Legends of Poker Live Updates

John Phan has won the WPT Season 7 Legends Of Poker. In the final hand Amit Makhija shoved with K♦ 7♦ and Phan made the call with pocket threes.

The flop came Q♠ 5♥ 5♣, the river was the A♠ and it was all over when the river brought the 10♠.

Makhija grabs $563,320 for second while Phan takes home the $1,091,428 first place prize and all the glory of Legends of Poker title.

Stay tuned for an interview with Phan a little later over here and our recap blog soon enough right here .

Amit Makhija has doubled up again to stay alive. He got it in good with A♦ 8♠ against Phan’s A♣ 2♣ and managed to stay in the lead with many chop possibilities on the K♠ 10♣ K♥ flop.

Phan picked up a flush draw on the 8♣ turn that paired up Amit’s eight, but no club came on the end.

Makhija doubled up to $2.67 million, but is still trailing Phan and his $8.53 million.

After a couple of big hands John Phan has taken an overwhelming chip lead. In the last hand both players saw a flop of J♠ 3♣ 2♦ and Phan checked but Makhiji bet $250,000. Phan called and the turn came the 5♥. This time Phan bet $500,000 and Makhiji called.

The river fell J♦ and Phan bet $1.5 million and eventually Makhiji called. Phan showed Q-J for trip jacks, which was enough to beat Makhija's 8-5 for a pair of fives.

After the hand the chips stacks looked considerably different:

The two remaining gladiators of poker continue to trade blows. John Phan got the best of it in a recent hand.

Phan and Amit Makhaiji saw a flop of A♦ 4♥ 3♥ and Phan bet $270,000. Amit called and the turn came K♥ and Phan fired again, this time for $500,000. Makhiji called and the river fell A♥.

Phan thought for a couple minutes and then bet $950,000. Makhiji insta-called but Phan showed J♦ 9♥ for the flush.

After the hand the chip counts were as follows:

Amit Makhija has done it again. He shoved into a K♠ 7♠ 4♦ flop only to see John Phan make the call showing K♣ 7♠ for two pair. Makhija had 9♠ 6♠ for the flush draw.

Phan was two cards from the Legends title, but when the 10♣ fell on the river Amit picked up a few more outs. The 8♥ river was one of them giving Makhija the straight and thrusting him into the lead with $6.5 million to Phan's $4.6 million.

Could this be it for Amit Makhija? John Phan just won a large pot against the online pro and seems to be turning it on.

In the hand Makhija bet $400,000 and John called. The flop came 9♥ 8♣ 5♣ and Phan checked but Makhija bet $600,000. Phan thought for several minutes before calling.

The turn came 2♣ and both players checked. The river fell 6♣ and Phan checked but Makhija bet $1.5 million.

After a minute or two Phan called and Makhija immediately said, "Good call" and attempted to muck his hand.

Phan insisted on seeing the hand and Makhija flipped over T♠ 2♠ for nothing but a pair of deuces.

Phan won with J♦ 9♣ for the nine-high flush.

It's worth noting that in an earlier hand Makhija let Phan muck his hand when Makhija made the call.

Updated chip counts:

Amit Makhija has doubled up and is right back in it. After a Phan raise Makhija shoved and Phan made the call.

It was A♠ 6♥ for Makhija in the lead against Phan's Q♣ 9♠. Phan took the lead on the K♦ Q♠ J♦ flop and held it on the 2♣ river. But when the A♣ came down on the river Makhija had doubled back to almost $4 million.

Phan still has the lead with $7.2 million but it's getting a little tighter.

"You can't luck box this whole tournament John," Makhija said.

We've just had our biggest hand of the entire tournament and suddenly John Phan is in a dominating position.

In the hand Amit Makhija bet $320,000 and Phan re-raised to $1.2 million. Makhija responds by shoving all-in and Phan jumped to his feet while contemplating a call. Phan walked by his friends in the audience and shouts of, "Call, call, call" echoed throughout the final table room.

While pacing Phan said, "I call."

Makhija had Phan covered by a small margin.

The players flipped over their cards and it was time for one heck of a big coin flip:

Phan: A-K

Makhija: 2-2

The board came J♣ 4♠ 3♠ J♦ and it looked like Makhija might just pull it off but as the dealer prepared to check the river it felt like a card was coming for Phan.

