Gus Hansen v John Juanda
Five Diamond World Poker Classic
May 2002
Gus Hansen: Ks-Kc
John Juanda: Ah-Jd
Board: Kh-4d-10h-5d-7h
To commemorate the passing of World Poker Tour founder and former CEO, Steve Lipscomb, into business pastures new, WPT Poker this month takes a trip back to where it all began and casts a nostalgic eye over the first ever tour event.
The year was 2002 - some 12 months before amateur poker enthusiast Chris Moneymaker cranked the poker revolution into overdrive by taking down the World Series of Poker Main Event - but already signs were beginning to emerge that certain sections of the public were harbouring a secret passion for poker.
As such, it was hardly a surprise that when the first series of the World Poker Tour hit the TV screens that May, countless thousands of viewers tuned in to see the drama unfold as 146 of poker’s superstars-in-waiting battled it out for the inaugural WPT championship at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
STAR LINE-UP
And what drama they were about to witness. A starting field littered with poker talent was eventually whittled down to a final table that would still capture the imagination in any poker tournament today. Swiss businessman Chris Bigler was joined by poker professionals Scotty Nguyen, Freddy Deeb, John Juanda, Gus Hansen and John Hennigan – one of the greatest gamblers ever to grace the game.
However, despite this selection of players giving it their all at the WPT’s maiden final table, it ultimately came down to a heads-up battle between one-man wrecking crew Hansen – who had eliminated three of the four players to bust at that point – and the cool, calculating Juanda. Unfortunately for viewers expecting a heads-up clash for the ages, matters were all over very quickly as the pair got it all-in after just two hands.
THE GREAT DANE
With Hansen picking up the first pot of the one-on-one bout after flopping trip aces, the Great Dane couldn’t believe his luck when on the very next hand he looked down to find wired kings in the small blind. Wasting no time at all, Hansen came out firing with a bet of 110,000 and his decision to play the cowboys fast was certainly justified when Juanda peeled back a powerhouse of his own – Ah-Jd in the big blind.
Not wanting to be pushed around by his aggressive foe – whose reputation for playing absolute filth was as legendary then as it is today – Juanda opted to raise to 350,000, but before he’d even finished putting the chips in the pot, Hansen had announced he was all-in. Now facing an agonising decision for his tournament life, Juanda dwelled for a moment before making the call that would create the tour’s first ever champion.
A king right in the window propelled Hansen into a huge lead, but it was swiftly followed by a 10 to give Juanda a gutshot straight draw and a glimmer of hope on the Kh-4d-10h flop. A 5d on the turn provided no miracle respite, and with Juanda needing a queen and a queen alone, matters were settled when the 7h fell on the river.
Following those fateful five cards, Hansen’s set of kings proved enough to etch his name into the history books as the first ever player to win a WPT title, and his success was made all the sweeter by the $556,460 he took down in 1st place prize money. Needless to say, both Hansen and Juanda went on to become permanent fixtures in the poker world following their clash and, from those humble beginnings, the WPT grew to claim its place as the most popular poker tour on the planet. |
