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2008 WSOP
Official Report: Event #29
Winner: John
"The Razor" Phan
No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-In: $ 3,000
Number of Entries: 716
Number of Re-Buys: NA
Total Net Prize Pool: $ 1,976,160
June 15-17, 2008
Tournament Notes:
• The $3,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament
attracted a highly-competitive field of 716 entries, creating a prize pool
totaling $1,976,160. The top 72 finishers collected prize money.
• The tournament was played over
three consecutive days. The final table was played on Day Three at the
same time as the conclusion of the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em World
Championship (Event #30). The finale took place at the secondary final
table, as the main stage was reserved for the other event.
• The winner was poker pro John
Phan. He is 33-years-old and lives in Stockton, CA. Phan was born in
Vietnam. He has been playing poker professionally for about 12 years.
• Phan
collected $434,789 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold
bracelet. Prior to this victory, Phan had two runner-up finishes in WSOP
events in 2006 and 2007. He also finished fourth in an event in 2005.
• Phan’s heads-up match against
Johnny Neckar clocked in at 6 hours and 13 minutes, which certainly ranks
as one of the longer matches in WSOP history. However, this did not come
close to threatening the all-time record set in 2006 between Chip Reese
and Andy Bloch, which lasted over eight hours. The entire final table took
slightly over ten hours to complete.
• The Phan-Neckar back and forth
heads-up match led to one of the most bizarre occurrences in WSOP history.
Just when both players had been playing for six hours and that fact was
announced to the crowd, both finalists decided to raise all-in blindly
before the flop and let luck takes its course. Phan and Neckar did this
for three straight hands. However, some sanity was restored and just as
hundreds of screaming fans had ringed around the final table arena
hollering out names and cards, both players resumed normal patterns of
play – with the duel locked into a dead heat in chips. Half a dozen hands
later, Phan finally won the tournament.
• Afterward, Phan was almost
dismissive of the significance of his victory. Although he had finally won
a WSOP gold bracelet after coming close several times, he stated that he
one and only goal in poker remains to win the WSOP Main Event. Oddly
enough, while Phan was trying to explain himself, he had a bracelet
affixed to his wrist from another poker tournament – which was awarded to
him for winning a major tournament at the Jack Binion World Poker Open in
2007.
•
Phan later explained his odd decision to “gamble” for the gold bracelet
(moving all-in dark on three hands) by saying, “What can I say? I love to
gamble. To me, gambling is what it’s all about.”
• A more serious side of Phan’s
personality came out later when he revealed that he intends to donate some
of his cash prize to charity, and specifically the hometown in Vietnam
where he still has relatives.
• The second-place finisher was 22-year-old Johnny
Neckar, from Madison, WI. This was his second time to cash at the WSOP.
• David Singer’s bid to win his
second WSOP gold bracelet came up short. He took fifth place in this
event. Singer won the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #3).
• Sebastian Segovia finished in
ninth place. Segovia is from Guatemala. This marked the first time in WSOP
history that a player from that Central American nation has made it to the
final table.
• Don “Final Table” Mullis took 16th place. Mullis
enjoyed a stellar year in 2005, particularly on the WSOP Circuit where he
made eight final table appearances within an eight-month span and won two
gold rings – at the Tunica Grand and Harvey’s Lake Tahoe.
• Former WSOP gold bracelet winner
Ryan Young finished in 17th place.
• This tournament was historic in
at least one special way. Betty Carey played in this tournament – and
cashed. Carey is a near-legendary figure amongst many of the older poker
rounders. She was once called “the best woman player in the world” by
“Amarillo Slim” Preston. During poker’s earlier days, she was bankrolled
by outlaw Jimmy Chagra and played amongst (and often beat) the best
players in the world in high-limit cash games. Carey finished 36th in this
event. Her last time to cash at the WSOP was way back in 1986. Therefore,
her 22-year-span between WSOP cashes is believed to be an all-time record.
• Former
WSOP gold bracelet winner Kathy Liebert finished 39th. This marked her
fifth cash at this year’s WSOP.
• Beth Shak finished 52nd. Shak
almost won this same event last year. She finished second to winner
Shankar Pillai.
• Beth Shak’s husband, Daniel Shak, is building quite
a poker resume of his own. Shak was a co-winner of the 2007 “Ante-Up For
Africa” tournament for charity and donated his entire $243,893 cash prize
to the charity. Sometimes, good things happen to good people. Mr. Shak
took 70th place in this tournament.
• Since both Shaks cashed, this
marked the first time that a husband and wife have cashed in the same
tournament at this year’s World Series. In the past, this has been
accomplished by the Sterns (Max and Maria) and the Thomas’ (Harry and
Jerri).
•
The curse on defending champions continues. Last year’s winner, Shankar
Pillai played in this event. But he did not cash. This brings the current
streak to 29 straight non-cashes for defending champions in their
respective events.
• Through the conclusion of Event #29, the player
with the highest percentage of cashes (minimum of six events played) is
Kathy Liebert at 62.5 percent. Liebert has entered a total of eight events
and cashed in five.
• Through the conclusion of Event #29, only one
player has cashed six times – Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia. He is
best positioned to challenge the record set for “Most WSOP Cashes in a
Single Year,” shared by four players -- Michael Binger (2007), Chad Brown
(2007), Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (2006), and Humberto Brenes (2006), with eight
in-the-money strikes.
• The current Milwaukee’s Best Light “Player of the
Year” standings shows Erick Lindgren on top of the points list with one
gold bracelet win and four cashes. However, Daniel Negreanu is now close
in points, along with Vanessa Selbst and Jacobo Fernandez.
• Through the conclusion of Event
#29 at this year’s World Series of Poker, the gold bracelet count by
nations and states reads as follows:
8 – Nevada
5 – California
4 – New York
2 – Canada
2 – Missouri
1 – Germany
1 – Italy
1 – Maryland
1 – Michigan
1 – Pennsylvania
1 – Russia
1 – South Carolina
1 – Wisconsin
• The Event #29 winner John Phan
is to be classified as a professional. Accordingly, through the conclusion
of Event #29 at this year’s World Series of Poker, the “Professionals
versus Amateurs” gold bracelet scoreboard reads:
Professionals – 22 wins
Amateurs -- 4 wins
Semi-Pros -- 2 wins |