Johnny Phan Named Poker Player of the Year 2008
John Phan clinched the 2008 Card Player Player of the Year title last week after an amzing year of poker success. This is the first time that Phan has won the POY award, and he joins a fraternity of players that includes Men "The Master" Nguyen, T.J. Cloutier, Tony Ma, David "The Dragon" Pham, Daniel Negreanu, and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. Phan took home poker's most respected annual award by amassing 6,704 points.
Highlights of the year for Phan included his first WPT win at the Legends of Poker in August, which netted him $1,091,428 in prize money. He also made two additional WPT final tables, finishing in sixth place at the Bay 101 Shooting Star event in March, and placing in fifth at the Bellagio Cup IV in July. Phan also won his first WSOP gold bracelet in 2008, winning a $3,000 no-limit hold'em event. He followed that up by taking first in a $2,500 deuce-to-seven triple draw lowball event one week later for his second bracelet. The summer of Phan in 2008 was one of the most impressive runs of tournament poker success in the history of the game.
Phan finished the year with 14 cashes that won him $2,075,323 in prize money. He made eight final tables and won three major events. Phan now holds $5,371,996 in career tournament winnings, two WSOP gold bracelets, one WPT title.
"I'm here to gamble and I'm not afraid to take risks," Phan told CardPlayer.com, referring to his poker tournament play and success. "Unless I have a big, big stack, but day 1 and 2 though I'm here to gamble, I don't care, I want to accumulate a lot of chips. If I get down to three or four tables left in the tournament then I will be really extra careful with every move I make and analyze everything."
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Ace King, Gambling911.com