Sam Farha

Name: Sam Farha
Current Residence: Houston, Texas
Birth Date: 1959
Birth Place: Beirut, Lebanon

Sam Farha immigrated to the United States as a teenager after civil war broke out in his native Lebanon. In 1977, he began to study at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, and later graduated with a degree in business administration.

He spent his first year after graduation in Houston, Texas, working with his brother. One year after moving to Houston, Sam played his first game of poker and won several thousand dollars; by 1990, he had...

Trivia

Co-author of Farha on Omaha: Expert Strategy for Beating Cash Games and Tournaments
Spokesman for Harrah's Casino
Former pinball champion

Recent Tournament Placings

Tournament	Place	Winnings
2009 Special, NBC National Heads-Up Championship	3rd	$125,000
2008 WSOP, Event 25, World Championship Heads-Up No-Limit...	30th	$21,657
2008 WSOP, Event 8, World Championship Mixed Event	6th	$85,728
WPT Season 5, WPT World Championship	83rd	$46,410
2006 WSOP, Event 12, Omaha Hi-Lo Split	1st	$398,560
2005 WSOP, Event 42, No-Limit Hold'em Championship	316th	$21,070
1996 WSOP, Event 18, Pot-Limit Omaha	1st	$145,000
2003 WSOP, World Series of Poker Main Event - 2003	2nd	$1,300,000
2002 WSOP, Event 8, Pot-Limit Omaha	3rd	$48,140

View All >>

Player Statistics

Cashes	9
Total Winnings	$2,191,565
First Place Finishes	2
WSOP Bracelets	2

Player Analysis of Sam Farha

Description

Sammy may be the most feared short-handed Pot-Limit Omaha player in the world. He is so good that we only play Omaha with him in mixed-games with one or two other games added. Even though his fame came from his second place finish to Moneymaker in the 2003 WSOP finale, Hold’em is not his forte. His fearlessness carried him through that event.

Best Game

Pot-Limit Omaha

Weakness

Any game except Omaha

Sam Farha's Score

6.5 6.5/10

Aggressiveness 7
Looseness 8
Limit 4
No-Limit 7
Side Games 6
Steam Control 5
Against Strong Players 7
Tournaments 6
Short-Handed 8
Against Weak Players 7

Amusing Anecdote

Eight hands before the end of Day 2 in 2003, I drew out on Sammy and he got up from the table. He thought he was busted, but he had $5,000 more than I had. ($80,000 was average at that point.)

He said, “I’m leaving. I can’t do anything with $5,000.” I said, “Sammy, sit down and take a shot.” Sammy went all-in in the dark on the next two hands and doubled up each time. Of the last eight hands played at our table that night, Sammy was all-in before the flop on seven of them. He ended the second day with $58,000.

Of course, Sammy went on to become famous as he cashed out $1.3 million for his second-place finish in the event.

Analysis brought to you by Barry Greenstein