John Tabatabai
Encyclopedia
John Tabatabai is a Welsh
professional poker
player (Lisvane
, Cardiff
) based in London
, England
. He was the runner-up to Norwegian
poker player Annette Obrestad
in the first World Series of Poker Europe
Main Event. He is currently sponsored by Betfair
.
Tabatabai earned £570,150 for his second place finish.
In January 2009, John won the $5,000au heads up event in Australia for $120,000au.
As of November 2010 his live tournament earnings exceed $1,360,000. His lone cash at the WSOP accounts for $912,240 of those winnings.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
professional poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
player (Lisvane
Lisvane
Lisvane is an affluent community in the north of Cardiff, the capital of Wales, located north of the city centre. Lisvane is one of the most desirable areas of both Cardiff and Wales, and as of 2011, has an average house price £410,000 with many properties worth in excess of £1 million...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
) based in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was the runner-up to Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
poker player Annette Obrestad
Annette Obrestad
Annette Obrestad is a Norwegian poker player. Obrestad is the youngest person to ever win a World Series of Poker Europe bracelet...
in the first World Series of Poker Europe
World Series of Poker Europe
The World Series of Poker Europe is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker...
Main Event. He is currently sponsored by Betfair
Betfair
Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange. The company is based in Hammersmith in West London, England. Since Betfair was launched in June 2000 it has become the largest online betting company in the UK and the largest betting exchange in the world. Betfair claim to have over 3...
.
Early chess career
Before embarking on a professional poker playing career, John Tabatabai was a chess player. He represented Wales in numerous international competitions as a junior.World Series of Poker Europe
In the final hand Annette Obrestad had a slight chip lead with 3,851,000 over Tabatabai with 3,381,000. In the small blind flat, called Obrestad's big blind, Obrestad raised the pot from 68,000 to 138,000. Tabatabai flat called the preflop raise which brought the pot to 208,000. The flop was and Obrestad lead out with a 250,000 bet, bringing the pot to 458,000. Tabatabai re-raised an additional 750,000. Obrestad then went all-in, which was called by Tabatabai who had flopped two pair with , however Obrestad had flopped top set with . Tabatabai was in need of two running cards (fives or sixes) to win the hand or two running cards for a straight; the turn brought the , securing Obrestad the win. The irrelevant river card was the .Tabatabai earned £570,150 for his second place finish.
Other Events
In March 2008 John Tabatabai won the 12th All Africa Poker Tournament collecting the one million Rand ($127,584) pot.In January 2009, John won the $5,000au heads up event in Australia for $120,000au.
As of November 2010 his live tournament earnings exceed $1,360,000. His lone cash at the WSOP accounts for $912,240 of those winnings.