Some 21 years ago, Alan Goehring finished runner-up to Noel Furlong in the 1999 World Series of Poker Main Event. He hadn’t made a WSOP final table since – until Wednesday. Early Thursday morning, Goehring conquered a final table that had two WSOP bracelet winners – including the current top player on the WSOP leaderboard – to finally earn his first career WSOP bracelet.

Goehring topped the 1,479-player field in Event #8 ($500 NLHE Freezeout) of the 2020 WSOP Online to win $119,399.67 and that bracelet. He adds that bracelet to a resume that includes a pair of World Poker Tour titles, including the inaugural WPT Championship from 2003.

Not long after the double elimination of Steve ‘gborooo’ Gross and Matthew ‘MartyCohen’ Weiss in 10th and 11th place respectively, a classic race situation led to the first elimination of the final table. Ross ‘BlueTang’ Gottlieb raised to 360,000 from UTG with before Louis ‘xILoUieIx’ Torres re-raised all in to 1,625,444 with and Gottlieb called. The board ran out to eliminate Torres in ninth.

Five minutes later, Event #3 winner and the current #1-player on the WSOP leaderboard, Robert Kuhn began an ascension to the chip lead after sending a player to the rail. From middle position, Kuhn raised to 400,000 with and Scott ‘miamicane’ Davies moved all in for 2,062,092 with and Kuhn called. The flop gave Davies no help and neither did the turn or river and he was out in eighth place.

A battle of the blinds led to the next elimination. Kuhn moved all in from the small blind with and ‘aceviper‘ called off their last 1,111,520 with . The flop gave ‘aceviper’ top pair but gave Kuhn four outs to a straight. The turn gave Kuhn a flush draw. The river completed Kuhn’s straight draw and eliminated ‘aceviper’ in seventh.

Just four minutes passed before yet another blind versus blind spot produced another elimination. Goehring called from the small blind with and ‘dudeguydrew‘ shoved for 3,803,270 with and Goehring called. The board ran out to give Goehring the pot and end ‘dudeguydrew”s run in sixth place.

Kuhn then clashed with Gottlieb in a pot that changed the complexion of the final table. Kuhn lost more than 90% of his stack with pocket threes against Gottlieb’s pocket queens and was the table short stack with just 3.5 big blinds.

Kuhn was a spectator a few hands later when ‘clembutt’ moved all in for 2,802,760 with before Randy ‘StayAlive’ Ohel moved all in for 5,505,426 with . The runout secured the pot for Ohel and send ‘clembutt’ out in fifth.

Throughout the 20 minutes of four-handed play, Goehring continued to accumulate chips and Kuhn’s chip stack rode a roller coaster of ups and downs before finally hitting a hard stop. From the button, Kuhn put his last 2,753,022 at risk with and Gottlieb re-raised all in for 8,084,752 with . Kuhn wasn’t able to improve through the runout and was done in fourth place.

Three-handed play lasted just five minutes before the last remaining bracelet winner was eliminated. Ohel, who earned a bracelet in 2012 ($,500 Triple Draw 2-7), raised to 560,000 from the button and Goehring and Gottlieb defended the small and big blinds respectively. After the flop, Goehring and Gottlieb checked, allowing Ohel to bet 800,000. Goehring clicked back with a check-raise to 2,160,000, Gottlieb folded, and Ohel moved all in for 4,083,186 and Goehring called. Ohel turned over but was outpipped when Goehring showed . The turn kept Goehring in front and he completed a Broadway straight on the to earn the pot and eliminate Ohel in third.

Goehring started heads-up play with 61.3% of the chips in play and it took less than five minutes for him to capture the rest. Gottlieb raised to 680,000 and Goehring called. The flop came and Gottlieb bet 860,000. Goehring responded by raising to 1,720,000 and Gottlieb moved all in for 7,996,774. Goehring called and showed for a nut flush draw while Gottlieb showed for a flopped straight. The turn completed Goehring’s flush and Gottlieb could only watch as the completed the board to make his runner-up finish official and award Goehring the first WSOP bracelet of his career.

Final Table Payouts

1. Alan ‘GladiusIII’ Goehring – $119,399
2. Ross ‘BlueTang’ Gottlieb – $73,942
3. Randy ‘StayAlive’ Ohel – $52,511
4. Robert ‘bustinballs’ Kuhn – $37,803
5. clembutt – $27,620
6. dudeguydrew – $20,365
7. aceviper – $15,307
8. Scott ‘miamicane’ Davies – $11,580
9. xILoUieIx – $8,918

Faces in the Crowd

Former #1-ranked PocketFiver Steve ‘gborooo’ Gross’s final table bubble finish came with a $6,921.72 payday. He was the only well-known player who finished in the money on Wednesday. Jeff ‘NerdrudRelyt’ Madsen (14th – $5,457.51), Daniel ‘centrfieldr’ Lupo (62nd – $1,730.43), Shawn ‘Saygoodnight’ Daniels (77th – $1,331.10), Kevin ‘ImaLuckSac’ MacPhee (93rd – $1,064.88) and veterans Phil Hellmuth (109th – $931.77) and Mike Matusow (118th – $931.77) all added to their bankroll.