John Phan wins WSOP Flipament Style - Event 29

After making WSOP final tables three years in a row and racking up millions of dollars in career tournament winnings poker star John Phan can finally call himself a WSOP bracelet winner. His first World Series victory came early this morning in Event #29 $3,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Holdem.

The highlight of this tournament was the six hour long epic battle between John Phan and Johnny Neckar. When heads up play began the chip counts were:

John Phan: 2,345,000
Johnny Neckar: 1,950,000

After a while a tired John Phan began suggesting the players agree to a flipament to decide the bracelet. Neckar was hesitant at first, but finally decided to give it a try, reserving the right to change his mind later..

A flipament basically means both players agree to go all in blind every hand. The players requested that in this case the cards would be left face down and the flop turn and river would be dealt allowing each player to then peel. The WSOP tournament staff agreed and the flipament began.

On the first flipament hand the board ran K-J-K-9-3 with no flush possibility, Phan turned over Q-4 and Necktar doubled up to 2.4 million when he flipped over 9-7. The players then decided they would peel one card at a time on the remaining hands to make it more exciting:

On flipament Hand #2
Flop: Jc 8s Qd Qc 5c
Phan: 4d
Neckar: 4c
Neckar: 2s

Phan was in great shape at this point with Neckar playing the board. He had to peel a five or higher for the win. When he turned over the seven of spades he took a commanding chip lead as Neckar had been crippled.

Neckar would double up on flipament hand #3 and then decide that was about all the flopping he could handle. A few hands after returning to normal play Phan won the bracelet when he raised to 200K with Ah 9s and Neckar came over the top all in with Qd Jd. The board ran Kc 7s 8d 4sAs and Phan was the champion receiving $434,789 top place prize money and his first WSOP bracelet. Neckar received $277,452 for his impressive runner-up finish.

Final Table Recap:

The $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event attracted 716 players creating a total prize pool of $1,976,160 with top place paying $434,789 to eventual winner. Several big names were in attendance such as Kristy Gazes, Ryan Young, Jimmy Fricke, Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Tilly, Mike Matusow, Evelyn Ng, Phil Laak etc, but as the field narrowed to nine there were just a few big name players left including David Singer, John Pham and is Alex Bolotin.

The most well known Event #29 final table players was David Singer, he came into the event with 44 cashes, $3.8 million in live career tournament winnings and a 2008 WSOP bracelet. John Phan is also a well known player with $3.3 million in live tournament winnings which included a 2006 and 2007 final table appearance. The last of the mentioned players is 27 year-old Alex Bolotin who has over 1.5 million in career winnings including successes in both WPT and WSOP events.

At the start of the night the chip counts were:

Matt Vengrin 1,007,500
Johnny Neckar 796,000
Alex Bolotin 534,000
Stewart Newman 398,000
John Phan 396,500
Thuy Doan 369,500
David Singer 334,000
Tony Dunst 333,000
Sebastian Segovia 128,500

Elimination hands:

Sebastian Segovia eliminated in 9th place earning 39,523.

Segovia was the first player of the final table to be eliminated courtesy of Matt Vengrin. From middle position Vengrin raised to 50,000 and John Phan re-raised to 130,000, action came to Vengrin and he re-raised Phan to 363,000 more. Segovia went all in for his remaining chips and Phan went into the tank before deciding to fold. Vengrin and Segovia flipped their hands over and Vengrin held Qd-Qc and was against Segovia As-Kh. The board couldn’t materialize for Segovia and he was the 9th place finisher.

Tony Dunst eliminated in 8th place earning $54,344

From under the gun Matt Vengrin raised to 40,000 and when the action came to Tony Dunst he pushed all in for a total of 160,000 and Vengrin called. The players held:

Dunst: Kh-Kd
Vengrin: 8c-9c

The board ran 10d-8d-7d-Jh-10s giving Vengrin a straight to the jack. Quite a bad beat for Dunst at a WSOP final table, but he was a class act and pumped to earn over $54,000.

Thuyen Doan eliminated in 7th place earning $69,165

The men are torn to feel happy or sad that the only lady at the table will be leaving. On one hand they are guaranteed more money, but now have no eye candy to look at. Talk about bittersweetness. Her last hand was against John Phan. Doan moved all in for 260,000 from the button and Phan called, they revealed:

Doan: 6s-6h
Phan: Ah-Jc

The board ran: Js-5h-3c-As-4d, hitting Phan with top two pair, which crushed Doan’s one pair of six’s. This won’t be the last we see of this young Asian lady.

Stewart Newman eliminated in 6th place earning $88,927

Newman’s last hand was when he found himself all in with John Phan, they held:

Stewart Newman: Kh-Qd
John Phan: Kc-Jh

This was the best case scenario for Newman with having Phan completely dominated. The flop proved otherwise however, when a Jc-5h-3c came with a 4s-5s hitting the turn and river. Newman was quite angry the way he lost and has been pacing the casino room with a very disgusted look on his face.

David Singer eliminated in 5th place earning $112,641

Singer could not repeat his bracelet performance that he had on June 2nd where he earned himself a first place prize of $214,131. His last hand game when John Phan was under the gun and raised to 54,000 and Phan called from the big blind. The flop came Ac-Ks-3s and after Singer checked Phan bet 54,000 and Singer pushed all in. Phan quickly called and the hands were revealed:

John Phan: Kc-3c
David Singer: Jd-Qh

The turn and river were (Ac-Ks-3s) – 9d-6h, which missed Singer’s gut shot straight draw. That was the end for Full Tilt Poker player David Singer.

Alex Bolotin eliminated in 4th place earning $137,343

From under the gun Alex Bolotin open pushed for a little over 250,000 in chips and Phan calls immediately. They held:

Bolotin: 9s-9d
Phan: Ad-Ks

The board ran in favor of Ace King with a board of: Kd-4s-Ac-4c-2h. Bolotin will have to wait for his first WSOP bracelet as his pocket nines feel to Ace King and was eliminated in 4th place.

Matt Vengrin eliminated in 3rd place earning $167,973.

Vengrin’s final hand came when Johnny Neckar raised to 65,000 before the flop was dealt and was re-raised by Vengrin to 125,000. Neckar thought for a few minutes and put enough chips in the pot to put Vengrin all in, and Vengrin called. The hands were revealed:

Neckar: Ad-Qs
Vengrin: Ac-9h

The board ran: 7d-As-Ks-2h-8d. Neckar was able to out kick Vengrin’s nine with a queen. Vengrin put on a impressive performance that paid well. The match now continues heads up between John Phan and Johnny Neckar.

As we already mentioned the heads up match lasted an amazing six hours and ended with John Phan winning the bracelet and the $434,789 top place prize money.