Poker legend Sam Farha got into a fist fight with dealer AJ, who was looking for revenge for Farha getting him sacked. The 2003 Main Event runner-up received a slap or two for berating a dealer.
Sam Farha gets into a fight
Appropriately enough, the incident took place at Legends Poker Room in Houston, Texas. The cardroom already in the news recently for its involvement in the Johnny Chan 88 Social scandal we reported on last week.
Thursday night at Legends saw Farha and a dealer, reported to be named “Amjad”, known as “MJ” or “AJ” for short, come to blows as a feud between the pair escalated into violence.
A popular FB page known as A Prominent Houston Poker Live was awash with posts, pictures, rumours, and news about the fight. The vast majority praised the dealer for finally putting Farha in his place.
It seems that Farha and MJ had problems previously. Farha apparently got the dealer sacked from the Johnny Chan 88 Social across the road.
One former Legends dealer explained: “The truth is AJ got himself fired for mouthing off to Sammy, even though Sammy was being a douche as always.”
The police has to step in
With Chan’s eponymous poker room currently closed due to a dispute said to involve financial irregularities (and Mike Matusow apparently interested in a buyout) the game moved across the road to Legends, where both Farha and MJ clashed again, this time ending in fisticuffs.
Farha reportedly complained about “MJ” being at Legends. However, when the dealer heard this, he confronted the Lebanese-born, 3-time WSOP bracelet winner.
“I’m from Detroit, bitch, we don’t play around,” he screamed at Farha as he first punched. Then he shoved and finally slapped Sammy – the result, seen in the photo above.
With Farha hiding behind a floorman while MJ tried to get to him again, the brawl was broken up by management and other players. Both men were asked to leave the premises, and police were seen talking to Farha in the parking lot the following morning.
Sam Farha vs poker dealers
Amid claims that other dealers stood and applauded MJ for taking Farha to task, a GoFundMe page was started, aiming to raise $20,000 towards any legal fees Amjad may incur because of the incident.
The organiser, Chad Mu explained: “Lost his Job due to harassment by a so-called “Poker Legend.”
“Then was provoked and finally decided to take one for every poker dealer in the Houston market. The punch heard around the poker world to Sammy Farha, has now found one of our very own in a legal matter.”
“If you ever had to deal to him you know the badgering and harassment Sammy has put every dealer through. We all know we have wanted to take matters into our own hands and finally, someone did.
“Now let’s show some support and also raise some awareness that it’s not all about the poker player… it’s about the integrity of the game! No poker player is or should be deemed bigger then the game!”
That was echoed by a post on the FB page. It stated: “If somebody can reach out to MJ, the guy who did the deed on Farha, let him know that I will cover his entrance to Prime Social’s Satellite to the Main as a token of appreciation for his well representation of the dealers.”
Farha will be famous to most poker fans for succumbing to the “Bluff of the Century”. He was playing heads-up against Chris Moneymaker for the 2003 WSOP Main Event title.
The move was voted “The Most Memorable TV Hand” in poker history in 2019 by poker fans. The bluff got through and Moneymaker went on to become the face of a new poker boom.
Farha became a regular on Poker after Dark and High Stakes Poker. The unlit cigarette dangling from his lips is an iconic poker snapshot. However, if his treatment of dealers is true, then it’s hard to have any sympathy for him.
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