Player Profile: Sam Farha

Sam Farha is a professional poker player. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1959. He is living right now in Houston, Texas.

Sam Farha managed to move to United States of America, right after the Civil War started in Lebanon. He initially settled in Wichita, Kansas, back in 1977, after that he attended the University of Kansas. He earned his degree in Business Administration, and moved out to Houston, Texas to look for better job opportunities along with his brother. He first started to play poker one year after he moved to Houston. After that he managed to win several thousand dollars and he quit his job in 1990 so that he could fully concentrate on playing poker as a professional player.

He is a proud WSOP bracelet winner. His greatest achievement was at the 2003 WSOP main event where he managed to finish 2^nd to the famous professional poker player Chris Moneymaker, and won $1.3 million. During the 2^nd day of that tournament he lost a major pot to Barry Greenstein, and he only had left 10% of the average stack size.

Sam Farha managed to win two important World Series of Poker events in 1996 - $2.5k Pot Limit Omaha, where the prize was $145k. And in 2006 he won the $5k Limit Omaha 8/b that left him with a large prize of $398,560.

Sam Farha is also a writer, and he is now preparing to launch his first book about poker, called: Luck is not enough. He is also working at a reality TV poker show and a video game, again about poker.

He is the spokesman of Harrah’s casino from Las Vegas. He was commented by some important poker figures as a player that is usually acting like he wants to call and right after that he will fold his hands.

Poker vs. Blackjack

There are many players that choose to stick to one game and one game only. Of course that doesn’t mean that they would never play anything else but they much prefer one game over the other and they usually play their preferred choice unless circumstance make it impossible to do so.

Poker players and Blackjack players each prefer their own game for their own reasons but also like to dabble in the each others game ever once in a while. Be it in an online casino or a land based casino, poker and blackjack are very different games.

The rules of the games are completely different. In the most popular version of poker (texas hold’em) players are dealt two cards and they get to hold these cards through the game if they pay the price to stay in. They make the decision of when to fold and they lose their money to other players and win from other players as well.

In blackjack players receive two cards as well they can choose to stay, hit or split (on some occasions) and they are playing against the house (the casino) instead of playing against other players.

All in all the games are very different and sometimes when they players sway away from their game and try another game they do not consider all the elements that are tied to that particular game. That is why the expression “stick to what you know” applies very well here.

Poker and online blackjack are both games that have an element of luck so if you are feeling lucky than perhaps you can be a champion at either game!

Top 5 Poker Mistakes You Definitely Want To Avoid

A successful online poker player is the one that is going to minimize all the mistakes that he makes and always takes the right decision. In order to become a successful player, first you must be aware of the mistakes that are most commonly made. Once you are aware of the mistakes that you can make as a poker player you can move on and improve your strategies and build a large bankroll. In this article we will go over the top 10 poker mistakes:

1. Don’t Play Too Many Hands.

Most online poker players are going to have some loose standards when it comes to the hand that they play. In order to avoid doing this poker mistake you will have to stick only to the premium hands that you get, especially if you are playing at an 8 or 10 man table. Professional online poker players are going to play only about ~10-20% of the hands that they get. This way your chances of winning will improve. It’s time to leave behind hands like: K-3, J-7 or Q-4. In case you get similar hands you should drop them before the flop. One of the main reasons why people are making this error over and over again is the fact that they want action and they do not want to just stay there and wait to get a premium hand.
The online poker is a game of patience this is why in case you want to take some money home you must act like this.

2. Play Your Position Right!

A good position in poker is when you get to see exactly what your opponents are doing before reacting. This means that based on the information available, like their bets and behavior at the table you will know exactly where you’re standing and start to take the right decisions.

At a game of Texas Hold’em a good position is to start making decisions late after the flop. This means that the most ideal position to be is in front of the dealer button. Once you are situated there you will have access to the highest amount of information about your position and this way you can start taking the right decisions.

One of the most common mistakes made by online poker players is to start playing their cards without ever thinking of the position which they are holding at the table. Most of the bluff that you intend to make must be started once you are situated in a good position at the table, this way you will start to know what every opponent is holding.

