Sam Farha is a Lebanese-American professional poker player. "Sammy" is a high stakes cash and tournament player and gained national fame after losing to Chris Moneymaker heads-up in the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Born in Beirut, Lebanon, Farha was almost an immediate hustler. By his teenage years, he was an expert at pool and pinball, which drew him covers on national magazines throughout Lebanon. He was even a skilled Pac-Man player and even played a game of Pac-Man for $5,000.
In 1977, he went to the United States to pursue his education and graduated with a degree in business from the University of Kansas. After entering the business world, he got a job in Houston, Texas and just played poker for side income. However, he soon found himself at the poker table more often than not and knew that was his true calling. He made the first of regular trips to Las Vegas.
At first, Sammy was only a slight winner in Vegas. He continued to make trips over the years and plugged away at the leaks in his game. After several years, he decided that his game was now good enough to quit his day job and focus his money and time into poker.
"Mister Cool" as he is called by some was an instant natural at the poker table. Not afraid to bluff or go all-in at any moment, Farha is not only skilled but exciting, as well. He is a winner at the poker table, and he will gamble on just about anything outside of it. Farha is truly one of the most legendary professional gamblers.
Farha has three WSOP bracelets and 6 finals tables under his belt to go with over $2.8 million in final table winnings. However, tournament poker is not his primary game as he normally plays high stakes cash games. His particular game of choice is pot-limit Omaha. However, he won a WSOP bracelet and took home over $488,000 by winning an Omaha Hi/Lo Event in 2010.
He was a regular on the now cancelled GSN poker show, "High Stakes Poker" which featured a high stakes cash game and is a spokesperson for Harrah's Las Vegas. He has his own company based out of Houston, Texas called Sam Farha Inc.
