Tournament Trail Q and A: 2008 Player of the Year John PhanThe Card Player Player of the Year Talks About His Win and About the Pressure Down to the Wire |
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John Phan clinched the 2008 Card Player Player of the Year title last week after an amazing 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.
Phan finished in the runner-up position in the 2005 POY race, losing the title in the final month of the year to Nguyen, who rallied in December to win 636 points and clinch his record fourth POY title by a slim margin of 176 points over Phan. The 2008 POY award is one of redemption for Phan, who caught fire this summer at the World Series of Poker and never looked back. He took the lead in the POY when he won the WPT Legends of Poker in late August, and no one was able to chase him down this time.
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, and the 2008 Card Player POY title.
Card Player caught up with Phan soon after his POY title was secured at Bellagio, and he discussed aspects of his year that led to his POY victory.
Related Content: 2008 Card Player magazine John Phan cover story
Ryan Lucchesi: How exciting and stressful has this final month been with everyone trying to chase down your Player of the Year lead?
John Phan: You have to feel really good with the lead, and I have a pretty big gap. I came into today short-stacked, so I was a little nervous, but I doubled up, and now I’ve got some chips to play with. I’m feeling pretty good, and the cards are going my way.
RL: Do you feel like the POY race has affected your tournament poker decisions at the poker table near the end of the year?
JP: No, I’m just playing my game. If I have the best hand, I’m calling. I’m here to gamble, and I’m not afraid to take risks. 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.
RL: What does it mean to join all of the other great players who have won this award?
JP: It’s nice to have one, and I almost did in 2005.
RL: Does this win really vindicate your runner-up finish in 2005?
JP: Definitely, especially this year, when I’ve been so dedicated and worked so hard, and I’ve accomplished so much, as well.
RL: Describe the poker you were playing this summer, when you won two gold bracelets, made two WPT final tables, and won one of them? Were you playing at your highest level ever?
JP: I was really focused and I didn’t let anything bother me. I didn’t go out, and all I would do in my mindset was play tournaments. No cash games, nothing else, just work, work, work…If you work really hard, it will pay off.
RL: Did each big win just contribute to your confidence and create a snowball effect of momentum?
JP: That’s how this business is. Just like any business, if you win one tournament, it just helps your confidence, and you start to make all of the right decisions. You know when to lay things down and when not to.
RL: Have you changed more in your poker strategy this past year or more in your personal lifestyle to produce this success?
JP: I’ve been traveling so much every year, and I work really hard every year, except for 2006-2007…a lot of my family passed away, so I wasn’t in the right mindset.
RL: A lot of POY veterans have said that experience really helps when you’re trying to keep your focus and composure during the last month of the year. Do you feel like your prior experience in 2005 prepared you for this process?
JP: The last three months I haven’t posted any results. I’ve come so close…I could have done a lot better. I really could have put myself in a lead where no one could have caught me. There were a lot of tournaments where I was chip leader early and I didn’t make a final table. That’s a lot of points I threw away right there; I was disappointed in myself because I could have had a 2,500+ point lead where no one could have caught me.
RL: How may tournaments would you say that you played this year live?
JP: I played almost all of the $10,000 main events this year. All of the televised ones I tried to play.
RL: Did you ever feel burnt out or too tired by the burden of constant of travel?
JP: Definitely. Next year I won’t travel as much, anymore. I’m going to cut out a lot so I can take more time in Vietnam to do a lot of charity work. I want to spend a lot of time with family.
RL: Would you rather be the leader in a POY race or on the chase?
JP: It’s always nice to be the leader.
RL: It’s nice to be king?
JP: Always.
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