Jean-Michel (John) Kabbaj (born 19 June 1973 in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
professional
poker player, referred to by
The Hendon Mob
The Hendon Mob are a group of four professional poker players from London, England: Joe Beevers, Barny Boatman, Ross Boatman, and Ram Vaswani.
The name of the group was first publicised by the ''Evening Standard'' newspaper in September 2000. J ...
as their unofficial fifth member.
Before poker
Kabbaj quit school at the age of 16. He worked as a builder and was later employed at
Heathrow Airport.
Poker career
Tournaments
Kabbaj became a professional poker player in 1995, after winning his first major tournament at the Main Event of the 1995 Christmas Cracker tournament in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. He defeated a field including Dave Gardner (father of
Julian Gardner) and
Ram Vaswani
Ram "Crazy Horse" Vaswani (born 1 September 1970 from Finchley, Greater London) is an former professional poker and snooker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob, a group of professional poker players. He resides in Finchley wi ...
to take home the £14,750 first prize. He quit his job at Heathrow the next day.
Kabbaj made his first money finish in the
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...
(WSOP) in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
, finishing 9th in the $3,000
pot limit
In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, ...
hold'em
Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fac ...
event won by
Layne Flack
Layne Flack (May 18, 1969 – July 19, 2021) was an American professional poker player from Rapid City, South Dakota, residing in Montana and Nevada.
Poker career
Flack started playing cards with his grandparents, but became engrossed in th ...
. He finished above several notable players, including
Eli Elezra
Eliahu Ilan Elezra ( he, אלי אלעזרא; born November 24, 1960, in Jerusalem) is an Israeli professional poker player and businessman, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada. With five WSOP bracelets and a WPT win in the post Moneymaker era, he ...
,
Lucy Rokach,
John Bonetti
John Joseph Bonetti (June 1928June 27, 2008) was an American professional poker player from Houston, Texas.
Born in Brooklyn, New York City, Bonetti began playing poker at the age of 54, and won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker (WS ...
, and
Paul Phillips.
In 2000, Kabbaj made his one and only appearance on the popular
Late Night Poker
''Late Night Poker'' is a British television series that helped popularize poker in the 2000s. It used "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards.
The show originally ran for six series between 1999 and 2002 ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
. He finished 7th in a competitive heat including
Charalambos Xanthos
Charalambos ''"Bambos"'' Xanthos is a Greek Cypriot hotel and restaurant owner based in London, England. Following on from being a backgammon player, he became a semi-professional poker player in 1993.
Xanthos learnt poker from his father in ...
, Peter Evans and
Victoria Coren
Victoria Elizabeth Coren Mitchell (' Coren; born ) is a British writer, TV presenter and professional poker player. Coren Mitchell writes weekly columns for '' The Telegraph'' and has hosted the BBC television quiz show '' Only Connect'' since ...
. Kabbaj went on to win tournaments in London and
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
during 2001.
At the
2004 WSOP, Kabbaj finished as the runner-up in the $3,000
no limit
No Limit may refer to:
Music Record labels
*No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P
* No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P
Albums
* ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977
* ''No Limit'' ...
hold'em tournament. He won $260,520 for his finish, and was ahead of numerous players including Ram Vaswani, Paul Phillips,
Amir Vahedi
Amir Vahedi (February 25, 1961 – January 8, 2010) was an Iranian professional poker player born in Tehran, Iran. who won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet at the 2003 World Series of Poker in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event.
World ...
,
John Juanda
Johnson "John" Juanda (born July 8, 1971) is an Indonesian professional poker player of Chinese descent based in Tokyo, Japan. He has won five World Series of Poker bracelets.
Personal life
Juanda was born into a Hoklo family in Medan, Nort ...
,
Annie Duke
Anne LaBarr Duke (née Lederer; born September 13, 1965) is an American former professional poker player and author in cognitive-behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet from 2004 ...
,
Martin De Knijff,
Johnny Chan
Johnny Chan (;He has another Chinese name "Chen Qiangni" () which is also commonly used by Chinese-language media. It is a transliteration of "Johnny Chan" (as "Chen" for "Chan", "Qiangni" for "Johnny") rather than his Chinese birth name. born ...
and Surinder Sunar.
In late 2004, Kabbaj also made the final table of the first
European Poker Tour
The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour (WPT), created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Tex ...
event in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
.
During 2005 he made four money finishes in the WSOP.
He won his first bracelet at the 2009 WSOP, although the achievement was overshadowed by a row involving the bracelet ceremony. Instead of playing the British national anthem
God Save The Queen
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...
, the
Sex Pistols song of the same name was played, much to Kabbaj's disgust.
At the
2014 WSOP
The 2014 World Series of Poker is the 45th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Paradise, Nevada, USA, between May 27 – July 14, 2014. There were 65 World Series of Poker bracelet, bracelet even ...
, Kabbaj won the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event, defeating
Thomas Keller
Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Foun ...
heads-up to earn $267,327 and his second career bracelet.
World Series of Poker bracelets
As of 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,700,000. His 8 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,077,700 of those winnings.
World Series of Poker Earnings
, worldseriesofpoker.com
Notes
External links
Card Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabbaj, John
English poker players
World Series of Poker bracelet winners
Living people
People from Birmingham, West Midlands
1973 births