Alan Goehring was born on February 21, 1963 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He became a professional poker player at the age of 37, but prior to that he was an American junk bond analyst. In 1997, Alan Goehring captivated the public’s attention when he took 3rd place in the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the World Serious of Poker (WSOP). The 1997 WSOP tournament featured iconic poker figures such as Chris Ferguson, Kathy Liebert, Dan Harrington, and Donnacha O’Dea. In that tournament alone, Alan Goehring won $61,845. Friends and poker competitors have described Alan as a good natured player who plays poker for the fun, and not the money. Others have described Goehring as a “shark” and “genius” player who infuriates his opponents for his calling and raising – while he rarely if ever, lets a pot go without being actively involved in the round or game.
In the 1999 WSOP, Alan Goehring finished in 2nd place in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event. During the competitive game, he lost the final round to Noel Furlong but still won an astounding $786,625 for his great game. According to the Card Player Magazine, after another 2 consecutive 2nd place wins, Alan Goehring became known as the player who “could not win the big one” or the “perennial bridesmaid”.
Fortunately for Alan, his greatest success and triumph over the 2nd place pattern was soon broken in 2003 when he won 1st place in the $25,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) in the NO Limit Hold’em Championship event (The Bellagio World Poker Classic in Las Vegas). Alan went up against the infamous Russian Poker player Kirril Gerasimov. In the final round,
Goering went up against Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson and Ted Forrest. Alan won the tournament by going all-in with his set of Queens, while Russian player Kirril went all-in with nothing to account for. Alan proudly took home the 1st place grand prize of $1,011,886.
Alan Goehring has yet to win the World Series of Poker bracelet, and despite his second place winnings, he has taken 1st place in two World Poker Tour events. His most recent 1st place winnings were in the WPT in L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino where he won $2,391,550. In the year 2005 alone, Alan Goehring won over $2.5 million dollars – which is on par with the accomplishments of many other star players. Howard Lederer continues to hold Alan the highest regard and speaks positively about him: “I am looking forward to sitting across from Alan Goehring again soon… I may not do any better, but I know I will be thoroughly entertained”
Although he rarely finishes in first place, Alan Goehring has still won over $5.2 million from live poker tournaments. With his skills and attitude, it seems that we will be seeing a lot more from Alan Goehring in coming tournaments. He currently has stated that his favourite interests are stocks and bonds (not the poker answer we may have expected) – and that poker is just a favourite pastime. He currently resides in Henderson, Nevada.