3. Don’t think of you as a natural poker player!

There are many online poker players out there that are claiming about themselves to be a natural poker player. The real truth about online poker is that this game is extremely complex and it involves a lot of things, including: math, self control, performing under pressure, psychology and body language skills.
If you are going to think of you as a natural poker player you will not be able to improve your game of poker and you will limit your ability to learn something new, since you are going to think as you already know everything.

4. Don’t Be Too Predictable

Just like you are studying your opponents to create a profile of each and every of them, your opponents are going to do the same thing about you.

Another big mistake you can do while playing poker is to become too predictable. In order to avoid making this mistake you must use a more complex strategy that needs to be changed from time to time.

5. You Must Know When To Quit

The moment you will hit the tilt is always good for you to know that you have to stand up from that table and move on.

Player Profile: Johnny Chan

Johnny Chan is a professional poker player that was born in China in 1957. Right now he is living in the city of gambling: Las Vegas.

Back in 1962, he moved with his family in Hong Kong and after that in Arizona, and later on in Houston, Texas. That is the city where his family is currently running some restaurants. His story is very interesting, and in the same time very similar to the one of many other professional poker players out there. He went for the first time in Las Vegas when he was only 16 years old, and fell in love with the game of poker. Later on when he was only 21 years old he quit school and moved on to be a professional poker player. The other opportunity that he had was to be part of the family restaurant business.

Johnny Chan started to be more and more popular in the 80s. The moment he managed to win for two consecutive years the World Series of Poker, in 1987 and 1988.

The biggest prize ever won at a live poker tournament was the 1988 WSOP, when Johnny Chan took home more than $700,000.

Johnny Chan can be considered to be a very open minded professional poker player. Since he is also running a fast food franchise in Las Vegas, he used to write in the past for the famous poker magazine Card Player, and he is currently also a consultant for many casinos and game makers in Las Vegas. His dream is to open his own casino.

Top 5 Hot & Sexy Female Poker Players

Erin Ness is a professional poker player from United States. She is also a photo assistant for Maxim Magazine, and has many appearances on a popular poker TV show called GSN’s Poker Royale. She is currently living in New York City. One of the major achievements of Erin Ness was the 3^rd highest placing woman at the WSOP main event back in 2004. She ended the tournament 207^th. Erin Ness is currently part of the Team PokerStars.

Cecilia Nordenstam is an European poker player born in Sweden. She is usually participating at many poker tournaments, especially the EPT (European Poker Tour). There she can be spotted by her friends that are some popular poker players from Sweden.
She is not very popular in the US, but in Europe she is! She finished 5^th and 13^th at the 5 Star World Poker Tour Classic. There aren’t many pictures out there with Cecilia Nordenstam, but she is definitely hot!

Veronika Larsen is another hot poker player from Norway. She used to be a rep for the famous online poker room Betsson, and her story is that she had to quit her day job in order to become a poker player.

Helen Chamberlain is an English TV presenter. She was born on 2^nd April 1967, in the UK. She is a professional poker player and also a television presenter.

Ashley Dorenzo is a hot female poker player. She used to be a model for the online Hollywood poker room but she recently decided that she should move on to be a professional player, and that’s what she is right now!

Maybe it’s time for you now to stop starring at these gorgeous girls and play some poker online instead?

World Series of Poker 1970 - 2009

World Series of Poker 2009

The 40th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) -- a set of poker tournaments open to anyone 21 years of age or older -- will commence Wednesday, May 27 with the first of 57 gold bracelet events, and the next day a special $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament will commemorate the gaming industry’s most illustrious event.

The annual poker extravaganza, which dates back to 1970, is televised exclusively on ESPN from the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and consists of a comprehensive slate of the game’s most popular variations.

The 40th annual WSOP will conclude with the $10,000 buy-in World Championship No-Limit Hold‘em Main Event which begins play Friday, July 3, 2009 and reaches its final table (nine players) on July 15, 2009, at which time play will be halted. The famed tournament’s culmination will be held with the “November Nine” from November 7-10, 2009, before a live audience with special primetime coverage from ESPN.

