Online Poker News » February 2006
» February 26, 2006.
Newcomer Alan Goehring Beats 700 opponents And Takes $2.4 Million In LA Poker Classic.
Alan Goehring, a relative newcomer to the world of big-name poker has made an impression this week, taking home the $2.4 million first prize in a tough six day tournament that attracted some of the best and biggest poker players anywhere.The L.A. Poker Classic at Commerce Casino was the focus of professional poker and Hollywood celebrities alike, and some 700 players paid up the stiff $10,000 buy-in for this classic No-Limit Texas Hold 'em tournament.
Contestants included the likes of Phil Ivey, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jennifer Harman, Barry Greenstein, Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Michael Gracz, Erick Lindgren, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, John Juanda, and Ted Forrest.
Among the cenebrity roster was Shannon Elizabeth, Gabe "Mr. Kotter" Kaplan, Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, Jennifer Tilly, and James Woods.
In tough games, 85 percent of the player pool was out of the running by the end of Day 2, leaving some 100 players to battle through another four days of hard-edged poker before the six final table players emerged.
Goehring and Daniel Quach were the last men standing in a final that took only an hour to decide. For his second place finish, Quach claimed $1.2 million, while Goehring took home $2.4 million and a $25K seat at the WPT Championships at the Bellagio in April.
Kirill Gerasimov from Moscow, Russia, (who won the heads-up championship last year) and Alan started their heads-up duel. Kirill informed Alan that he was the head-ups champ. Alan, on the other hand, was the runner-up in the WSOP championship event in 1999 and has a great feel for the game - and absolutely no fear. Most players were afraid to bet into him with only one or two pair because they didn't want to be taken off the hand. After going back and forth for a while, Alan had the chip lead going into the final hand. Both players got all of their money in on the flop. Kirill had top pair with a straight draw, and Alan had flopped two pair. The turn brought Kirill a straight, and Alan made a full house on the river.
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