John Derick Barch

John Derick Barch, or simply “Tex” Barch, is a professional poker player from Texas, who began playing poker about 13 years ago. Barch is ranked 56th in the list of Lifetime Top Money Winners, with a total of nearly 2.6 million dollars won in 12 tournaments since he began playing professionally in 1993. Of course, none of these earlier tournaments compared to winning one of the nine seats at the final table in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2005. This, as everyone in the world of poker knows, is a really big deal. It not only meant that he outplayed and out-bluffed 5,619 of the very best poker players in the world, it also meant that he would walk away with at least one million dollars as a prize. John Derick "Tex" Barch was there that year, entering with a $10,000 buy-in won from a satellite series, to play against some of the greatest names in poker such as Raymer, Brunson, Ferguson, and Johnny Chan. Barch ended up finishing in third place, by far the biggest win of his career, netting him 2.5 million dollars. Certainly, 2005 was a great year for “Tex” Barch, where it is ironic, however, that he is remembered not only for winning third place, but for losing one of the largest pots in tournament poker history.

The majority of the 2005 WSOP was played at the Rio Casino, just off the Strip in Vegas, but the final two days of the tournament were again played at downtown Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, where it had been the original home of the WSOP for many years. Interestingly enough, this was to be the last time the final table of the WSOP would be played at Binion’s Horseshoe, the Rio being a larger and newer casino and able to handle the bigger crowds. “Tex” Barch went into what would be his final series of hands in the 2005 WSOP wearing his white visor and holding nine million dollars in chips. He eventually found himself still in the game with just two other players, Joe Hachem from Melbourne, Australia and fellow American, Steven Dannenmann from Severn, Maryland. Barch had earned his seat at that final table by winning live satellite tournaments held in casinos around the country, while Hachem and Dannenmann both paid the entry fee out of their own money. In what turned out to be the final hand, Barch “bet the farm,” going "all in" with an off suit A-6, only to be called by both Hachem and Dannenmann. Hachem (who held pocket jacks) was eventually the winner of that pot, which had built up to an incredible sixteen million dollars. Subsequently, Hachem went on to win the 2005 WSOP tournament, taking home 7.5 million dollars and the treasured gold bracelet.

Tex Barch is a great gambler, but he is by no means just a gambler. He is also a family man, a successful businessman with a business degree from the University of Montana, and a proud native-born Texan. Barch lives with his wife and two children in McKinney, Texas, just about 20 miles north on US-75 from his birthplace in Richardson, Texas and about 13 miles away from Big Johnson's Beer Garden and Bar in North Dallas. Barch is well known here as the owner of Big Johnson's Beer Garden, where you can find a well-tended and well-stocked bar (advertising 22 varieties of beer), a great menu, and lots of activities like karaoke contests every Wednesday, dart tournaments every Tuesday, live music on Fridays, and, as you might have guessed, an Amateur Poker League poker tournament in progress every Monday.

Barch has by no means given up on playing poker to work Big Johnson's full-time, however. Since that now historical pot in the 2005 WSOP, Barch has gone on to add over $50,000 to his winnings column in five other tournaments he has entered across the country from New Jersey to Mississippi and back to Las Vegas. Back in Las Vegas, one thing is certain, he’ll never forget that day in 2005, sitting at the final table at the Horseshoe Casino as a member of the WSOP's first "millionaire's club," with an Australian, another American, and the Lady called Luck flitting and flirting around that table, trying to decide which hand she would eventually grace with her presence. Tex Barch continues to play poker, easily recognized everywhere by his white visor, hoping for that next big WSOP win.

Name: John Derick Barch AKA "Tex" Location: McKinney, TX, United States Cashes: 15 Total Winnings: $2,682,466 Marital Status: Married Children: 2 Started Playing Poker: 1993

John Derick Barch Poker Results EVENT PLACE PRIZE DATE 39th World Series of Poker 2008 Event #30 - WSOP Limit Hold'em World Championship 17th $25,615 Jun 15, 2008 38th Annual World Series of Poker Event #22 - WSOP No Limit Hold'em 8th $60,254 Jun 13, 2007 Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic / WPT Event Season 5 Event #10 - No Limit Hold'em 8th $23,835 Dec 10, 2006 Festa al Lago / WPT Event WPT No Limit Hold'em Championship 28th $25,050 Oct 20, 2006 Five-Star World Poker Classic - WPT Championship Season 4 No Limit Hold'em 15th $5,275 Apr 6, 2006 Five-Star World Poker Classic - WPT Championship Season 4 No Limit Hold'em 40th $3,145 Apr 5, 2006 Festa al Lago IV WPT Event/Season 4 No Limit Hold'em 17th $5,460 Oct 15, 2005 Borgata Poker Open - WPT Season 4 WPT No Limit Hold'em 30th $14,987 Sep 22, 2005 36th Annual World Series of Poker Event #42 - WSOP World Championship - No Limit Hold'em 3rd $2,500,000 Jul 15, 2005 The 6th Jack Binion World Poker Open / WPT Event Season 3 Event #4 - WPO No Limit Hold'em 11th $7,638 Jan 9, 2005 2004 Festa al Lago III /Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship - WPT Event Season 3 No Limit Hold'em 18th $3,994 Oct 15, 2004 35th Annual World Series of Poker Event #6 - WSOP Pot Limit Hold'em 16th $4,000 Apr 27, 2004 5th Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open - WPT Season 2 Event #15 - WPO Pot Limit Hold'em 25th $1,234 Jan 21, 2004 Jack Binion World Poker Open 4th Year - WPT Season 1 Event #14 - WPO Pot Limit Hold'em 18th $1,368 Jan 22, 2003 Jack Binion World Poker Open Event #8 - WPO No Limit Hold'em 21st $611 Apr 5, 2000 See an error in the results? an email

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