Hasan Habib: Professional Poker Player Profile

Hasan Habib's most memorable performance was his back-to-back final table play in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship Events of 2004 and 2005, in which he finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. In fact, Habib recounts the things he achieved on April 14, 2004 as his biggest poker accomplishment. This was when he placed 2nd in the Bellagio Five Star World Poker Classic, $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em in Las Vegas, and took home $1,372,223. "Money may come and go," Habib said after his win, "but the gold bracelet is something I will always cherish."

"Soft-spoken, mild-mannered, but fiercely competitive" was how Allyn Jaffrey Shulman of Card Player Magazine described Hasan Habib. Barry Greenstein, on the other hand, had told Hasan that "he has the perfect style of game, because he is unpredictable and fearless." At the same time, Greenstein had that Habib was "dangerous" and "volatile." Daniel Negreanu and Hasan Habib were first and second respectively in Card Player's 2004 Player of the Year ranking.

Habib plays in both tournaments and side games, but prefers tournaments because he has better turnouts there, and besides enjoys them more. In tournaments, he likes to play the No-Limit Hold'em, while in side games he likes to play the Omaha Hi-Lo.

Habib was born in 1962, in Karachi, Pakistan. He was a tennis champion in Pakistan when he was 14. He immigrated to the United States in 1980. He studied business at the University of Redlands. College was when he started playing poker in earnest. Later, he started running a chain of video stores, while on the side, he continued to improve his poker skills. At the behest of his friends, he became a professional poker player in the late 1990s.

It wasn't always easy for Habib. In early 2000, Habib recalls, he had to scrape together $25 a day for a room at Crystal Park. Now he owned three homes, one WSOP bracelet, and a newfound confidence. In 2000, he made a name for himself in tournament play by making the final table at the main event of the World Poker Open in April, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in May, and the Tournament of Champions in July.

Hasan Habib invests in real estate. He is single, and he enjoys going to clubs and movies with friends. Relaxation is one of Habib's goals in life; he professes that he would like to travel to places like Europe, Mexico, and Costa Rica. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California, or Las Vegas, Nevada.