John Phan Puts on a Show:
30-year-old Southern California poker crushes the competition in Lake Tahoes pot-limit hold'em championship
Bad poker players need good cards to win. Good poker players can win, even when they are dealt bad cards. But give a good poker player a great run of cards, and the end result is a massacre. It took tournament pro John Phan just over three hours to destroy a strong final table, winning his first-ever World Series of Poker tournament. Phan had previously won two events at the 2004 Jack Binion World Poker Open, but the top prize at the World Series had, at least until now, eluded the colorful Long Beach poker pro. It was, quite simply, one of the most effortless displays of poker ever witnessed.
The final table was the least suspenseful of any WSOPC-Lake Tahoe event thus far : not because there weren't plenty of interesting personalities and big hands : but because from the point Phan seized the chip lead midway through the finale, his victory seemed to be a foregone conclusion. In every confrontation where cards were shown, Phan held the advantage.
And, on every single occasion -- his hand held up to win the pot. This was a far cry from the previous day, when Phan was fortunate to make the final table, at all. He drew out on Vince Burgio (who finished on the bubble in 10th place) and then on Day Two absolutely destroyed everyone in his path. For Phan's eight opponents, it was like trying to stop a tidal wave.
Lake Tahoe's pot-limit hold'em event, a $500 buy-in tournament, attracted 97 entries competing for $47,045 in prize money. Day One resulted in the elimination of 88 players. The nine finalists returned on Day Two, with tournament pro J.C. Tran as the chip leader. Finalists arrived with the following seat positions and chip counts:
SEAT 1 James Lea Kent, WA 12,900
SEAT 2 Kevin Hay Tallahassee, FL 21,900
SEAT 3 Howard 'Tahoe' Andrew Walnut Creek, CA 17,100
SEAT 4 Eric Ford Tigard, OR 13,100
SEAT 5 Mike Sich N. Brunswick, NJ 7,900
SEAT 6 Abraham Gray Lawrenceville, GA 12,800
SEAT 7 J.C. Tran Sacramento, CA 28,800
SEAT 8 'Chico Mike' DuFloth Chico, CA 18,500
SEAT 9 John Phan Long Beach, CA 13,100
Players were eliminated as follows:
9th Place : 70-year-old Howard 'Tahoe' Andrew was way overdue to make it to a final table. The Tahoe-area native has won two WSOP gold bracelets (both in 1976) and hoped to add a gold ring to his jewelry collection. But this wasn't Tahoe's day as his A-K lost to John Phan's K-J when the final board showed K-J-8-9-4. Tahoe, which means 'deep water' in the native Washau Indian language, sank in 9th place good for $1,410.
8th Place : Eric Ford went out next when his A-J lost to Abraham Gray's A-7. Gray rivered a flush, which put Ford in the junkyard. Eighth placed paid $1,880.
7h Place : The final table was a nightmare for J.C. Tran. The early chip leader lost most of his chips to John Phan when his Q-Q was crushed by Phan's A-A. Down to just a few chips, he busted out two hands later. Tran, who won the WSOPC (Rio Las Vegas) $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, received $2,350 for 8th place.
6th Place : Mike Sica started with the lowest chip count, but did move three spots up the money ladder. His final hand, 9-5 played out of desperation, failed to connect while Abraham Gray made two pair. Sica was one of two former gold bracelet winners at the final table (he won the $3,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event in 2004). Sixth place paid $2,825.
5th Place : 'Chico Mike' DuFloth went out next when his A-9 was dominated by John Phan's A-10. When both players flopped an ace, DuFloth declared 'all in.' Unfortunately, a nine failed to rescue DuFloth from elimination and he ended up in 5th place : good for $3,295. DuFloth has several final table appearances to his credit, mostly at big tournaments in California.
4th Place : Kevin Hay, a college student from Florida, hit the rail next when his A-Q was cracked by John Phan's Q-Q. Hay was 'all in' pre-flop and watched as the flop came J-9-4, with two clubs. He had the nut flush draw. Unfortunately, a club failed to fall, and Phan added to his chip castle while Hay bailed out in 4th place with $3,765.