The landmark WSOP comes on the heels of a record year in 2008, when the WSOP generated the most entries ever (58,720) from the most countries ever (124) that competed for the largest prize pool ever ($180,774,427) while awarding 55 championship gold bracelets, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize.

PokerPages.com is proud to offer the results to all recent WSOPs as a part of our extensive tournament database. Be sure also to check out all of the hand by hand action from the live coverage blogs for 2008 and in year's past.

Poker Babes

Shannon Elizabeth

Fatima Moreira De Melo

Photo Baret Appelgate
Lacey Jones

Sandra Naujoks

Diane Nguyen

Isabelle Mercier

Vanessa Rousso

Erica Shoenberg

Michele Lewis: Poker is Good for Women

October 16th, 2009

Michele Lewis is a mother, wife, writer and poker player with four WSOP cashes under her cowgirl belt (see below). I had a short chat with her about poker, women and life.

Why is poker so much fun?
I love the game because it combines math, behavioral psychology and socialization. Plus, I’ve made some great friends playing poker and what’s not to like about playing games with friends?

Who is the best poker pro according to you?
That’s a tough question. There are too many variables for me to pick one pro. My mind immediately starts thinking about cash games, tough fields, soft fields, mixed games, satellites, heads-up, etc. There are some great poker players who don’t play tournaments.

For example, Bill O’Connor, an excellent pot limit player, goes to the WSOP but he pretty much sticks to the cash games. Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey are versatile, Phil Hellmuth handles large Hold’em fields better than a car, Daniel Negreanu separates himself from the boys with his reads and Annie Duke shows stamina as well as consistency.

Between you and Phil Hellmuth, heads-up, seriously who would win?
If there is anyone in the world who could beat Phil Hellmuth, it would be me. I’m very lucky in poker and since luck has prevented Hellmuth from winning 289 WSOP bracelets (or however many bracelets events he’s played) then clearly that makes him the dog.

Is poker a good endeavor for women to go into? If so, in what ways?
Yes! It’s a great place to find a man, win money for new shoes and I’m totally kidding. There are more benefits to the game than just money. I think poker is great for building confidence, learning to deal with failure and sharpening the mind. Women pay 1000’s to learn yoga, get their hair done, body massaged or on clothes etc so I find it rather hypocritical to say it’s ok to blow through money on pedicures, plants and petit fours but just say no to poker.

Why are there so few women in pro poker?
I’m not sure, to be honest I don’t give it much thought. I’ve always been the type that when I want to do something I figure it out for myself. So, I tend to think if women want to play, they should just show up and play. But when people see women who are unable to go to the ladies room alone then it’s easy to assume it’s fear. Tournaments have become so large they can be intimidating to a newcomer. Especially knowing there’s some history to “your kind” being there. On the contrary, why are there so few men in the school PTA or volunteer organizations? I guess it’s because everyone does what they love, prioritize and what is necessary to get by or enjoy life. So, it may be as simple as…most women lack a strong enough interest to pursue the game.

As a mother, would you encourage your children to play poker?
I would support my children in whatever they chose to do as long as it was legal and not creating unmanageability in their lives. I’ve often expressed my pride in that I built my bankroll from my original $200 rather than borrowing from others or my savings. So, I would promote that conservative approach to them. I would be lying if I omitted that I would first push them to pursue biometrics, engineering or pediatrics before poker. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a weekly game at the Lewis casa.

Do you think a man would get that question?
I’ve witnessed more men than women being asked this very question. But then again, I’ve witnessed more men than women being asked anything about poker.

Do you have any tips to all our aspiring poker sisters out there?

• Dan Harrington’s books are an excellent start for learning the math but read as many books as possible. Don’t focus on one book’s style of play, take in everything and then develop a style that works for you.
• Don’t believe everything you see on television.
• You’re only hurting yourself and slowing down the game if you don’t know the math and the rules. Slowing down the game is discourteous to others and in most sports there are automatic clocks and penalties for mistakes and ignorance. Poker shouldn’t be any different. The more respect you have for the game, the more respect your opponents will have for you. And respect at the poker table is an asset.
• I would also suggest playing a very low limit hold’em game until you can control boredom and/or fear so the emotions aren’t controlling you. You want to respect the game rather than the chips. However, if you’re in a hurry to play… there’s no better way to learn anything than by trial and error.

