John Phan wins WPT Legends of Poker

WPT Legends Of Poker, Bicycle Casino, California, No Limit Hold’em, August 23rd-28th 2008

Entrants: 373
Buyin: $10,000
Prize pool: $3,520,738

1. John Phan — $1,091,428
2. Amit Makhija — $563,320
3. Zachary Clark — $281,645
4. Paul Smith — $246,450
5. Trong Nguyen — $211,245
6. Kyle Wilson — $176,035

After claiming two WSOP bracelets this summer and a final table at the Bellagio’s WPT event, John Phan put the exclamation mark on his current hot streak by winning the WPT Legends of Poker.

As the final six players came to the table, the chip counts were as follows;

Seat 1. Trong Nguyen — 980,000
Seat 2. Amit Makhija — 3,225,000
Seat 3. Paul Smith — 1,130,000
Seat 4. John Phan — 2,415,000
Seat 5. Zachary Clark — 2,025,000
Seat 6. Kyle Wilson — 1,425,000

In the end, it came down to a heads-up battle between Phan and American Amit Makhija. The heads-up lasted more than three hours and a succession of huge pots saw the chiplead continuously swing from one to the other. As with many tournaments, it all came down to a race with Phan’s small pair of threes holding against the king-high of Makhija, giving him his first WPT title.

With the win, Phan has now made an incredible three of the last six WPT final tables. That record, along with his stunning WSOP, makes him the form player in world poker right now and one of the greatest poker players in the world full stop.