3rd Place : James Le started his final hand with 6-6 and was nosed out by Phan's 7-7. The final board showed A-5-3-Q-4. Le, a contractor from Washington State with many final tables and tournament wins in the Pacific Northwest, was out 3rd.
The heads-up duel between John Phan and Abraham Gray began with Phan holding a 110,000 to 37,000 chip advantage. It took only five minutes for the final wave of cards to crush Gray. On his final hand, Gray moved 'all in' with 10-9 after the turn showed 8-2-2-9 : good for top pair. However, Phan
was slowplaying pocket kings, and was delighted to see Abraham's last chip roll into the pot. A blank fell on the river, and Phan was the latest WSOPC champion.
The runner up, Abraham Gray has numerous final table appearances to his credit. He also finished in the money in the WSOP main event last year. Gray can certainly be proud of his accomplishment, particularly in light of the fact that Phan was not going to be stopped on this night. Second place paid $9,410.
Phan eliminated six of his eight opponents : and 7 of the last 9 including Burgio yesterday. Second-place finisher Gray knocked out the other two. In every confrontation, when the money went 'all in,' Phan had the best hand. Not once did Phan take a beat. After his win, Phan pointed out that he bluffed many times, as well, which kept his opponents guessing at all times.
'I was playing my A-game tonight and the cards really hit me,' Phan said afterward. 'My game is very strange. I have a game that no one can figure out. Even myself : I don't know what I'm going to do sometimes.'
'I think the key to winning is to play every player different. That way, they have no way to know your style or to predict you.'
Report by Nolan Dalla : World Series of Poker Media Director
World Series of Poker Circuit Director : Ken Lambert
World Series of Poker Tournament Director : John Grooms
Harveys Poker Room Manager : Vince Contaxis
Harrah's Full Service Games Manager -- Steve Schorr
The final table for event #7 is quite the colorful group. After much bantering and kidding around, John Phan is proving to be the rowdy player at the table just raising his little heart out. Of course, he is now chip leader, but who's counting. He is just smiling away under his light blue cap and his mirrored sunglasses. His first victim of the day is Howard 'Tahoe' Andrews. Tahoe has been around for a long time and has a couple of WSOP bracelets to prove that. He picked up back-to-back WSOP bracelets back in the seventies. He is very respected in the poker world of today. His future plans include a pretty important one and that would be to 'stay alive'. At a spry 70 years of age, he has years and years ahead of him. However, he didn't have hours ahead of him in this event. Early in the game he clashed with John Phan and John took him out of the game. Tahoe had AK and John had KJ. The board promised so much and delivered nada for Tahoe, K J 5 5 9 and he was gone. He wins $1410 today.
Three hands later, Eric Ford met his match against Abraham Gray. He was the second casualty of the game today by getting beaten by a flush. Eric lives in Tigard, OR and is 37 years old. After only 2.5 years of trying to master this game (and does anyone ever do that?) he has made his first final table. This WSOP Circuit $1000 Pot Limit Hold'em event brought him not only to the final, but the opportunity to play with some well-known players. Eric collected $1880 for 8th and the chance to play with some other well-known players. Today's archenemy for Eric is Abraham Gray. Abraham is hanging on the edge of that year we dread(ed) so much, 30. He lives in Lawrenceville, GA and has been playing poker full time for two years. He already has several notches on his belt including placing 7th in one of the Reno Hilton's main events and did even better at the Bellagio this year. He placed 3rd in a $1500 event and another 7th in the $3000 event.
John Phan and J.C. Tran both found a pretty powerful hand and decided to go head to head with them. John had Ac Ah and J.C. had those evil weevil Queens. After it was all said and done, there were hearts galore on the board and John took J. C. down to a mere 800 chips left in his possession by having the Ah. John Phan is incredibly aggressive and equally as lucky. He has a super attitude, smiling 98% of the time. (Of course he IS winning!) J.C. is a very well know player winning numerous tournaments and placing in too many to count. He has been playing for only 7 years and picked up a 1st at the Rio WSOP Circuit $1500 event this year. He came into today's event as the chip leader, but has unfortunately passed most of his chips to Mr. Phan.
The wrecking ball John Phan takes J.C. completely out of his misery by finishing him off with an A 9 against J.C's 3 5. Two Tens and Two Jacks on the board made Johns hand a powerhouse and J. C. hits the road with $2350 and 7th place.
