Team PokerStars Grows by Four

PokerStars has recently added four new faces to its stable of resident pros: Hevad “Rain” Khan, Raymond Rahme, Tuan Lam, and Dario Minieri. 

Lam, Rahme, and Khan each made the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event final table, finishing second, third, and sixth, respectively.  Minieri placed in the top one hundred.

Lam, 41, was born in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  He moved to Canada at age 19 and discovered poker while trying to earn money to attend business school.  A friend got him a job as a dealer in a card room, where he also played as a prop.  Eventually, he learned to play well enough to do it for a living, focusing on cash games.  His runner-up finish in the 2007 WSOP earned him $4.8 million.

Rahme, 62, hails from South Africa and was the first player from the continent of Africa to make the WSOP Main Event final table.  Primarily a seven card stud player, he only learned how to play hold’em in 2005.  He must be a quick learner, as he won $3 million for his third place finish at the 2007 WSOP.  Currently retired, Rahme ran a bed and breakfast with his wife.  The couple has six children. 

Khan, 22, is your prototypical internet poker wonder boy.  He is renowned in the online poker world for being a massive multi-tabler, having played in as many as 43 games simultaneously.  In fact, PokerStars.com once believed he was a “bot,” as they did not believe it was possible to play as much as he did.  He proceeded to clear his name by sending the site a video of him playing 28 single-table tournaments at the same time.  He became known to the general poker public through his emotional antics at the table on his way to a sixth place finish at the 2007 WSOP Main Event.

Minieri, 22, also made his name online, playing so much and with such great success, that he became the first player to buy a Porsche from PokerStars with his Frequent Player Points.  Including his top one hundred finish at this year’s WSOP, he has won close to $300,000 at live tournaments.