Inaugural Season of the World Poker Tour

The first season of the World Poker Tour came to a close recently with the exciting $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em WPT Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas. This was a historical event for poker and one that provided a fitting conclusion to a very impressive season for the World Poker Tour.

The WPT Championship saw 111 of the toughest poker players in the world vie for the title. The final six players who made it to the TV show included poker legend Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Ted Forrest, Kirill Gerasimov, James Hoeppner, and Alan Goehring (the chip leader going to the final table). Hoeppner was the first to be eliminated. The crowd was then stunned as Goehring eliminated crowd favorite Doyle Brunson and poker sensation Ted Forrest on the same hand.

More shock for the overflow crowd came shortly thereafter as superstar Phil Ivey, a three-time finalist on the WPT, went out in third place. This set up a final duel between Goehring, runner-up in the 1999 World Series of Poker championship, and Gerasimov, a top young Russian player who was the 2002 European Heads-Up champion. In the end, after an epic battle in which the lead changed on several occasions, Goehring captured the crown on an astonishing final hand that will be talked about for decades.

After a flop of 8-5-4, Gerasimov checked with an 8-6. Goehring (with the chip lead) had an 8-5 (the top two pair). He bet and was raised all in by Gerasimov. He quickly called and was thrilled to see that he was a nice favorite to win the pot and the tournament. The crowd roared (and Goehring's heart fell to the floor) as a 7 came on the turn, giving Gerasimov a straight. And they roared louder when the river card was an 8, giving Goehring a full house and the title. Talk about going from agony to ecstasy in the turn of a card! It was as dramatic a finish as you will ever see in a championship poker event, and it will make for an exciting TV show (to be seen on the Travel Channel on June 25).

Winning the first-ever $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship was historical for Goehring, who not only took home more than $1 million, but will also be immortalized forever in the poker world with this victory.

In addition to Goehring, let's take a quick look at the top performers on the WPT this season, as they certainly deserve to be recognized. Let's start with the two-time winners, Gus Hansen and Howard Lederer. (Winning two events on the WPT is truly an amazing feat.) Other top performers include Layne Flack, who won one tournament and finished second in another, and Phil Ivey, who had three final-table appearances, the most of any player. Well done!

Here are the 13 WPT event winners:

Champion Event

Gus Hansen Five-Diamond World Poker Classic (Bellagio)

Chris Karagulleyan Legends of Poker (Bicycle Casino)

Juha Helppi Ultimate Poker Classic (UltimateBet.com)

Jose Rosenkrantz Costa Rica Classic (Casinos Europa)

Paul Darden Gold Rush Tournament (Lucky Chances)

Howard Lederer World Poker Finals (Foxwoods)

David Ulliott Jack Binion's World Poker Open (Horseshoe/Gold Strike)

Chris Johansson Euro Finals of Poker (Aviation Club de France)

Gus Hansen L.A. Poker Classic (Commerce Casino)

Layne Flack WPT Invitational

Howard Lederer PartyPoker.com Million II (PartyPoker.com)

Ron Rose World Poker Challenge (Reno Hilton)

Alan Goehring WPT Championship (Bellagio)

Congratulations to all the WPT champions!

The inaugural season of the World Poker Tour has been fantastic. The players are excited, the TV ratings have been very good, and the industry will benefit and grow as a result of the positive impact it brings to poker. (For more information about the WPT, go to www.worldpokertour.com.)

Look for bigger and better events next year on the World Poker Tour. Take care.

Mike Sexton is the host of PartyPoker.com and a commentator on the World Poker Tour.