The talk of the poker world on Friday is John “The Razor” Phan, who pocketed $1.1 million for winning the World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker. The tournament, which was held at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California, featured one of the most memorable final tables in WPT history. It was a see-saw battle between Phan and Amit Makhija, an online poker prodigy, which ended on the 157th hand of final table play.
In a post-tournament interview with WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman, Phan commented (while clutching a cell phone in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other), “I’m so happy. This is a dream come true for me. I’m so excited. I don’t know what to say.” Phan described his mindset headed into the final table: “I told myself that I had to play well, focus, and never give up, which I didn’t. I was short-stacked, played really well, and picked my spots.”
It was Phan’s third WPT final table. He finished fourth in the WPT Championship during Season III, cashing for $518,920. That tournament was eventually won by Tuan Le. Phan also finished sixth in the Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament during Season VI, banking $135,000. He’s taken home nearly $800,000 over the course of his World Poker Tour career and will be the talk of the WPT circuit today.
Phan has had a profitable summer, boosting his bankroll and esteem within the poker community. He won not one, but two bracelets during the 2008 WSOP and cashed in five different tournaments. He took down Event #29, a $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, for $434,789, tasting WSOP gold for the first time. Eleven events later, he won the $2,500 buy-in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball tournament for $151,911 and his second WSOP bracelet. Phan’s lifetime WSOP earnings top $1.3 million.
Heads-up, Phan defeated Amit Makhija in a wild final table. Phan commented, “He was pretty tough. It was the longest final table for me besides the World Series of Poker.” In fact, heads up play last over 60 hands. Makhija held 6,520,000 chips entering his duel against Phan, who sat with 4,680,000 chips. On the 105th hand of final table play and shortly after heads-up action began, Makhija shoved over the top of a raise by Phan, who had bet a quarter of his stack. After pacing around the room, Phan called with A-K and Makhija flipped over deuces. It was a classic race situation with the $1.1 million first prize hanging in the balance. Phan hit a king on the river, giving him the lead and nearly a 4:1 chip lead.
However, Makhija would battle back to even before Phan took a decisive chip lead. On a board of 9-8-5-2-6 with four clubs, Makhija bet 1.5 million. Phan thought for a minute and called with J-9 and a nine-high flush. Makhija flipped over 10-2 of spades for a bluff, crippling his stack.
With blinds of 150,000-300,000 with a 40,000 chip ante, Makhija shoved with K-7 of diamonds, but ran into Phan’s pocket threes. Once again, a coin flip was going to determine the outcome. The board came Q-5-5-A-10 and Phan won the WPT Legends of Poker. Makhija took home $563,320 for second. He’s fresh off making the final table of Event #1 of the 2008 WSOP, the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em Championship. Makhija finished fifth in that tournament, taking home nearly $200,000.
Here were the results from the final table of the Legends of Poker:
First Place: John Phan – $1,116,428
Second Place: Amit Makhija – $563,320
Third Place: Zach Clark – $281,645
Fourth Place: Paul Smith – $246,450
Fifth Place: Trong Nguyen – $211,245
Sixth Place: Kyle Wilson – $176,035
Next up for the World Poker Tour is a cross-country trek to the Borgata Poker Open, which kicks off on September 14th from Atlantic City, New Jersey. Last year’s tournament was won by Roy Winston, who defeated Heung Yoon heads up. Also at the final table were Haralabos Voulgaris, Mark Weitzman, Eugene Todd, and Mike Matusow. Winston also finished 26th in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, cashing for $333,490.
