PokerGO montage highlight’s Farha’s best moments from the show’s original run
Can fans of the original run of High Stakes Poker choose the title for “most entertaining personality” and narrow that accolade down to a single player?
The unforgettable personas put together for the show's first seven seasons made it stand out from any other poker programming ever produced. The 2006-2011 original episodes of the series featured the “poker boom” era’s biggest stars, and many of those personalities can’t ever be replaced.
Is it possible to award the title of “most iconic” High Stakes Poker player? If it is, then Sammy Farha might be the leading candidate.
The PokerGO YouTube channel dropped a Sammy Farha High Stakes Poker montage last week, featuring some of Farha’s biggest pots and most memorable moments from the show. Farha strikes an essential figure from poker’s golden era, coming onto the scene after finishing runner up to Chris Moneymaker at the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event.
Moneymaker went on to become the symbol of the new era of poker, with his run as a recreational player to the Main Event championship vaulting poker into the mainstream. Farha went on to forge an equally iconic figure and still maintains status as an unforgettable personality from the poker boom.
Much of that was earned through his appearances on High Stakes Poker.
The Sammy Farha vs. Jamie Gold High Stakes Poker hand
Jump to the end of PokerGO’s Farha collection if you want to see perhaps the most absurd hand in the history of televised poker.
The show brought in Jamie Gold for Seasons 3 and 4, fresh off Gold’s $12 million win at the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Gold, another key character on the legendary show, got into a pocket kings vs. pocket aces spot against Farha that quickly went off the rails.
Gold (with the kings) goes heads-up to the flop against Farha’s aces, but before the dealer can put out the flop, some interesting negotiations take place. Goaded on by Antonio Esfandiari, Farha agrees to bet $10,000 in the dark, and Gold raises to $30,000.
This flop betting round without an actual flop on the board continues with a raise to $90,000 from Farha. The exasperated body language and comments from Doyle Brunson say it all about this hand, the likes of which we’ve never really seen before or since.
Gold, after more banter, decides to call. The dealer then puts out the flop and the turn at the same time, as Farha and Gold have elected to bet, raise, re-raise, and call in the dark without any community cards on the board.
This unforgettable hand highlights the epitome of Farha’s presence on High Stakes Poker. His entire collection of memorable moments can only be seen by enjoying the entire High Stakes Poker first run.
The PokerGO montage gives a few glimpses of Farha’s incredible presence on the beloved poker show. In a run that included names like Negreanu, Hellmuth, Ivey, Dwan, and Brunson, Sammy Farha truly is the most entertaining character from the first seven seasons of the show.
Featured image source: YouTube
