If one word was to describe a poker player, the word for Hevad Khan would be BULLDOZER! By the time the 2007 World Series of Poker rolled around the event had become a spectacle of poker and comedic antics performed by players looking for airtime on ESPN. The more outlandish the antics, the more ESPN seemed to love it. Enter Hevad Khan. The flop of 5-10-4 kept his opponent out in front, but a queen on the turn propelled Porter into the lead for good. The mood during the hand was very subdued, leaving ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad to lament, “Another all-in, another emotionless transaction. Where’s Hevad Khan when you need him?” Khan is pictured above. Another one of the relatively new faces in poker is Hevad Khan. Born in New York in 1985, Khan has already built up a respectable tournament resume, won over $2.5 million in tournament earnings.

1. Hevad Khan Poker
2. Hevad Khan Pokerstars

Hevad Khan Poker

Hevad Khan is not the same Khan we met in 2007 and that's just fine with him. In fact, Khan is not the same Khan we knew this time yesterday. The difference: Khan is a million bucks richer today.

Last night, Team PokerStars Pro Hevad 'RaiNKhaN' Khan took down the 2008 Caesars Palace Classic for the $1 million first prize.

This is Khan's biggest single win to date and pushes him over the $2.5 million mark in live tournament winnings (to say nothing of the piles of cash he has made online at PokerStars).

Ten months ago, we walked through the cavernous Atlantis Resort and Casino with Hevad Khan on the way the opening party for the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He stood tall above us and if we hadn't known it wasn't true, we would've insisted he'd had a lobotomy. He was calm, cool, collected and nothing like the dancing primate we'd known at the World Series of Poker. Something in the big man had changed and the ten-minute conversation was proof he was on his way to something far more sublime than a televised bulldozer dance.

After winning nearly a million bucks at the World Series, a switch flipped in Khan's head. He told us he had high hopes for 2008. In March, he won more than $100,000 in a side event at the Foxwoods Poker Classic. He won the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up for the same amount in the same month. Two hunded grand in the first three months of the year would be enough to keep some people in high cotton for the next ten months. Khan wasn't satisfied.

The ensuing months were not as kind. His 2008 World Series did not go to plan. His success in March seemed pale in comparison to the chilly months of cards he endured. Two things snapped him out of it. First, was a trip to Korea.

“I discovered myself there,” Khan said. “I came back a different person.”

Second, he had a killer weekend online in which he won nearly $100,000 in a couple of days, including a $58,000 second place finish in the Sunday Warm-Up. Khan was back.

By mid-year, Khan had won in the neighborhood of half a million bucks, but was looking for that elusive firtst place finish in a $10,000 event. He finally got it last night after beating out more than 300 players for the Caesars Place Classic title. The change in Khan's demeanor was not lost on the official tournament reports who noted, he is now 'considerably more subtle. He rarely celebrates winning hands or leaves his seat during play.'

Congrats, Hevad, on another great finish.

Hevad Khan Pokerstars

• Event 1 - Event 2
• Event 3 - Event 4
• Event 5 - Event 6
• Event 7 - Event 8
• Event 9 - Event 10
• Event 11 - Event 12
• Event 13 - Event 14
• Event 15 - Event 16
• Event 17 - Event 18
• Event 19 - Event 20
• Event 21 - Event 22
• Event 23 - Event 24
• Event 25 - Event 26
• Event 27 - Event 28
• Event 29 - Event 30
• Event 31 - Event 32

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Brad 'Otis' Willis published on October 31, 2008 9:56 AM.

Stud: Reaching the poker peak was the previous entry in this blog.

EPT Budapest: The pots keep getting bigger is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.