Understanding Sam Farha

In a sport filled with interesting and compelling personalities, Sam Farha has a way of standing head and shoulders above the rest. I've been in crowded poker rooms during the biggest tournaments all over the country. With so much energy and busyness in the room, poker greats can often go almost unnoticed. Sam will never go unnoticed. He has a star quality that assures he will attract attention all of the time. With his slicked hair, fashionable attire, and his sauntering walk, he automatically makes a dramatic entrance just by being himself.

That aura holds true at the poker table, as well. Amateur players often wilt at his pressure, as his look and demeanor lead others to perceive his toughness, fearlessness, and intelligence. With an unlit cigarette often dangling from his mouth & his tailor-fitted suits, Sammy could be mistaken as an old-time Las Vegas mobster. Even though Sammy does not smoke, the cigarette is now part of his poker repertoire. It has grown to be one of his many superstitions. When he takes a bad beat or has a run of cold cards, he'll often change the cig.

Sam Farha's path to poker greatness is certainly unique. A native of Beirut, Lebanon, Sam was always challenged and fueled by his sense of competitiveness. Although he is now a well-established member of the Houston community, he is still proud of his Lebanese heritage. As a teenager he was already showing his gambling savvy, as he won bets with his impressive skills at the pool table and video games (pinball, Pac-Man, etc.)

In 1977 he came to the USA to pursue college studies and start a new life. After graduating with a Business Degree from the University of Kansas, Sammy headed to Texas and took on some mainstream jobs with his brother.

His workmates introduced him to the world of poker. He soon found that the small time home games that he played in were not even to satisfy his lust for the game. He started making regular trips to Las Vegas, and local Texan poker hubs, to hit on the higher limit games. Within a few years of first learning the game, Sammy's innate ability and cutthroat personality had led him into the world of professional poker. He quit his day job and took on poker full-time, and he never looked back. Sammy has racked up well over $2 million in tournament winnings, with untold millions more won (and lost) at his high stakes cash games.

Sammy's fans love to here is classic poker quotes. "Let's gamble ..." is one of his most simplistic yet powerful. Those two words sum up Sam and his mindset more than any psychologist could in a forty page dissertation.

Sammy Farha: Play Profile & Prediction

PLAY PROFILE: Sam is extremely well respected in the poker community. Players, dealers, and poker press all enjoy his entertaining stories and great jokes. It is impossible, though, to find someone who is happy that he is at their table! His super aggressive style and fearless demeanor intimated even experienced poker players.

It is ironic that Sammy's popularity boomed when he dueled head's-up against Chris Moneymaker for the WSOP Main Event Championship in No Limit Hold 'em (2003). You see, Hold 'em is in no way Sammy's best game. Sam is well known as the most feared Omaha player in the world. With his supreme intelligence, fearless personality, looseness & aggressive nature, and poker knowledge, this game fits his style perfectly. If Sammy sits down at a short-handed Omaha table, it is a safe bet to assume that he will walk away with ALL of the chips. He won his first World Series Bracelet in Pot Limit Omaha back in 1996. In 2006, he secured his dominance on the game with bracelet #2 from a victory at Omaha Hi/Lo split.

Sammy is a true gambler. The chips are not money in his eyes. Instead, they are tools to help him dominate the table. He is willing to forget pot odds to make improbable calls, if his instincts lead him to do us. His amazing ability to read people only adds to his lore. His unmistakable charm helps to extract information from unwitting opponents. He seems so kind and affable. He'll be joking with everyone between hands, then attack like a ravenous lion when the cards are in the air. Sammy seems to rarely allow his emotions to get out of control at the table. Although he will indeed take offense to players who are disrespectful, he will never allow tilt or emotions to affect his play.

PREDICTIONS: His good looks, sharp wit, and cool style assure that he'll be on the list of sought-after players for TV producers and advertisers. With that in mind, it seems that his stock in the poker world is sure to rise. In the last year or two, Sam has begun to position himself to become a more recognizable face in poker. He is opening himself to more press interviews, working on a book, playing himself in movies & documentaries, and taking on spokesman duties. Sammy certainly has the poker skills to back up his rising stardom. I predict that as new players become more interested in non-Hold 'em poker variations, Sam will become a leader in the Omaha movement. I honestly believe that Omaha will be the next big poker game. He will certainly win a couple of more WSOP bracelets in Omaha. If the World Poker tour (and other major televised poker outlets) begin to host & show Omaha, Sam will launch into the stratosphere of poker greats such as Doyle, Chan, and Hellmuth.

More Poker Player Profiles

♣ Andy Bloch ♣ Annie Duke ♣ Antonio Esfandiari ♣ Chris Ferguson ♣ Dan Harrington ♣ Daniel Negreanu ♣ Doyle Brunson ♣ Greg Raymer ♣ Gus Hansen ♣ Howard Lederer ♣ James Woods

♣ Jennifer Harman ♣ Johnny Chan ♣ Mark Seif ♣ Mike Matusow ♣ Phil Gordon ♣ Phil Hellmuth ♣ Phil Ivey ♣ Phil Laak ♣ Poker Hotties ♣ Sam Farha ♣ TJ Cloutier

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