John Phan Wins 2008 WPT Legends of Poker
John "The Razor" Phan
The final table of the 2008 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker $10,000 no limit hold’em championship kicked off at 4 p.m. at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. Up for grabs was a first place prize worth $1,091,428 with every player ready to take it home. Of the final six players, five of them were at their first WPT final table ever, while John Phan was making a back-to-back appearance.
Here’s the chip stack going into Day 4:
Seat 1: Trong Nguyen — 980,000
Seat 2: Amit Makhija — 3,225,000
Seat 3: Paul Smith — 1,130,000
Seat 4: John Phan — 2,415,000
Seat 5: Zachary Clark — 2,025,000
Seat 6: Kyle Wilson — 1,425,000
The back and forth heads up battle between Amit Makhija and Phan that ultimately decided the winner of the top prize. Both players went through huge chip swings testing their mettle though each player doubled up during the heads up battle. After a grueling three and a half hours of heads up play, Phan emerged as the winner of his first WPT title. Phan is on fire, he has now made three of the last six WPT final tables and in between, he won two gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker. Phan also nailed down a huge lead in the Card Player Player of the Year race with the win.
Here are the highlights from the final table action:
Eliminated in 6th Place, Kyle Wilson – $176,035
John Phan raised to 160,000 and Zachary Clark re-raised to 560,000. Without hesitation, Kyle Wilson moved all in for his last 995,000 and the action folded back to Phan. After a few moments of thought, Phan decided to fold. Despite being priced in, Clark hesitated before calling and his doubt was confirmed when Wilson’s pocket kings were revealed. Clark did have a chance however with his A-J.
The flop came out with A-7-5 causing the crowd to groan at Wilson’s bad beat. The turn and river were no help when they came 5-3. With Wilson’s elimination in sixth place, Clark was now contending for the chip lead.
Another notable hand came when Trong Nguyen moved all in for 770,000 and Amit Makhija made the call. They both turned up their hands revealing:
Makhija: A-K
Nguyen: 6-6
Board: j-10-2-10-6
Nguyen doubled up and now held 1.3 million in chips.
Eliminated in 5th Place, Trong Nguyen – $211,245
Amit Makhija raised to 150,000 and Trong Nguyen called from the big blind. The flop came 7-7-2, prompting Nguyen to bet 300,000. Makhija made the call and the turn brought a 4. Nguyen then moved all in for 800,000. After thinking it over for a bit, Makhija called and showed 6-6. Nguyen was in bad shape with K-Q and the river offered no help when the 5 fell. Nguyen was eliminated in fifth place, taking home $211,245.
Eliminated in 4th Place, Paul Smith – $246,450
Paul Smith moved all in pre-flop from the small blind for 1,225,000 causing John Phan to take plenty of time to think it over. After 3 minutes, Smith called the clock and with the count down from the tournament director at under 10 seconds, Phan finally made the call. Both players slowed their hands:
Smith: A-7
Phan: 8-8
Board: 9-7-7-10-6
Phan was behind on the flop but came back strong to make a 10 high straight, winning the hand. Smith was eliminated in fourth place, taking home $246,450.
Eliminated in 3rd Place, Zachary Clark – $281,645
Zachary Clark moved all in pre-flop for 1,855,000 with Amit Makhija making the call. John Phan mucked and both players showed their cards:
Makhija: A-6
Clark: K-2
Board: 10-7-5-A-J
Clark was eliminated in third place taking home a healthy $281,645 and moving Makhija back into the chip lead.
Winner of the 2008 Legends of Poker, John Phan – $1,091,428
In the final hand of the tournament Amit Makhija moved all in and John Phan made the call. Makhija showed K-7 and Phan was hanging on with 3-3. The flop came Q-5-5 giving Makhija more outs to challenge Phan’s pair. The turn brought an A and leaving open the possibility of a Q to chop the pot. But the river was a 10, making Phan the winner of the 2008 Legends of Poker tournament.
Makhija earned $563,320 for his second place finish. Phan earned $1,091,428 and took an incredible lead of nearly 1,500 points in the CardPlayer Player of the Year race.
Final Table results:
1st Place: John Phan — $1,091,428
2nd Place: Amit Makhija — $563,320
3rd Place: Zachary Clark — $281,645
4th Place: Paul Smith — $246,450
5th Place: Trong Nguyen — $211,245
6th Place: Kyle Wilson — $176,035
