Chris Karagulleyan (born 1968 in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

) is a professional gambler now living in

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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. Before becoming a gambler, he worked as a taxi driver and as a baker.

Biography

Karagulleyan broke onto the

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

scene by winning the

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...

$5,000 No Limit Hold-Em

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

at the 2002 Legends of Poker, to earn a $258,000 first prize. Several finishes continued on from this, including winning the $62,700 first prize in the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold-Em tournament at the 2003 LA Poker Classic. However, Karagulleyan took all the winnings and bet it at a

blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

table, losing all his winnings from the event. Karagulleyan won both his first pot and last pot at the 2002 Legends of Poker

final table while holding pocket Queens. Knocking out both

Kathy Liebert Kathleen H. Liebert (born October 1, 1967 in Tennessee) is an American professional poker player. Poker Liebert started her professional poker career as a prop player in Colorado. She would later go on to enter tournaments and she won the fi ...

and later on, Hon Le to win the tournament. Karagulleyan eliminated Liebert from the final table of the 2002 Legends of Poker

tournament on only the second hand. Liebert raised to $20,000 with A♠ , Karagulleyan re-raised to $60,000 while holding Q♠ . It came back around to Kathy, who moved all in for her remaining $129,000, which Chris also called. The board read 5♠ 5♣ 6♣ 7♣. This gave Karagulleyan two pair, Queens and sixes, and the best hand. It was considered the fastest elimination on the

. Tied only by T. J. Cloutier later that same season at the

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Hilton's World Poker Challenge, when his pocket sevens were defeated by Ron Rose's pocket Aces. This was on only the second hand of the final table. Michael Perry was knocked out on the very first hand of play at the final table of the season five World Poker Finals. Karagulleyan's largest cash came in the 2009 WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event, finishing 4th for $430,963. As of 2023, Karagulleyan's total live tournament winnings exceed $1,700,000.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karaguelleyan, Chris 1968 births American poker players Lebanese people of Armenian descent Lebanese emigrants to the United States Lebanese poker players American people of Armenian descent Living people World Poker Tour winners Sportspeople from Beirut Sportspeople of Lebanese descent