Seat 4: Eric Bunch

By Sean Chaffin

Chip Count: 2,020,000 (25 big blinds)
Age: 33
Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Twitter: None

Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, has been a home away from home for Eric Bunch. Along with making the televised WPT Choctaw final table, Bunch scored twice in preliminary events, winning one. His card-playing wife, Lauren, also notched a cash in the Season XVI WPT Choctaw Main Event. It’s been a good few weeks for the Bunch family.

In the $350 Monster Stack preliminary event on July 27, Bunch finished third for $62,521. Then on August 3, he won the $1,080 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $10,185. Bunch has more than $264,000 in tournament winnings and his biggest win came at a WSOP Circuit event in 2016 in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he finished third in the $1,675 Main Event for $87,334.

At Tuesday’s WPT Choctaw final table, Bunch is hoping his recent big run continues.

“It’s very exciting,” Bunch said after making the final six. “It feels great. I’m short stacked right now, but just need to get a big hand and double up.”

The Bunches are regulars on the Oklahoma poker scene. Eric plays professionally around Tulsa, and they also play some in Las Vegas. He even met Lauren while at the poker table.

“We were just playing at a cash game, and I just liked the way he was playing,” Lauren said. “I liked his betting style.”

Today, Lauren was back to work in her regular job as a physical therapist, but may be able to show up and cheer him on from the crowd on Tuesday.

Away from the table, Bunch enjoys playing basketball and softball, as well as spending plenty of time with the couple’s 2-year-old daughter.

A bit of a joker, Bunch learned how to juggle flaming pins for an event in high school.

“The school did not approve, unfortunately,” said Bunch, who has been playing poker for 15 years.

After high school, Bunch played baseball at Rogers State University and now gets his competitive fix at the tables. Already guaranteed a nice payday, some of the winnings he’s already pegged.

“I’ll give some to my wife to spend on Amazon,” Bunch said with a smile.

With a nice day tomorrow, that could be a big tab.

Photography by Joe Giron of PokerPhotoArchive.com.

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