John Phan is so funny. He goes all in sans the visionary advantage.SIGHT! He just giggles and watches his opponents fold as he moves all in BLIND. Mr. 'no looky' Phanand his attitude of playfulness makes him a pleasure to watch. I don't really think he shoves all in blind, but he surely makes a good case for it. John has 60,000 chips followed by Kevin Hay with 35,500. Mike Sica is down to 8,500 and just got involved in a pot with Abraham Gray. Mike flips over the 'Dolly Parton'; 9d 5d while Abraham has A 7 off suit. The flop, K 7 A made it nearly impossible for Mike to make a hand and he is eliminated in 6th for $2825.
Immediately, John puts the pedal to the metal and takes out Mike 'Chico' DuFloth (pronounced Doo Flow). Phan has an A J and DuFloth an A 9. The flop brings them both an Ace but the following 7 and T do nothing for Mike and he finishes 5th earning $3295. Mike is 5 2 and has been playing tournament poker for 11 months. He has already made over $53,000 plus today's take in this short amount of time. This is his 4th final table and trust me he is one to watch. He plans to continue playing tournament poker as a hobby several times a year. His mantra when playing poker is 'Stay Detached' and 'Just Play Baby.' He is the CEO of a major Internet Provider in Northern California.
Good heavens, I can't keep up with this. The action on this table is out of this world. These guys have been playing for only 1.5 hours and it is down to 4 contenders. John is all in with Kevin Hay and sends Kevin packing. Kevin had an Ac Qc and John Tram had Q Q. The very uneventful board made the ladies work for John, and Kevin never got anything to help him out. He makes a very respectable 4th tonight and picks up his $3765. Another relatively new player to the game, Kevin has been playing hold 'em for about 2 years and outside of tournament play, he enjoys limit 5/10 hold'em. This is his very first final table for Kevin, and he did quite well.
Now we have the final 3. John Phan is loaded to the gills, with chips that is. James Lea is sitting with about 25,000 and Abraham Gray about the same with John holding all the rest. James Lea decides not to put up with this anymore and is going up against Mr. Tram and has tripled up to that 25,000. He raised John again and picked up some more chips, helping his stack to grow and grow. The blinds are now 500/1500 with the button on John Phan. He raises, (surprise) and this time Abraham doesn't believe and re-raises. John concedes and lets Abraham take it. James Lea is from Kent Washington and is a contractor and has been playing the game of hold'em for 30 years. He is impressed with the number of young players and is looking forward to playing more major tournaments this year.
James Lea and John Phan are at it again. John got into a nice pot with James and it is incumbent on John to make a decision to call Jame's 8,000 bet. John lets it go this time. The next time he doesn't. He and James get all in and James is behind John with each having a pair. John has 7 7 and James has 6 6. Nothing happens and James leaves Abraham and John to heads up play by winning 3rd place and $5175. We are looking for a chip count now. Abraham has 37,500 with John towering over him with 110,000 making it about a 3 to 1 chip lead for John. I have never seen anything like this. John is winning almost every hand he gets involved in.
This event is over. Only 2.5 hours and the table is bare. Abraham put his 9 9 to the test but John had KK to put Abraham in a bad position after the flop of 2 3 8. With both players all in the turn comes a 7 and it is all over with the river, a 3. Abraham leaves at the end with 2nd place and $9410.
John Phan is a very handsome young man with much charisma and class. He is funny, confident and always ready to play. At 30 years old, he says he started playing as a youth of 16. He loves to bluff and enjoys the competition. He felt that once he took J. C. Tran out of play, he felt the assurance he had this event in the bag. The bag held $16,935 to add to his seemingly never-ending bankroll. He already has 2 WPO Bracelets and a 4th in the WPT $25,000 event at the Bellagio this year. He is excited about playing the WSOP in June, but his true dream is to become Player Of The Year this year. Good luck to you John, I think you are well on your way.
On a side note, Greg Cash, who was here to play more of the events, had a death in the family and will have to leave. I look forward to seeing Greg in New Orleans and I pray for him and his family during these next few weeks.
Sharla Lehrmann
sharla@pokerpages.com | 
