At the 2006 WSOP, Phan finished second in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event when his Q♠5♠ failed to improve against Jon Friedberg's A♥7♥ on a board of 10♥9♦3♠2♥7♠.[4] Phan earned $289,389 for his runner-up finish. The next year at the 2007 World Series of Poker Phan was runner-up to Francois Safieddine in the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em event, earning $330,846 but it was not until the 2008 World Series of Poker that Phan won his first bracelet after winning the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, earning $434,789 and then he won his second bracelet the same year, this time in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw event, earning $151,896. Phan cashed for a total of $608,464 at the 2008 WSOP.[5][6][7]
Phan cashed eleven times on the World Poker Tour (WPT) making the final table in four of them, one was at the $25,000 WPT Championship of season 3, receiving $518,920 for finishing in fourth place above Hollink, Phil Ivey, Joe Beevers, Chris Ferguson and Juha Helppi.[8] The other was at the $9,600 No Limit Hold'em WPT season 6 event at the 2008 Bay 101 Shooting Stars where he finished 6th, earning $135,000.[9] In July 2008, Phan made another WPT final table finishing in fifth place at the Bellagio Cup IV, earning $193,915[10]
On the WPT seventh season, Phan won his first WPT title after defeating well known online player Amit "Amak316″ Makhija during heads-up play, winning the WPT bracelet and over $1.1 million at the Legends of Poker held at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.
Phan won two events at The Fifth Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open in 2004, the $500 Limit Hold'em event, earning $160,965 and $500 Pot Limit Hold'em event, earning $85,257 also cashing three other times at that same event.[12][13] He later won the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the Festa al Lago II in 2004, earning $189,900.[14] He won the $2,425 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic, earning $300,578 and was runner-up to Marcel Lüske in the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the Fourth Annual Five-Star World Poker Classic in 2006, earning $179,195.[15]
As of 2017, his total live tournament winnings exceed $5,525,000.[2] His 29 cashes as the WSOP account for over $1,450,000 of those winnings.[16]
He was the Cardplayer Magazine 2008 Player of the Year with 6,704 points as well as 2008 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year.