Poker Facts

• Playing cards were invented in China
• A fifth suit was added in 1937 but never caught on because people had to buy all new decks
• At least 65,000,000 Americans regularly play poker
• Dead mans hand is Aces and Eights
• Getting dealt 10,2 is referred to as Doyle Brunson because he won back to back World Series with the hand.
• In the 1800s, 2,000 to 2,500 riverboat gamblers played poker on American Waterways. By contemporary accounts, no more than four of these poker players were honest all the time. A straight beat a flush at this time.
• Las Vegas Casinos are not legally obligated to pay off their gambling debts
• Due to French influence, Spades represent Royalty, Diamonds represent Merchants, Clubs represent the peasants, and hearts represent the clergy.
• Edmond Hoyle lived to be 97, but died 150 years before Poker was invented.
• Playing cards were introduced in Europe in the 1300s
• When Columbus landed in 1492 in North America, his men plucked wide leaves from trees, drew pictures on them and played cards.
• Historians generally agree that Bill Hickock was a lousy poker player.
• Groucho Marx got his name from carrying his poker money in a "grouch bag"
• Former President Richard Nixon won $6,000 playing poker in his first two months in the U.S. Navy during WWll. That is roughly equal to $42,640 in 2004 dollars. He used that money as well as more poker winnings to finance his run for the U.S. Congress in 1946, which he won.

The Nightly Turbo: Hansen's Fall, The Hills, and Who's Going to be on High Stakes Poker?

If you want to save time by reading the day's top poker news all in one place, you've come to the right place. The Nightly Turbo is all about saving you time, and time saved means more time at the tables, which means more time to exploit the fish.

In Case You Missed It

Ever wonder how poker and the movie "Wall Street" are related? Well, we've answered the question for you. This edition of From the Big Screen to the Poker Table: Wall Street breaks it down for you.

The Asian Pacific Poker Tour Auckland is well underway in the Southern Hemisphere and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team is bringing us the action as it happens. Which Day 1a players will see Day 2? You'll have to read the recap to find that out.

Even though we reminded you yesterday that the World Series of Poker was on ESPN last night, we know everyone is forgetful from time to time. So, we watched it for you. Find out what you missed in The WSOP Main Event on ESPN: A November Nine Reunion.

We don't know how many of you were aware of the charity poker tournament for Road 2 Recovery, but a couple of us got the opportunity to take part in this event. Several professional poker players were there as well as plenty of athletes. Maybe after reading this, you'll clear your schedule for the next one and help out this great cause.

Baggin' It Up

Have a question you just must have answered? We're starting a new weekly column where we take your questions and answer them. So, if you're wondering about strategy, have a suggestion for us, or even want to clue us in on some gossip -- because who doesn't love a good piece of dirt on someone -- email editor@pokernews.com.

There's Always Next Year

Maybe we spoke too soon yesterday. Instead of continuing to work his way out of the red, Gus Hansen just couldn't get things going. According to HighStakesNews.com, Hansen dropped $500,000 yesterday.

April showers don't always bring May flowers, and rain has continued to fall for Hansen in October. He's dropped $6.6 million on Full Tilt since April 1. The first three months of 2009 were profitable for Hansen, who amassed $3.2 million, but as all good things must, his winning ways came to an end, probably much sooner than he wanted or expected.

If he can't turn it around in the last few months of the year, maybe he will have a better 2010.

Read more at PokerKing.com.

A Melting Pot

There aren't many online poker sites out there that accept U.S. players. Even harder to come by is an online poker site that only accepts U.S. and Canadian players but doesn't accept players from anywhere else. PlayersOnly was one such site, until now.

Part of the Cake Poker Network, PlayersOnly is opening its virtual doors to players from around the world. What better way to celebrate than to open your very own PlayersOnly account.

There's up to a $650 bonus in it for you if you sign up through PokerNews.

Like, OMG Really?

