Goehring opened for 60K. Doyle was in the cut-off position and tried a steal by moving all in for $526,000 with Q-8. Forrest, well acquainted with Brunson's style, put him on a bluff and called from the big blind, also all in for $443,000. He had A-J, and it was a good call against Doyle. The problem was that Goehring held pocket jacks, and he quickly called, easily covering both players. A board of 6-5-3-2-9 didn't change anything. Doyle, with the larger stack, came in fourth, cashing out for $159,987, while Forrest picked up $119,990 for his fifth-place finish.

At this point, Goehring had moved up to about $3.5 million, while Ivey and Gerasimov had about $1 million each. The chips moved back and forth without too much damage for a while, then came hand No. 36. Kirill, with the A K, raised to 100K. Alan called and then Phil, holding the A Q, moved in for about 850K. Kirill called and Alan folded. When the board came K-6-3 rainbow, Phil was a huge underdog. A deuce on the turn ended his chances. Ivey, the young superstar from Atlantic City who won three WSOP events last year, cashed in third for $253,313. The World Poker Tour Championship was now heads up, with Goehring holding roughly a 3-2 chip lead.

A break was called while Antonio the magician entertained the crowd with card tricks. A couple of hands after play resumed, Gerasimov took a big bite out of Goehring's chips. On the button, Alan raised to 60K and Kirill called. On a flop of Q-5-4, Alan bet $70,000 and Kirill called again. When another 4 turned, Kirill bet 150K, Alan raised to $350,000, and Kirill, representing a 4, moved all in. Alan folded. What the Muscovite actually had will have to await the WPT telecast in which all holecards are exposed. But there was no mystery about the chip count, which now was close to dead even, with each player holding about $2,750,000.

The Lead Changes Hands

Two hours had gone by, and the blinds were increased to $25,000-$50,000. Kirill immediately took the lead. On a flop of A-10-8 and two spades, Alan led out for 50K. Kirill bet 150K when an 8 turned, and then moved in when the 4 hit the river. Alan folded, and again it will take the telecast to find out what Kirill had. A few hands later Kirill picked up a $500,000 pot when four spades hit the board. It was checked, he turned up the 6, and this time we knew he had a spade flush.

On a roll now (dare we say the Russian was rushin'?), Gerasimov called when Goehring raised to $100,000 preflop from the button. Kirill held a queen and made trips when two queens hit the flop. He checked and flat-called when Alan bet 100K. On a turn card 3, Kirill bet 100K and got called. Then, when an ace came on the river, he tried to induce a bet by checking, but Alan didn't go for it. Even so, Kirill's chips now totaled about $3.5 million to Alan's $2 million. A few hands later, Kirill took a big pot by moving in and not getting called when the board showed A-7-3-J-6. He now had about $3.8 million to Alan's $1.7 million, and it began to look like he might pull off a major upset, but it was not to be.

The Worst Bluff in History?

The hand that immediately followed was the turning point, and probably the key hand of the tournament. Alan raised 50K with pocket queens and Kirill called with the 8 6. Alan made a set when the flop came Q-5-3, but set a trap by checking. On a turn card 5, he bet 100K. Kirill, with nothing but an 8 high, moved in, hoping Alan would read him for having a 5 in the hole. Alan, calling with queens full, couldn't have cared less if his opponent had fives full. Suddenly the chip count was reversed: about $3.5 million for Alan, $2 million for Kirill.

Now, the action took a conservative turn, with lots of walks and bet-it-and-take-it hands. By the time hand No. 67 rolled around, Kirill had dipped down, but only slightly, to about $1.85 million. When the final deal came down 14 hands later, the count hadn't changed much. The starting hands were pretty unpromising: the 8 5 for Alan, the 8 6 for Kirill, and, for once, there was no raise before the flop. A flop of 8-5-4 gave Kirill top pair and an inside-straight draw, but also gave Alan two pair. Alan bet 50K, Kirill raised to 250K, and Alan moved him in.

The crowd roared as the hands were turned up. The noise grew louder when a 7 on the turn moved Kirill back into the lead with a straight. And then it rose to a deafening crescendo when an 8 on the river gave Alan a full house, the pot, all of the chips, the championship, $1,011,886, and his first major tournament win, and Bellagio and the World Poker Tour a television triumph.

Final official results were as follows:

$25,000 no-limit hold'em

Entrants: 111 • Prize pool: $2,691,750

1. Alan Goehring, Henderson, NV $1,011,886*

2. Kirill Gerasimov, Moscow, Russia 506,625

3. Phil Ivey, Atlantic City, NJ 253,313

4. Doyle Brunson, Las Vegas, NV 159,987

5. Ted Forrest, Las Vegas, NV 119,990

6. James Hoeppner, Las Vegas, NV 93,326

7. Derek Baxter, London, England 66,661

8. Bruno Fitoussi, Paris, France 53,329

9. Chau Giang, Las Vegas, NV 42,663

* Includes entry into the $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Championship, April 19-23, 2004.