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, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

professional

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

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 ...

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 Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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) a former professional poker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob, a group of professional poker players. He resides in Finchley with his wife Jackie a ...

to take home the £14,750 first prize. 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 Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...

(WSOP) in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, 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 the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, community cards ...

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 (; born 24 November 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 is one of the most succes ...

Lucy Rokach Lucienne "Lucy" Rokach is an English professional poker player from Stoke-on-Trent. She was born in Cairo, Egypt and is now regarded as one of the top female players in Europe. She also commentated on the popular ''Late Night Poker'' television ...

, John Bonetti, 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, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

. He finished 7th in a competitive heat including Charalambos Xanthos, Peter Evans and

Victoria Coren Victoria Elizabeth Coren Mitchell (' Coren; born ) is a British writer, TV presenter and professional poker player. She writes weekly columns for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and has hosted the BBC television quiz show '' Only Connect'' since 2008 ...

. Kabbaj went on to win tournaments in London and

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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 (25 February 1961 – 8 January 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 Seri ...

John Juanda Johnson "John" Juanda (born 8 July 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, North ...

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. (b ...

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 Poker tournament, tournaments created by John Duthie (poker player), John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas ...

event in

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. 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" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...

, the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

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 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 N ...

, 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 Found ...

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.

References

External links

Card Player profileGlobal Poker Index profileHendon Mob profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabbaj, John English poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners Living people People from Birmingham, West Midlands 1973 births