John Phan Doubles Up With Miracle River Card

After getting chipped down and facing a 2-1 chip deficit, John Phan got it all in against Johnny Neckar. Neckar held KJ, but was dominated preflop by Phan's AJ. Unfortunately for Phan, the flop came with a king, and he was now looking for one of the three remaining aces to stay alive. The turn was a brick and the river was the....A! Phan doubled up to 2.7 million and has a 2-1 chip lead.

John Phan Wins Event No. 29 ($434,789)

John Phan raised to 200,000 and Johnny Neckar announces all in. Phan calls and Neckar shows QJ. Phan has A9 and the board brings an ace to end the tournament and give him his first career bracelet. Neckar finished in second place and earned $277,452.

Blinds: 12,000/24,000 with 3,000 ante

Chip Leaders:

  Johnny Neckar: 2,025,000

Stewart Newman Eliminated in Sixth Place ($88,927)

Stewart Newman was all in holding a dominating K-Q to John Phan's K-J, but a jack on the flop reversed the situation. The turn and river were bricks and Newman was eliminated in sixth place.

David Singer Eliminated in Fifth Place ($112,641)

John Phan raised under the gun and David Singer made the call in the big blind. The flop came AK3 and Phan bet 54,000. Singer moved all in and Phan instantly called, turning over K3. Singer was in trouble QJ and his miracle ten failed to come on either the turn or river. Singer was eliminated in fifth place.

Alex Bolotin Eliminated in Fourth Place ($137,343)

Alex Bolotin moved all in from under the gun and John Phan instantly made the call. Bolotin revealed pocket nines and Phan had AK. Phan flopped not just the ace, but also the king and Bolotin was eliminated in fourth place.

Matt Vengrin Eliminated in Third Place ($167,973)

Matt Vengrin's run as the chip leader came to an end when he moved in with A-9 against Johnny Neckar's A-Q. The board improved  neither player and Vengrin was sent home in third place.

Heads Up Play Begins

John Phan: 2,271,000
Johnny Neckar: 2,025,000

NOTE: Aftert that whirlwind of a level, the remaining two players take a break before heads up play begins.

Blinds: 10,000/20,000 with 3,000 ante

Players Left: 7 of 716

Eliminations: Sebastian Segovia (9th Place), Tony Dunst (8th Place)

Storylines/Big Hands:

Sebastian Segovia Eliminated in Ninth Place ($39,523)

Sebastian Segovia raised to 49,000 in middle position and John Phan reraised to 150,000 to isolate. All of a sudden, Matt Vengrin reraised to 500,000, and Segovia called. The raise induced a fold from Phan. Segovia showed down AK and Vengrin was slightly ahead with QQ. The board ran out 7644Q and Segovia was eliminated in ninth place. Vengrin adds a nice pot to his chip lead.

Tony "MuckTheNuts" Dunst Eliminated in Eighth Place ($54,344)

Tony Dunst moved all in for his last 133,000 and Matt Vengrin made the call in the big blind. Dunst showed KK and was up against 98. Dunst held a big lead, but the board came 1087J10 to send him to the rail in eighth place. After the hand, Vengrin was up to 1.5 million in chips.

John Phan Bleeding Chips

Meanwhile, John Phan has been forced to lay down big hands a few times now. The end result is a stack about half as large as he held coming in.
 

NOTE: The players then took a small break while they were relocated to a new table in the green section of the room. There was a problem with the lighting and now they have a visual of a tournament clock.