Leave it to the guys on TwoPlusTwo to find this little gem. Now, we don't know why Jamie Gold was hanging out with a bunch of twenty-somethings, much less what he was doing on last night's episode of "The Hills," but it gave us a good laugh this morning and we decided to share it with you.

In addition to giving kudos to Steve0 for the catch, we're giving him "post of the thread" bragging rights when ItsRainingMen asked him, "so...why were u watching The Hills?" and Steve0 fired back with "I'm getting asked this by a guy named ItsRainingMen."

Check out the screenshot of Mr. Gold's cameo in this thread.

More High Stakes Poker News

It was revealed Tuesday on the Dennis Phillips radio show that PokerStars will be sponsoring season six of "High Stakes Poker." It was also revealed that Phillips has been asked to play on the show. Yes, we mean he has been asked to sit down to play next to Brunson, Dwan, Antonius, Negreanu, etc., in a poker game that is invitation-only. We're just as shocked as you are.

When asked how much he would be playing with, Phillips said, "Well, I haven't decided. The stakes this year are going to be between $100,000 and $400,000." According to the email he got, players will only be allowed to buy in for $400,000 at a time.

Check out Pokerati.com for the audio clip of the interview.

Calling the Clock

Lynn Gilmartin is down under in Auckland, New Zealand, for the PokerStars Asian Pacific Poker Tour and she caught up with Stewart Scott. Find out who taught him to play poker, the best thing about being Australian, and which poker player he'd most like to punch.

Check him out in this edition of Calling the Clock.

Poker-bot users sue Full Tilt Poker over confiscated funds

TMZ is reporting two men, Larry Kennedy and Greg Omotoy, are suing the #2 most popular online poker site for confiscating $80,000 worth of winnings.

Full Tilt allegedly claims the two used poker-bots at the tables –which violates Full Tilt Poker’s terms of agreement—and their winnings were confiscated. TMZ fails to mention whether the plaintiffs admit to using poker-bots, or if they are denying this aspect of the allegations.

The plaintiffs also allege that Full Tilt Poker uses ‘bots’ and manipulates the software in order to make the game more luck-based – A common allegation from many unsuccessful online poker players: “ONLINE POKER IS RIGGED!”
This would be the first lawsuit involving the use of poker-bots at online poker sites, and could set a precedent on the legality of the software.

Hansen up $400k for October

After losing a couple million dollars on the Omaha and Hold'em tables, Gus Hansen's move to high-stakes 7-Game has proven to be a profitable decision so far.

Since making the move, Hansen has managed to minimize his losses and even grind out a few profits.

In fact, he has earned almost $400k in the month of October.

Although, over half of those profits came from the mixed-game tables on Full Tilt last night, where Hansen won $219k and was the night's biggest winner.

Somewhat surprisingly, considering where the high-stakes games have moved from, the Great Dane's biggest pot came during Pot-Limit Omaha.

Hansen got it all in on the turn with top pair and a flush draw versus Ziigmund's straight draw and lower pair. In the end, the river gave Hansen top two and the $114k pot.

The other notable results on the night included winners Abe "EazyPeazy" Mosseri ($191k) and Patrik Antonius (162k).

But regardless of the relatively small number of large wins posted, the night did see some substantial losses, including DIN_FRU (reportedly Swedish pro Erik Sagstrom), who topped the list losing over $363k.

Online regular 458854 came in a close second with a $344k loss, while John Juanda walked away down just over $193k.

Patrik Antonius on the Upcoming 'durrrr Challenge'

Ever since word got out that Tom "durrrr" Dwan was offering the high stakes poker community $1.5 million to their $500,000 that he could beat them over 50,000 hands played at four simultaneous heads-up NLHE (no-limit hold'em) or PLO (pot-limit Omaha) tables, the online poker community has been buzzing. Heads-up challenges have always been a staple part of poker folklore and this could be one of the defining moments in the history of online poker. Patrik Antonius has been confirmed as the first challenger, a set of four special 'durrrr Challenge' PLO tables have been created on Full Tilt, and all that is left is for battle to commence.

