John Phan

John Phan

  • Name: John Phan
  • Nickname: The Razor
  • Current Residence: Long Beach, Calif., United States
  • Born: 1974
  • Birth Place: Da Nang, Vietnam

John "The Razor" Phan has been honing his razor sharp poker game for years in the poker rooms of California. Born in Vietnam, Phan came to America with his family when he was a young boy in 1982 and settled in California.

Phan started playing poker for fun when he was 16, but it wasn't long before he figured out he could make good money playing and was heading to the card rooms. When he graduated from high school, Phan was all set to attend San Joaquin Delta College but the poker bug had already gotten its hooks in him. By the time he was 21, he had a big enough bankroll and was playing well enough to consider himself a professional poker player.

Along with the cash games, Phan started taking on tournaments and turned into a consistent casher. In 1998 he won a $200 Seven-Card Stud tournament during the Big Poker October in Los Angeles and then picked up another win in the $200 Limit Hold'em Terminator Event of the L.A. Poker Open IV. He's cashed in various tournaments every year since.

Despite his consistency, Phan maintained a fairly low profile until 2005 when he made the televised final table of the World Poker Tour $25,000 Championship event. He picked up more than $500,000 for a fourth place finish and followed that up by making the final table of a World Series of Poker event just a couple months later.

He was making his way to a big win and not only was he getting respect from high-profile players in the poker circles, he was finally getting noticed by poker fans as well. Finally in 2008, Phan picked up the prestigious wins he seemed destined for.

During the 2008 WSOP, he won two bracelets - one in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, and the other in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event. He made the final table of another WPT event in July 2008, and then picked up a WPT win in August 2008 at the Legends of Poker event in Los Angeles.

Despite his rise to fame, Phan has kept himself grounded. He donates a portion of his winnings to charity and to support his extended family back in Vietnam. He and his good friend Liz Lieu also make frequent trips back to Vietnam to distribute supplies and visit shelters and orphanages.

Trivia

  • Born in Vietnam and survived a month at sea to make it to America
  • Good friends with fellow poker pro Liz Lieu
  • Won two WSOP bracelets during the 2008 series

Notable Tournament Cashes

Tournament Place Winnings
2009 Special, NBC National Heads-Up Championship 15th $25,000
WPT Season 7, Legends of Poker 1st $1,091,428
WPT Season 7, Bellagio Cup IV 5th $193,915
2008 WSOP, Event 40, 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) 1st $151,896
2008 WSOP, Event 29, No-Limit Hold'em 1st $434,789
WPT Season 6, Bay 101 Shooting Star 6th $135,000
WPT Season 6, World Poker Open 22nd $12,060
2007 WSOP, Event 19, No-Limit Hold'em 2nd $330,846
2007 WSOP, Event 5, Omaha/7-Card Stud Hi-Lo 8-or-Better 8th $16,922
WPT Season 5, Borgata Poker Classic 19th $27,694
2006 WSOP, Event 36, Limit Hold'em Shootout 27th $7,153
2006 WSOP, Event 27, No-Limit Hold'em 85th $4,353
2006 WSOP, Event 17, No-Limit Hold'em 2nd $289,389
2006 WSOP, Event 7, Limit Hold'em 23rd $5,727
2005 WSOP, Event 23, $5,000 Seven-Card Stud 4th $72,190
WPT Season 3, WPT World Championship 4th $518,920
2000 WSOP, Event 1, Employee Event 13th $595
2002 WSOP, Event 13, Limit Hold'em 15th $4,800
2003 WSOP, Event 17, Limit Hold'em 17th $3,900