Day 13 of the 2007 World Series of Poker was a tough one for John Phan. The well-liked professional had come close to the gold braclelet many times, including a second place finish last year. Once again, Phan fell just short, with the poker gods ending his day with the cruelest trick imaginable.
Phan would get dealt aces twice in the heads-up portion with Francois Safieddine. The first time, Francois would fold the small blind. The second time would go far worse for Phan. First a look at other goings on for the day;
- Event twenty, whose final table featured Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, was won by Ryan Hughes, appearing at his second WSOP final table. The seven-stud event paid just over $175K to the champion.
- Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren were amongst those at the final table of the $1,500 limit hold’em shootout, but neither prevailed. The bracelet went to businessman Don Baruch.
- In event 22, $5,000 no-limit hold’em, Dustin Dirksen leads the pack, with Tex Barch, Kathy Liebert and Jen Tilly all amongst the leaders. It’s a power packed field, with TJ Cloutier, Tony G and Mike Sexton all still amongst those in the hunt.
Safieddine managed to build on his lead, eventually pushing it to 4:1 when John got dealt aces again. This time, he managed to wrangle out the maximum number of chips. Safieddine looked at his pocket fours and moved in. Pham, of course, called immediately.
The flop came Js-8c-2c, allowing Pham a measure of comfort. 5h on the turn and he allowed a smile to adorn his face as he took a sip of his drink. Just when he was ready to be right back in the match, though, lightning struck. 4s, one of Francois’ two outs, hit on the river. It was a crushing development for Phan and those who’d shown up to support him.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
