Razor running hot

WSOP Europe / Matthew Pitt / 22 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

The sharks will be descending on London over the next month or so for the second running of the World Series of Poker Europe and one who is proving to have bigger teeth than most right now is John Phan, writes Rob Eddy.

The Vietnamese-born professional has the nickname of 'The Razor' and it is proving very apt as he has been carving his way through field after field to land the big prizes this year.

His latest success was his first victory on the World Poker Tour, on his fourth final table and second of the season, as he topped a field of 373 to take home a cool $1,091,428 in the 2008 Legends of Poker.

His heads-up battle with overnight chip leader Amit Makhija proved to be a real roller-coaster with massive pots going from one stack to the other, but after more than three hours, Phan's pocket 3s held up in a coin-flip against Kd 7d and he could celebrate another win.

It is proving a real breakthrough year for Phan, who had previously long-been considered one of the world's top players without a major title, as he had earlier won his first two gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Firstly, the 33-year-old took down the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em event to earn $434,789 for his troubles before adding another $151,896 to his coffers with victory in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw event.

Phan also has 15 cashes in the WSOP and with the way he is running right now, he has got to be a man to fear when they 'shuffle up and deal' at the WSOPE, taking place at the Casino at The Empire from September 19.

This shark is not all about the teeth though as he uses a percentage of his winnings to help out his family and one day hopes to start a children's charity back in his homeland. Ahh!