John Phan Slices Up the Poker Tournament Circuit

by Bodog Poker | Nov 17 2008

We’re not quite into December of 2008 yet but already there is very clear leader in the 2008 Card Player Player of the Year (POY) standings. Sitting way out in front of the pack is John “The Razor” Phan.

John Phan was born in Da Nang Vietnam in 1974 and now currently resides in Long Beach, Calif. It’s unlikely that Phan spends too much time there though since he plays an insane number of live tournaments each year. This is no doubt part of the reason why he is also constantly performing so well on the Player of the Year standings.

In 2005 Phan barely lost out to Men “The Master” Nguyen in the POY standings by a mere 176 points. The Master had an insane 16 final tables that year though and wasn’t to be outdone even though Phan out earned.

Then in 2006 Phan dropped back but remained on the tournament radar of pros around the world as he finished in 39th with 2,419 points, five final tables and $605,658 in prize money. 2007 saw a similar performance with 48th place, 2,706 points, six final tables and $464,737 in prize money.

This year however, is the year of the Razor. Check out these stats; Phan has made eight prestigious final tables, earned over $2 million and has accrued 6,704 points! Considering that the closest poker player to Phan on the list is Bertrand Grospellier (another regular in the POY standings) has 5,410 it’s looking like Phan’s victory is a lock.

Phan is consummate tournament poker pro with two World Series of Poker bracelets to his name both coming from 2008. He took first in both the $3,000 NL Holdem event and the $2,500 2-7 Triple draw for $434,789 and $151,896 respectively.

He has made three WPT final tables won one of them. Phan’s tournament successes have garnered him over $5,300,000 making him 33rd most successful tournament poker player in the world right behind Ted Forrest and in front of Humberto Brenes.

Apparently he’s at the poker tables so much that that is where he meets women. He is currently dating poker pro Liz Lieu who was also born in Vietnam in 1974 before moving to the United States.

With Phan’s stellar poker tournament attendance you can almost guarantee that if you play any major live tournaments in the U.S. you’ll be swimming in his waters. Take him on, if you so dare, by winning your way into a land-based poker tournament through Bodog’s Player’s Choice Qualifiers.