.gif&contenttype=gif "Titan Poker $500 Bonus")
Afghanistan's First WSOPE Champ
September 26, 2008 - Thomas Clarke
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Event 2 September 22-24
Entrants - 110
Prize Pool - £275,000
Sherkhan Farnoon made history when he beat Austrian Ivo Donev to win the title and take the £76,999 first prize. Farnood becomes the first person from Afghanistan to win a WSOP bracelet.
In 2005, Farnood became the first poker player ever to cash in the WSOP from the nation of Afghanistan. At the time, Farnood –half-jokingly announced that he was Afghanistan's most famous poker player – an ironic statement considering he's probably the only Afghan who plays regularly on the poker tournament circuit.
The 46-year-old duel resident of Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. Farnood is chairman of Kabulbank, one of the largest banks in Afghanistan and is reported to be one of the richest people in Afghanistan.
The banker took an insurmountable lead over Donev after taking down a substantial pot during an Omaha/8 hand that saw both players make straights on an 8s 4d 2s 7c 6h board, with Donev showing Tc 7s 6d 5c and Farnood Ad Td 9c 2h.
Farnood took the high with the ten-high straight and scooped with an A-2-4-6-7 low as well, leaving Donev with only $30,000 in chips.
The Austrian chess master made a battle of it, but would eventually find himself checkmated in a Stud hand, getting all-in on third street holding Kc Jc 3c to Farnood's 8c 4c 8c.
By sixth street, Donev held Kc Jc 3c 2d 6h 7c and, with Farnood holding 8h 4c 8c 6c Qd Jh Qh, needed to hit a club on the river to stay alive. But he hit a 4h and was thus eliminated, making Farnood the champion!
"This is for the people of Afghanistan," Farnood proudly announced in a post-tournament interview. "Because I won, all the people of my country have a gold bracelet with me."
This tournament attracted one of the most formidable fields in WSOP history. About a quarter of the players who entered – 26 out of 110 -- were former WSOP gold bracelet winners and all eight of the top finalists had previously made WSOP final table appearances. Four players were former gold bracelet winners.
Final Table Result
1st Afghanistan Sherkhan Farnood £76,999
2nd Austria Ivo Donev £48,125
3rd United States Howard Lederer£30,250
4th England Jeff Duvall £22,000
5th United States Mark Gregorich £17,188
6th United States Phil Ivey £13,750
7th Italy Jeff Lisandro £11,000
8th England Spencer Lawrence £8,938
9th Sweden Erik Albinsson £6,875
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