As it happend the K♠ peeled off the deck and Phan cheered and then high-fived his friends.

A stunned Makhija could only say, "It's not over yet, John."

After the hand the chip stacks looked a little like this:

The first big pot of the heads-up match was yet another big win by Amit Makhija. Amit made it $320k from the button and John Phan made the call.

The flop came J♥ 5♦ 3♣ and Phan fired away making it $270k. Makhija wasted very little time raising it up to $800,000 total and while Phan thought about it for a while, he thought better of it, laying the hand down.

Zach Clark is out and it will be John Phan against Amit Makhija heads up for the Legends title.

After Amit and Phan limped, Clark shoved from the big blind. Makhija made the call with just A♣ 6♣ but he was ahead of the obviously squeezy K♦ 2♠ Zach had.

The flop was the inconsequential 10♦ 7♣ 5♥ but the A♠ turn sealed it for Makhija sending Clark home with $281,645 for third.

Phan will go into heads up with $4.7 million to Makhija's $6.4 million, but was still overheard asking Makhija if he wanted to play winner take all just a few minutes ago. Perhaps a little too much champagne earlier has gone to John's head?

Amit Makhija bets $300,000 from the small blind and John Phan comes over the top all-in for approximately $2.5 million.

Makhija thinks for a minute but then calls and tables pocket tens. Unfortunately for him Phan showed the fabled pocket aces.

With the entire crowd on their feet the dealer puts out a board of Q♠ 9♠ 7♥ 5♣ 5♦, which catapults Phan into the chip lead.

"That's more like it, baby," said Phan.

The approximate chip counts for both players after the hand were:

John Phan just made a big bluff against Amit Makhija and ended up getting called. In the hand Phan bet $235,000 pre-flop from the button and Makhija called from the big blind.

The flop came K-T-2 and Makhija checked but Phan bet $200,000. Makhija made the call and the turn came 5♥.

Once again Makhija checked and Phan thought for a minute before he counted out a $345,000 bet. Makhija called and the final card on the board was the 4♠.

For the final time Makhija checked but Phan triple barreled and bet $455,000.

Makhija thought for a minute but eventually made the call and Phan immediately said, "You got it. Your hand is good."

"You're not going to show me? asked Makhija.

Phan didn't respond.

After the hand Makhija was up to $7 million and Phan drops down to third place with $2 million.

Amit Makhija just pulled off a nice bluff taking a decent pot off John Phan. The action began when Makhija limped from the small blind and Phan checked his option.

Both players checked the A-7-7 flop, but when the 2♦ came on the turn the action began to heat up. First Makhija made it $150k, then Phan min-raised to $300,000.

Not to be outdone, Makhija made a re-raise of his own making it $600k and Phan was forced to fold. As the chips were being pushed his way Amit showed 8-9 for the stone-cold bluff.

It continues to be a three-way battle from the heart of the Bicycle Casino in L.A. In the latest hand John Phan bet $185,000 but Zach Clark came over the top for his entire stack of $1,240,000.

Phan went into the tank for an extremely long time before finally laying his hand down, which prompted some needling from chip leader Amit Makhija.

"John, you gotta player a lot faster, son," Makhija said. "We're losing a whole lot of play in this tournament."

Phan responded by saying it was an important decision.

"I understand that," said Makhija. "I didn't mean any disrespect. You just take a really long time."

And the battle rages on...

Yet another monster pot has been shipped to John Phan. The Razor raised from the small blind to $185,000 before Zach Clark re-raised from the big blind up to $375,000. Phan made the call and the flop came J♣ 3♣ 2♦.

Phan checked, but Clark did not, making it $150,000 to see a turn. John made the call forcing the dealer to turn over the A♣ turn. This time both players checked and we were all shown the 9♥ river.

Phan immediately jumped into action betting half a million chips and Clark snap called.

Phan's deuces were good for the set and after a Clark mucked, he raked the pot. Makhija still sits on $5.6 million, but his lead is a slim one as Phan rises to $4.125 million. Zach Clark is now in the danger zone sitting on $1.4 million.

