Faraz Jaka

Faraz Jaka is an American professional poker player from San Jose, California. He is best known as the World Poker Tour's Season VIII (2009-2010) Player of the Year. Jaka scored five WPT cashes that season including two Championship event final tables. He also has ten WSOP cashes on his record with two final table finishes.

Intro

Jaka was born in 1985 in San Jose, California in a Pakistani immigrant family. He started playing poker when he was studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. At first Jaka played mostly online and in small live games while in 2007 he entered his first major poker tournament, the World Series of Poker and cashed in one event that summer. Jaka finished in 22nd place at the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event taking home more than $14,000.

Background

Before he started playing poker, Jaka was a promising track runner. He also played basketball for the Piedmont Hills High School and wrote poetry. After graduating High School Jaka entered the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

World Series of Poker

After his first WSOP money finish in 2007, Jaka came back to the world's biggest poker event the next year and cashed in two more events collecting a total of $18,000. Then in 2009 he scored four more cashes, including the $400,000 he collected for the third place finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed event.

Jaka collected another $113,000 in WSOP cashes in 2010 the lion's share of which came from the 8th place finish in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Heads Up Championship. Two years later Jaka made another WSOP final table, only this time he did it on the European soil during the WSOPE in Cannes, France. He finished the €10,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Mixed Max event in fourth place for €86,087.

Faraz Jaka's Top 5 WSOP Results

World Poker Tour

Jaka scored all of his biggest WPT results in the Season 8 of the circuit which led to him being named the Player of The Year. It all started in July, 2009 when Jaka finished runner-up in the Bellagio Cup V $15,000 Championship Event falling just behind Brazil's Alex Gomes and taking home almost $800,000. Then in December Jaka final tabled the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic $15,000 Main Event. He finished the tournament in third place for more than half a million dollars. Jaka then cashed in two more WPT Championship events that season and collected the Player of the year honors.

Faraz Jaka's Top 5 WPT Results

European Poker Tour

Jaka has a total of four European Poker Tour money finishes to his name. His first EPT cash came in 2008 at the Grand Final in Monte Carlo where Jaka finished ninth in the €500 No-Limit Hold'em event for €3,000. Then three years later, in 2011 he scored the 72nd place finish at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 Main Event for $33,000 in prize money.

Two more EPT cashes came in 2012. First Jaka reached the final table in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 Main Even placing third for more than $750,000. Then a couple of months later he finished in 23rd place at the EPT Sanremo €2,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Re-Entry for almost €8,000.

Faraz Jaka's Top 4 EPT Results

Other Achievements

Although he's been around the poker circuit since 2007, Jaka has only one first-place live tournament finish on his record. In 2008 he won the $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em tournament at the L.A. Poker Classic for more than $100,000. Then two years later he final tabled the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em / Bounty Shootout event at the NAPT Mohegan Sun. Jaka finished the tournament in 3rd place for $80,000. In 2012 he placed second in the A$2,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed event at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship taking home A$77,000.

Did you know?

• Jaka got his nickname “The Toilet” for playing any two suited hole cards in hopes of making a flush.
• He owns a caster board company.