Ram "Crazy Horse" Vaswani (born 1 September 1970, from

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

) a former 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 and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob, a group of professional poker players. He resides in

with his wife Jackie and daughter Hollie. Vaswani became a regular on the poker circuit, and due to his involvement in Late Night Poker, he also became one of the pioneers of

poker on television Poker television programs had been extremely popular, especially in North America and Europe, following the poker boom. This has especially become the case since the invention of the " pocket cam" in 1997 (and its first use in the United States in 2 ...

. He is the first (and to date only) person to reach 4

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 ...

(EPT) final tables. The latest being at Monte Carlo 2007 (eliminated first, on the first hand) one of those final tables bought a win, the Dublin Season 2 (2004) event. He won his first

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 ...

bracelet in 2007, in the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout event. His other televised appearances include a win in the Poker Nations Cup, and runner-up in finishes in two more televised events.

Poker career

Early years

Vaswani, of Indian origin, began playing cards from the age of 9, and at the age of 12, he organised a low-stakes poker game with friends on a trip to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Their teacher stopped them playing, so they ended up playing for

sweets Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar can ...

instead. Vaswani has long considered

seven-card stud Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River, is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was one of the most widely played poker variants in home games across the Unite ...

to be the most skilful

poker variant The card game of poker has many variations, most of which were created in the United States in the mid-1800s through the early 1900s. The standard order of play applies to most of these games, but to fully specify a poker game requires details ...

, and built up his early poker knowledge playing the £100 game at the Victoria Casino on

Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes sever ...

. Vaswani met Joe Beevers in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

when placing bets on

dog racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around an oval track. The sport originates from coursing. Track racing uses an artificial lure (usually a form of windsock) that travels ahead of the greyhounds o ...

and they later set up a private poker game together. It was in one of these games that they met both

Barny Barny is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Barny Boatman (born 1956), English poker player Surname * Junes Barny (born 1989), Swedish football player * Bernard Barny de Romanet (1894–1921), Frenc ...

and Ross Boatman. Together, the four became known as The Hendon Mob and became regulars on the European

poker tournament A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a " heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tabl ...

circuit. In the first published article on The Hendon Mob, journalist and poker expert

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 ...

publicised Vaswani's nickname The Looks, referring to his claimed status as the best-looking of the group. Soon after, Vaswani began using the nickname Crazy Horse, sharing his nickname with the

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

leader Tashunca-uitco. Vaswani and the rest of The Mob were invited by Nic Szeremeta to appear in the brand new Late Night Poker television series. Vaswani appeared in each of the show's 6 series, reaching the series 2 Grand Final and the series 4 and 5 Semi-finals. Vaswani's first major tournament win happened at the HFl 5,000 LIDO tournament at the Master Classics of Poker tournament in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1999. At the time, this was Europe's most prestigious tournament, but he was broke and had to borrow money from Joe Beevers to stake in a cash game to build up money for the entry fee.

The WSOP and beyond

Vaswani first finished

in the money ''In the Money'' is a 1958 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on February 16, 1958, by Monogram Pictures, Allied Artists Pictures and is the 48th and final film in the series. It ...

of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event in the

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

$3,000 no limit

Texas 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

Erik Seidel Erik Seidel (born November 6, 1959) is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall o ...

. The next year, he had a 3rd-place finish in the $2,000 limit hold 'em event, and a 2nd-place finish in the $2,000½ hold 'em – 1/2

event. He made three final tables in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, with his best finish being 3rd place in the $3,000 no limit hold 'em event. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Vaswani became the first member of the Mob to win a

WSOP bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976 ...

, winning $217,438 in the $1,500 limit hold 'em shootout event. The following year, he made the final table of the $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi-Lo Split event, finishing 7th. His most recent WSOP cash was in the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe, where he finished 15th and earned £40,481 ($66,738 at the time of the event). Vaswani has also made 4 final tables on the European Poker Tour (EPT). In the first season, he won the

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

event and finished 2nd to

Noah Boeken Noah Boeken (; born 6 January 1981) is a Dutch professional poker and '' Magic: The Gathering'' player. ''Magic: The Gathering'' career In the late 1990s, Boeken was an accomplished player of ''Magic: The Gathering'' who competed internationa ...

in the

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

event. In the second season, he finished 5th in

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

. He also made the final table of the

Season 3 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

Main Event, where he finished 8th. His EPT final table tally is double the next best total, held several other players, including Marc Karam, Marcel Lüske and

(The record belongs to Luca Pagano, who has made 6 finals tables). His other major tournament victories include: * £500 pot limit seven-card stud, European Poker Classic 2000 * €5,000 European Hold'em Championship, Euro Finals of Poker 2002 * £500 pot limit seven-card stud, Poker Classics 2003 * £500 no limit hold'em, Midland Masters 2003 * Poker Nations Cup 2006 Vaswani was also a quarter-finalist in the 2003 World Heads-Up Poker Championship, runner-up to Harry Demetriou in the 2004 Victor Chandler Poker Cup, and a finalist in the

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 Gaming Club World Poker Championship. He finished runner-up in the 2005 William Hill Poker Grand Prix, following a bad beat against eventual winner

Phil Laak Philip Courtney Laak (born September 8, 1972) is an Irish-American professional poker player and a poker commentator, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, and ...

. However, commentator Lucy Rokach repeatedly laid claim to him being the best player in the 64-player field, that included former World Champion

Scotty Nguyen Thuận B. "Scotty" Nguyễn (born October 28, 1962) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player who is a five-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, most notably as the winner of the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event an ...

and WSOP bracelet winners Donnacha O'Dea and

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

. ( Simon Trumper has also referred to him as "the best tournament player in Europe, especially in No Limit.") As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings are exceed $3.2 million. His 15 cashes at the Las Vegas WSOP account for $846,229 of those winnings. Vaswani appeared in Late Night Poker Masters in late 2006 on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, in the same heat as season 6 champion Peter Costa and Willie Tann, but did not progress. Vaswani has written over 20 articles for The Hendon Mob's website, and a poker lesson for Matthew Hilger's site internettexasholdem.com. Vaswani regularly plays $100–$200 no limit hold 'em online, and is sponsored by

Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...

. He has also played $200–$400 pot limit

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

on the site, where he has won pots in excess of $160,000.

Other gambling

Vaswani has been described as "an avid gambler who 'would bet on anything that moves'". This has led to him being known for having a fluctuating bankroll due to the variance in his

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Sports bettors place their wagers either legally, through a sportsbook or bookmaker (colloquially known as "bookies"), or illegally through priva ...

hobby. Joe Beevers has indicated that Vaswani will often have $100,000 in his pocket one day; but it will be gone the next. Vaswani has indicated he is not too concerned about the outcome of bets he makes, so long as he has made the right decision in each case. Vaswani is also a keen

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er, and has had large financial upswings and downswings as a result of wagering on his game. Also, during the 888.com Poker Nations Cup, Vaswani made numerous large wagers with the Swedish team, and staked large amounts of money on Chinese poker, which he considers to be a game of pure luck.

References

External links

Card Player profileHendon Mob profileWPT profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaswani, Ram English poker players European Poker Tour winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners Living people People from Finchley Sportspeople from the London Borough of Barnet The Hendon Mob English Hindus 1970 births