Paul Smith just became our latest victim in a suck re-suck debacle with John Phan. The hand started with a Phan raise before Smith pushed in pre-flop. After a few minutes of Phan tanking, a very short time by his standards, Smith called for the clock.

Just seconds before the ten second countdown began, Phan made the huge call felting pocket eights. Smith needed some serious help to survive with A♠ 7♠ and got it on the 7-7-9 flop. Phan looked dejected but brightened slightly when the turn came a ten giving him an open ended straight draw.

Needing a jack, six or an eight to take down the pot, Phan leaped in the air when the river came a six and Smith headed for the door. He cashes $246,450 for fourth.

Now three handed Amit Makhija has $6.1 million, John Phan holds $2.8 million and Zach Clark has $2.5 million.

One hand after doubling up, Trong Nguyen has gone broke. After Amit Makhija raised pre-flop to $150k and Nguyen made the call the two went heads up to the 7♥ 7♣ 2♣ flop.

Nguyen fired right away making it $300k to go, but Makhija was up for it. When the 4♣ fell on the turn, Nguyen pushed in and after just a few seconds in the tank Makhija made the call with pocket sixes. It turned out to be a brilliant call as the sixes were good. Trong was making a move with K♥ Q♥ and would need a king or queen to stay alive.

In the end the river came the 5♣ and Trong stepped out 5th cashing a whopping $211,245.

In the meantime, Amit continues to pad his huge lead now on $5.8 million in chips.

Trong Nguyen, who we are told goes by Mike, just doubled up through consummate chip leader Amit Makhija.

Nguyen shoved for $598,000 pre-flop and Makhija made the call. The players revealed their cards:

Nguyen: 6-6

Makhija: A-K

The board came J-T-2-T-6 and that was enough to give Nguyen a much needed double up.

After a standard pre-flop raise from Amit Makhija, John Phan decides to push all in for $1.4 million and immediately jumps out of his seat to walk around the room.

"Take your time kid, don't worry," Phan tells Makhija.

"You tell me what you want me to do," Makhija retorts.

Eventually Amit opts to lay his hand down leaving Phan the pot. But before the next hand is dealt, John tries to convince the others to play blind for a while, just as he did in winning one of the two bracelets he took down at the 2008 WSOP earlier this summer.

After some serious pre flop action Amit Makhija and John Phan see a flop heads up.

Both check when the 2-K-T come down, but the 4♣ turn seems to change things slightly. Amit fires out $230k and after guzzling a bit of champagne John makes the call.

The river brings the 6♦ and, once again, Makhija comes out firing making it $500k to see his holdings. Phan obliges and can only lament his bad luck as his jacks are beaten by the chip leaders aces.

We've just seen our first flop and it made for our first elimination. The hand began when John Phan made a $160k raise pre-flop and just as he had the hand before, Zachary Clark came over the top making it $400k more. He picked up the pot that time, but Kyle Wilson was waiting in the weeds this time around and shoved in for $995k when his turn came.  

The action came back to Phan at this point and he stood out of his chair and walked around pondering his next move. He eventually folded and left it up to Clark, who made the call.

It was two kings for Kyle against Zachary's ace-jack and Kyle looked good for the double until the A-7-5 flop came. The 5♥ turn and 3♠ river brought no miracle king and Canadian Kyle Wilson becomes our sixth place finisher cashing $176,035.

The first few hands have come and gone and there has yet to be a flop. The biggest hand of the early going came when Amit Makhija made a $150k pre-flop raise only to see Paul Smith push in.

Makhija laid his hand down and we are still waiting for the first flop.

We're just moments away from the start of the WPT Season 7 Legends of Poker final table live from the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. Online phenom Amit Makhija comes in as the favorite, but the way the deck hit John Phan Wednesday he should not be counted out.

Kyle Wilson, Paul Smith and Zack Clark are all respected Internet pros and could make a run while the relatively unknown Trong Nguyen comes in as the short stack looking to change all that.

Keep it locked right here on PL.com from start to finish as the fight for the $1,091,428 first place prize really heats up. The players are just being introduced and the call to shuffle up and deal is just seconds away.

For now, here are the seat assignments and chips counts:

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