The One-Hand Wonder
The finals of a high-buy-in, televised event are supposed to be as brain-numbing-intense as life is ever going to get for a poker player. The lights, the cameras, the crowds, the prestige, the money… the pressure of knowing any mistake will be immortalized forever on tape. Great men have crumbled under less stress than this.
Eric Hershler should have been subjected to all of that. The fortysomething attorney, an enthusiast with a dream, entered the World Poker Tour’s LA Poker Classic on a whim. It was his first $10K buy-in and his expectations were realistic; he’d have been ecstatic just to make his money back. He got a little more than he bargained for.
Relying on some very strong, very fortuitous small-stack play, Hershler survived into the late stages before finally building his chips high enough to have a real chance on the TV table. At a table full of great players closing out some very big storylines, Hershler’s presence was an afterthought for many. You can’t blame the pundits for overlooking him when you consider who he was up against.
Sitting with Eric were three monsters: Chau Giang, one of the few consistent winners in the fabled “Big Game”; Paul Wasicka, runner-up at the 2006 World Series of Poker; and maybe the scariest of them all, JC Tran, one of the best tournament players in the world.
For Chau, this final table offered a chance at redemption. A year earlier, he’d made the final two at his lone WPT final table, only to lose with the chip lead to amateur John Stolzman. Now, as most of his colleagues prepared to head back to Las Vegas for the same National Heads-Up Poker Championship for which Giang had been snubbed, he had his opportunity to finally take the title he still regretted letting slip between his fingers.
For Wasicka, this final table offered a chance at legitimacy. A driven student of the game, Wasicka was still a no-name when he finished second at the World Series of Poker to Jamie Gold, winning $6 million. Those who’d played with Wasicka knew he was for real: smart; skilled; driven. To the TV masses though, he was a one-time wonder; a fluke. Now, he was back in front of the camera with a chance to join the elite.
For Tran, this final table offered a chance at the brass ring. One of the best in the game, JC needed to prove something only to himself. With multiple WPT final tables and a half-million dollar win in the 2006 World Championship of Online Poker, there was little doubt he was elite. Still, he’d yet to win that one major televised tournament that would trumpet him as one of the best of the world. Tied for the chip lead with Wasicka, this was as good a chance as any to finally get the title he’s wanted so badly for so long.
For most of the final table, Tran dominated. While the rest tightened up, JC turned on the jets. He raised pre-flop constantly, with the rest refusing to play with him. Starting play with T3.4 million, he virtually pushed his stack north of T6 million by stealing blinds and antes. It looked to be his table to win or lose despite no one going out over the first sixty hands.
Giang would go in fifth. Normally a picture of stoicism, Chau was the life of the final table party. He chatted constantly with Jacobo Fernandez, a Dominican pro who didn’t speak English. He joked and smiled, even hugging Tran when the younger pro eliminated him. Wasicka would go soon after, his final table consisting of one long, cold run of cards.
That would leave Fernandez, Hershler, and Tran. JC held a massive lead, with almost two-thirds of the chips when they went to three-way play. With the others so evenly stacked, it appeared that only a massive fluke could cost him the title now. Unfortunately for JC, that fluke was in the cards.
First, Jacobo doubled up to four million and change on a coin flip. Then Hershler doubled up to a little over two million when he called a JC raise with two overcards. Then, Hershler doubled again with Q-T vs JC’s J-T. Jacobo finally went down in defeat when he raised all in against Hershler’s pocket aces. They were down to heads up, and for the first time, Tran didn’t have the lead.
After coloring up the chips and the money presentation, the two remaining players got back down to business. Sitting on the small blind, Hershler limped for T100,000 more only to have Tran raise from the big for another T700,000. Unfazed by the show of strength, Eric made the call.
The flop came A♦J♣6♣ and JC, holding A♣7♣, bet out for T1,200,000. Hershler capped his cards and wrestled with an apparently difficult decision, his hands messing his hair as his chin pressed against his chest. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he announced himself all in. Tran called instantly.
When the cards flipped over, JC was in shock. He knew Eric didn’t have an ace because of the pre-flop limp, and he couldn’t have expected Eric to be holding J♦6♦ after calling JC’s big raise from the big blind. Still, that’s what Hershler had and it held up; the turn was 4♦, the river 9♥. Hershler was the champion, and Tran would against be forced to wait until another day to take the title he wanted so badly.
It was the first and only time in WPT history that the final two completed their duel in only one hand. Hershler had won before the pressure could get to him. Tran was still in shock when he boarded the plane for Vegas and the Heads-Up Championship. For Hershler, it was the unlikely fulfillment of a dream. It was a $2.4 million payday, too.
Gary Wise writes about poker’s history and people for the likes of ESPN and the World Poker Tour. You can find his work most often at www.wisehandpoker.com