PokerNews has been fortunate enough to get a ringside seat to the first durrrr Challenge: Patrik Antonius will be providing PN readers with regular updates on how the durrrr Challenge is going for him, walking through the highs and lows of what will surely be an exciting ride. Many expected the challenge to start last week, but Patrik hasn't been around much at the high-stakes tables. So where has he been?

"I'm currently in Thailand on a holiday with my family," said Patrik. "My friends spend a lot of time here and they kept telling me to come out here; we have just been in Australia for the Aussie Millions so it wasn't too far to come. I have a two-year-old daughter and she is having a blast here. We all are, the weather is nice, the food is great and it's really peaceful."

No online poker star would travel far without his laptop nearby, but unfortunately for Antonius, broadband issues at his end have put back the start of the challenge. Said Patrik, "We wanted the challenge to have started by now but my internet connection isn't good enough. It's an okay connection; [it's become] better since we have been here but certainly not good enough for the durrrr Challenge. It's too slow for playing four tables at once; sometimes it will take ages between pressing a button and the action actually happening at the table, so we won't be starting yet. We are going to Monaco next so hopefully we can start then."

There is no doubt that Antonius is among the world's poker elite and is one of the few players to successfully dominate both online and live poker in equal measure, but many experts believe the parameters Dwan has set favor the young online star. Playing four simultaneous heads-up tables is a big task for any player, so how does Patrik think he will cope with the rules of the challenge?

"Playing four heads-up tables will be tough, especially at pot-limit Omaha. PLO is a game of good calls, good value bets and good bluffs; you have a lot of tough decisions on the turn and river, that's for sure, so I will need plenty of focus. Thankfully I have played so many hands of PLO that I am able to respond to situations a bit quicker and I tend to take the same amount of time for every decision, so I do not give off any timing tells. Every now and then you get a hand where you have to use the time bank but Tom usually takes quite a bit of time to act, too, so we will play at the same pace." Patrik continued, "I've done quite well against durrrr playing two or three simultaneous tables, so I am pretty confident, although that fourth table does make a difference and how I adapt to that is the key. He has much more experience at playing four or more heads-up tables at the highest stakes; his brain seems to be programmed much better for that kind of thing."

To play 50,000 hands would take a lifetime live, but a lot of high-volume players can easily grind that many in a month or two. How long does Patrik think the challenge will take?

"It will take somewhere between three to six months, because I will be playing short sessions with Tom. I will be playing between two- and five-hour sessions with Tom and I guess that would work out to about 600 hands per hour, which is a lot of work for the brain to cope with. Also, we will be on two different time schedules for a lot of the challenge; it will be my night when it is his morning and vice versa, so it will be harder to get us together at the same time.

"It's very important for me to do well in this challenge so I will be taking my time, I don't really care what the media thinks about how long it should take. I'm a busy guy, I have a family, I like to play golf and have other things going on, and sometimes I don't have the time to play poker. When both our schedules are good it would be great to play every day for about two hours a day."

Antonius seems to be adopting the position that the durrrr Challenge is a marathon, not a sprint, the prudent choice for such a high-volume affair. He also revealed this is also to ensure that both men are able to get in on the action whenever the nosebleed games on Full Tilt get juicy. "When there are other good games online there is no point either of us playing the other, we are better off sitting in the good games instead, this is our job after all. We will play at the durrrr Challenge tables when there is no good action anywhere else."

Finally, with millions of dollars on the line, a challenge like this has the potential to leave one of the participants literally broke. But, as we have seen recently with the upcoming boxing match between Gus Hansen and Theo Jorgensen, the top pros are able to separate their personal relationship from their desire to compete at the highest level with everything on the line:

"I like Tom a lot," said Patrik. "He is a really nice guy. From what I can tell he is a really humble and generous person. He is one of a kind, that's for sure, as most poker players are. He has really improved at PLO, I remember playing him two or three years ago and his game is so much better today. He is definitely one of the best out there right now.

"There is nothing personal in this match. It's all work; he knows it and I do. I think if you let things get personal and emotional at the tables it's very dangerous. But he put this challenge out and I was really interested and wanted to compete. I might have actually taken an even-money bet just for the challenge, but it would have been too demanding on my schedule for just even money. Either way, it's going to be a really good test for both of us."