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HOUSTON, Texas (Gambling911.com) - A Lebanese-born poker pro, now residing in Houston Texas, is accused of assaulting a poker dealer inside the Houston Social Cardroom at around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
Sammy Farha, who has won just shy of $3 million on the live poker circuit as documented by the Hendon Mob, caused poker dealer Doug Caillier to suffer minor injuries, according to Poker News. Caillier was treated and released from a local hospital. A police report was taken.
From PokerNews:
Two players had gone all in on the flop and had agreed to run the turn and river twice, and one player scooped the entire pot. According to our source, both players turned their hole cards face-up, and then Caillier shipped the pot to the player who won the hand. But Farha, who wasn't involved in the pot, asked the dealer why he grabbed the losing player's cards out of the muck, which apparently irritated the player who lost the hand, as he told Farha his cards were turned over face-up.
Farha then allegedly became aggressive with the dealer after the dealer disputed his claims, telling him to "shut the f**k up" and "I'm gonna beat the living f**k out of you." Caillier confronted Farha, letting him know his behavior was unacceptable. Security came over to the table, but Farha maneuvered around the secuity guard, approached the dealer, and allegedly punched him in the chest.
"He has a sick obsession his entire life with trying to f**k with dealers," our source said of Farha.
Caillier, we've been told, did not attempt to fight back and walked away from the angry poker player. Farha allegedly took one last shot at Caillier, attempting to slap him in the face, although it's unclear if the slap landed.
This is not the first incident involving the 67-year-old Farha.
Farha had an ongoing dispute with a former dealer identified as AJ, MJ or Amjad at Legends Poker Room in Houston, which came to a head in December of 2021.
The disagreement reportedly began at Johnny Chan's 88 Social poker room, where the dealer had previously worked. Sources alleged that Farha had played a role in the dealer losing his job following an earlier argument. When the two encountered each other at Legends Poker Room, they exchanged heated words. The former dealer reportedly slapped Farha across the face and shoved him against a wall. Staff and players intervened, and both men were asked to leave.
Following the December 2021 altercation, several members of Houston's poker community publicly criticized Farha.
One dealer told PokerNews that Farha was widely disliked among dealers. Other commenters accused him of verbally mistreating poker room employees.
While no arrest had been made in the most recent incident, Farha is reportedly now banned for life from the Houston Social Cardroom.
- Nagesh Rath, Gambling911.com
