Just when it looked like John Phan was down and out, the Razor comes storming back. He’s in the game once again thanks to some pretty incredible play and a little bit of tilt induction.

Phan-ally, It’s Happened to Me

John Phan was down to just six big bets in his stack but managed to scrape a few chips back through aggression. Then he picked up a big pot against Shun Uchida that helped him begin to rebuild his stack.

Phan raised on the button and Uchida made it three bets from the small blind. Gioi Luong declined and Phan called.

On the first draw, Uchida took two cards and Phan drew three. Uchida bet again, and Phan called.

On the second draw, Uchida drew one card and Phan took two. Uchida bet once more, and Phan called.

On the third draw, both men stood pat; Uchida bet and Phan made the call, but Uchida didn’t want to turn up his cards.

“Turn your hand over,” Phan said. Uchida showed a ten, but Phan wanted more. “Show all your cards! You’re snowing with a ten! I knew it. I had a feeling you were snowing.”

Obtuse Angle Tilts Luong

Not long after that pot for Phan, Gioi Luong and Uchida got involved in a pot. On the first draw, the dealer began to give Uchida his two cards and Luong reached out to trade out one of his discards. Phan, who wasn’t in the hand, jumped up, pointing at Luong, saying he couldn’t trade cards out.

After a lot of argument back and forth between all the players - handled very smoothly by both the dealer and the floor, we might add - the supervisor showed up and listened to the situation. The ruling was that Luong indeed couldn’t trade out; he accepted the ruling, drew three cards, and got Uchida to check-fold to his bet.

Phan needled Luong after that pot was complete. “Go ahead, take the angle,” said Phan. “Gamble it up!”

Luong, meanwhile, mumbled under his breath and check-steam-raised Phan from the small blind on the next hand. Luong was the aggressor on all streets until the end; then Phan and Luong checked down, only for Luong to have misread his hand with a pair of sixes. Phan again needled Luong, who was obviously frustrated at the decimated stack in front of him.

What a difference a level makes! John Phan has easily been the most aggressive player at today’s final table, continually pounding at pots and picking them up through sheer bullheadedness for most of the day. Since the game became three-handed, however, it’s been a different story.

Not-so-Phan-tastic Voyage

John Phan held the chip lead after the elimination of Robert Mizrachi, and he decided to make a show of it: he spread out his $20,000 stacks of yellow chips across the table from the 4-seat to the 6-seat, and alternately sat on either side of his chip fortress.

His confidence at that point was unmistakable. At one point he made it clear that he thought himself the favorite over his opposition. “Let’s make it winner-take-all,” said Phan. “Let’s make it interesting, something for history.”

Unfortunately for Phan, those stacks began to disappear as Gioi Luong and Shun Uchida fought back.

Uchida holds position on Phan when the two are in the blinds and has used it on a few occasions, calling bets from Phan until the limits go up and then pouncing with a raise.

Luong, meanwhile, has relied on the check-raise against the aggressive Phan, even taking away a pot where Phan claimed to have folded 8-7-6.

When Exposed Cards Go Bad

John Phan lost a big pot to Gioi Luong on the last hand before the second break of the day.

The situation was a strange one. Phan raised on the button, as he is wont to do. Uchida folded, and three of his cards turned up as they reached the dealer: a king and a pair of sevens. That drew a snap three-bet from Luong, and Phan called.

Phan phinds himself in trouble.

On the first draw, Luong stood pat and, in a flashback to earlier in the day, Phan drew two cards. Luong bet dark and Phan called.

On the second draw, Luong again stood pat and Phan drew two. Luong bet dark once more and Phan called.

On the third draw, Luong stood pat and Phan took one card. Both men checked and Luong turned up 9-8-7-5-4. Phan stood up, trying to find a way to make his hand a winner, but in the end he mucked 6-5-3-2 face up with his final card down. Phan was down to just $256,000 after the hand, while Luong was up to $539,000.

Clap Your Chip Counts Say Yeah

Here are the current chip counts as reported by WorldSeriesOfPoker.com: