About Sam Farha
| Name | Sam Farha |
|---|---|
| Current Residence | Houston Texas |
| Birth Place | Beirut, LB |
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 become a full-time professional poker player.
In the 2003 World Series of Poker, Sam went head-to-head with Chris Moneymaker at the final table and took home second place, a WSOP gold bracelet, and $1.3 million. In a PokerStars rematch between Sam and Chris a few months later, Sam emerged victorious. Sam has earned a total of $1.5 million in tournament play, despite the fact that his specialty is Omaha cash games.
Sam is not a smoker and yet he usually keeps an unlit "lucky" cigarette in his mouth when playing. Often, upon taking a bad beat, he will change cigarettes. On one occasion, Sam won a series of pots and then exclaimed, "I'm so hot, my cigarette's going to light!"
Sam has had success in other forms of gambling as well; he won a pinball tournament in Kansas and won a large bet by winning a Pac-Man competition.
Sam's poker-related activities are not limited to his playing. His book Farha on Omaha: Expert Strategy for Beating Cash Games and Tournaments, co-authored with Storms Reback, is due out in fall 2007. He is also involved with the creation of a video game and the production of a reality-TV poker series. Sam Farha is a spokesman for Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas.
Trivia
- Co-author of Farha on Omaha: Expert Strategy for Beating Cash Games and Tournaments
- Spokesman for Harrah's Casino
- Former pinball champion
Sam Farha recent tournament placings
| Place | Winnings | Tournament |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | $125,000 | Special 2009, NBC National Heads-Up Championship |
| 30 | $21,657 | 2008 WSOP, Event 25, World Championship Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em |
| 6 | $85,728 | 2008 WSOP, Event 8, World Championship Mixed Event |
| 83 | $46,410 | Season 5, WPT World Championship |
| 1 | $398,560 | 2006 WSOP, Event 12, Omaha Hi-low Split |
| 316 | $21,070 | 2005 World Series of Poker, WSOP 2005 $10,000 World Championship Event |
| 3 | $48,140 | WSOP - 2002, Event 8, Pot-Limit Omaha |
| 1 | $145,000 | WSOP - 1996, Event 18, Pot-Limit Omaha |
| 2 | $1,300,000 | 2003 WSOP , World Series of Poker Main Event - 2003 |
Sam Farha photos
Sam Farha in the Media
Player analysis
- Aggressiveness
- 7
- Looseness
- 8
- Limit
- 4
- No-Limit
- 7
- Side Games
- 6
- Steam Control
- 5
- Against Strong Players
- 7
- Against Weak Players
- 7
- Tournaments
- 6
- Short-Handed
- 8
Player analysis
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.
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.
