| Slam-Bam Victory for Phan
It was 9 a.m. and half the field was still left. It looked like the 14th event of Legends 2004, $300 no-limit hold’em, would last until Thursday. Suddenly, Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! John Phan, a pro Long Beach who has been having a great year, knocked out all four of his opponents in four hands, and it was all over.
The final table didn’t get going until after 6 a.m. Blinds were $2,000-$4,000 with $500 antes and 38 minutes left. Stephanie McRiley arrived at the table shortest-chipped with $15,500. Philip Butler finished her on hand four when he opened for $12,000, she moved in from the big blind and her Q-9 couldn’t catch his A-9.
On hand 14, Raymond Davis was down to $6,500 after he moved in for $32,500 with A-9 suited and Richard Tatalovich beat him with pocket queens. A hand later, Davis had the big blind with 10-7. Peter Nam put him in for his last $2,000 with A-K, and eight were left when the board came Q-6-6-A-J.
When blinds went to $3,000-$6,000, Butler, Nam and Phan led the pack, all in the $100,000 range. Then Butler moved to the front with about $160,000 when he knocked out Brian Belen. Belen moved in for $14,000 from the button with A-2. Butler made a loose call from the big blind with 5-3 and spiked a 5 on the river.
A few hands later Emiliano Calitis Jr. pushed in his $42,000 with pocket jacks. Tatalovich had A-K. “I’m not happy about calling with this hand,” he said. He felt happier when a king flopped and a lot happier when an ace turned. Calitis was dead to a jack for a set or a queen for a straight, missed and finished seventh. A couple of hands later Butler raised to $24,000, then folded when Tatalovich moved in. Tatalovich now had the lead with close to $150,000. He then picked up a couple more pots with raises and began closing in on $200,000
At the next break, on hand 39, Tatalovich was still in the lead with $197,000, followed by Pham, $106,000; Nam, $105,000; Butler, $93,000; Hudak, $61,000; and Ron Faltinsky, $47,000. On hand 40, Tatalovich had 10d-8d and moved in when a flop of 9d-7d-4 gave him an open-end straight flush draw. Phan called for $42,000 with K-9. After Tatalovich turned up his hand, Phan called for a deuce of spades and a deuce of hearts and got...a deuce of spades and a deuce of hearts! It doesn’t get much spookier than that.
Faltinsky, card-dead at the final table, finally picked up a few chips in three-way action when he was all in from the big blind for $12,000 and his K-Q won when a king flopped. He and Tatalovich, incidentally, are both nutritional supplement distributors. Butler, a psychotherapist, psychoanalyzed himself after he busted out on hand 50. Down to $37,000, he decided to call all in with 8-7 after Phan raised with K-9. “I should have waited,” he decided after the board came Q-Q-J-K-2.
After Faltinsky won with pocket kings, the game tightened considerably with the chip count ranging from about $140,000 for Tatalovich to $110,000 for Phan. A save was made and play continued.
Blinds went to $8,000-$16,000 with $2,000 antes as 9 a.m. (yawn) was approaching and half the table still left. Then everything exploded. On hand 68, Phan moved in with Ac-Jc and Nam, an investment banker, called with 10s-9s. The flop came 10c-8c-4-K-9c and Phan had his flush and about $280,000. Next hand: Faltinsky moved in with pocket 6s. Phan called with K-J and hit a king on the river. Next hand: Phan raised to $34,000 with A-2 and Tatalovich moved in with A-Q. A deuce flopped and now only Hudak, a real estate investor, was left, with $70,000 to Phan’s $538,000. Hudak moved in blind looking to either double up or go bust, and Phan called. Hudak had Q-4, Phan had A-2. Two more aces came and, in an eye-blink, event 14 was in the books. – Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Bon “John” Phan, who describes himself as an aggressive player, has been playing poker since he was 16 and full time when he turned 21. He splits his time between $80-$160 limit hold’em and no-limit cash games and tournaments. This has been a good year for him. He won a $3,000 no-limit event at the Bellagio, took two bracelets at the World Poker Open and chopped a no-limit event at Commerce’s LAPC. Tonight he was down to $800 after the rebuy period ended, but moved steadily up and was never in trouble.
How did he make that amazing call of two running deuces by suit? “I sometimes get this instinct, when I can call the exact cards,” Phan explained. When he knocked out four players in a row, he said, he wasn’t just playing on momentum or instinct, but had reasonable playing hands, even though he needed a big draw-out when he had A-2 to Tatalovich’s A-Q.
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