Bon "John" Phan (born October 10, 1974, in
Da Nang
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
) is a
Vietnamese-American
Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...
professional
poker
Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
player based in
Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
, who is a two-time
World Series of Poker bracelet
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 197 ...
winner
and is a winner and four-time final tablist of
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...
Championships.
THE JOHN PHAN RULE : With over 100,000 chips already in the pot and the board reading KspadeQspade3diamond5club, Travis Carson moves al-in for 44,200. John Phan is trying to decide whether or not to call-in for his last 30,000 or so.
Phan has tucked his cards in between his chips and the rail for safe keeping while he deliberates. After a while, he asks the dealer if she has a second blue "all-in" button. One of the buttons is in front of Carson, but the second button is still in the well.
Phan tells the dealer he is not going all-in, but he was wondering if he could borrow the button for the minute. The dealer warily hands it to him and he begins to use it as a coin. He gives it a small toss in the air and it lands face-down right in front of him. He tries to give it another small toss and it nearly gets away from him.
On the third toss, Phan hefts it a little higher and it lands face-down on the other side of the betting line. There is a beat before Phan reaches in and pulls the button back.
"That's a call," Carson says. Phan does not seem to agree. A floorman is paged to the table to hear the situation and Phan pleads his case that he told the dealer he was just borrowing the button, not using it to move all-in. The table seems to agree with Carson that it should be ruled a call.
Tournament Director Matt Savage is paged to the table and as soon as he hears that Phan asked for the button, he tells him, "You're all-in." Savage even adds that asking for the button is called "the John Phan rule" before walking away.
Carson flips over his QheartQdiamond for middle set and Phan still doesn't touch his cards. After some more insisting from the dealer and the floor, Phan shows AheartKheart for top pair.
The river 8diamond means Phan is officially eliminated, though he does stick around and plead his case to his tablemates for another minute or so before heading for the door
World Series of Poker
Phan has made numerous
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...
(WSOP) money finishes, including the final table of the $5,000
Seven-card stud
Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, a ...
event in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
, finished fourth and outlasted both professional poker players
Dave Colclough
David E. Colclough (4 March 1964 – 18 October 2016) was a Welsh poker player.
Early life
Colclough was born in Carmarthen. Prior to becoming a poker professional, he worked in IT. He left IT after the 2000 World Series of Poker.
Poker ...
and
Rob Hollink.
At the
2006 WSOP, Phan finished second in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event when his failed to improve against
Jon Friedberg's on a board of . Phan earned $289,389 for his runner-up finish the next year at the
2007 World Series of Poker
The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on June 1st, 2007. The $10,000 ( US) no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event began on July 6th and was completed on the morning of July 18th. All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in L ...
Phan was runner-up to
Francois Safieddine in the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em event, earning $330,846 but it was not until the
2008 World Series of Poker
The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30th, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All ...
that Phan won his first
bracelet
A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a wikt:supportive, supportive function to hold other items of ...
after winning the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, earning $434,789 and then he won his second bracelet the same year, this time in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw event, earning $151,896. Phan cashed for a total of $608,464 at the 2008 WSOP.
World Series of Poker bracelets
World Poker Tour
Phan cashed eleven times on the
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...
(WPT) making the final table in four of them, one was at the $25,000 WPT Championship of season 3, receiving $518,920 for finishing in fourth place above Hollink,
Phil Ivey
Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. (born February 1, 1977) is an American professional poker player who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title, and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables. Ivey is regarded by numerou ...
,
Joe Beevers
Joseph Charles Beevers (born 9 December 1967 in Marylebone, London) is an English professional poker player and a member of The Hendon Mob.
During his lengthy poker career, Beevers became one of the pioneers of poker on television by appearing ...
,
Chris Ferguson
Christopher Philip Ferguson (born April 11, 1963) is an American professional poker player. He has won six World Series of Poker events, including the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Ferguson is a ...
and
Juha Helppi
}
Juha Helppi (born 4 March 1977) is a Finnish professional poker player from Helsinki.
Career
Juha was originally a croupier. He worked as a dealer for RAY in Finland but never dealt poker. He made a name for himself in the first World Poker To ...
.
and the other was at the $9,600 No Limit Hold'em WPT season 6 event at the 2008
Bay 101
Bay 101 is a cardroom in San Jose, California. Like other California cardrooms, Bay 101 offers poker cash games and tournaments as well as special "California" style table games.
Bay 101 is perhaps best known for hosting the Bay 101 Shooting Star ...
Shooting Stars where he finished 6th, earning $135,000.
In July 2008, Phan made another WPT final table finishing in fifth place at the Bellagio Cup IV, earning $193,915
On the
WPT seventh season, Phan won his first WPT title after defeating well known online player Amit "Amak316″ Makhija during heads-up play, winning the WPT bracelet and over $1.1 million at the Legends of Poker held at The Bicycle Casino in
Bell Gardens, California
Bell Gardens is a city in the U.S. state of California in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Located in Los Angeles County, the city's population was 42,072 at the 2010 census, down from 44,054 at the 2000 census. Bell Gardens is part of the G ...
.
Other poker events
Phan won two events at The Fifth Annual Jack Binion
World Poker Open The World Poker Open was one of the annual events on the World Poker Tour.
Notes
{{reflist
World Poker Tour ...
in 2004, the $500 Limit Hold'em event, earning $160,965 and $500 Pot Limit Hold'em event, earning $85,257 also cashing three other times at that same event. He later won the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the Festa al Lago II in 2004, earning $189,900. He won the $2,425 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic, earning $300,578 and was runner-up to
Marcel Lüske
Marcel Lüske (Amsterdam, Netherlands 23 March 1953) is a Dutch professional poker player. He finished 10th in the 2004 WSOP Main Event. Lüske is a mentor to and encourages the development of younger poker players.
Early life
Lüske's father ...
in the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the Fourth Annual Five-Star World Poker Classic in 2006, earning $179,195.
As of 2017, his total live tournament winnings exceed $5,525,000.
His 29 cashes as the WSOP account for over $1,450,000 of those winnings.
World Series of Poker Earnings
/ref>
He was the Cardplayer Magazine 2008 Player of the Year with 6,704 points as well as 2008 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phan, John
American poker players
Living people
World Series of Poker bracelet winners
World Poker Tour winners
Vietnamese poker players
American people of Vietnamese descent
1974 births