Event #47 ($2,500 No Limit / Fixed Limit Mixed Hold’em) of the 2009 World Series of poker featured a stacked final table including 3-time bracelet winner Barry Greenstein, bracelet winner and circuit fixture Hasan Habib, online poker prodigy Matthew Woodward, and Ylon Schwartz who finished forth in last years WSOP Main Event. At the end of the night it was 24-year-old semi-pro poker player Bahador Ahmadi, also known as Jeff Ahmadi who claimed the $278,804 top place prize money and his first career WSOP bracelet.
Ahmadi was born in Iran. He immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of 4. Ahmadi has lived in Calgary and Vancouver. He settled down and now lives in Burnaby, BC – which is near Vancouver. While attending college at Holly Cross, near Boston, on a football scholarship, he became more serious about poker. In 2006, he came to the World Series of Poker for the first time, didn’t cash and hasn’t been back until this year. In 2009 his results have been much different as in addition to his bracelet win last night he also picked up $139,934 for a fourth place finish in Event #13.
Quotes from winner Bahador “Baha” Ahmadi
On his expectations coming into this year’s WSOP: “I planned on playing in every $2,500 event, every $1,500 event, and the Main Event. I expected to do well. I expected to cash. Once I final tabled (Event 13), I thought I would do pretty well.”
On why he skipped playing a few years at the WSOP: “It’s a grind. Staying here in Las Vegas for many weeks is a grind.”
On playing mixed games, both Limit and No-Limit Hold’em: “If you are good at both games, you have an edge. In an event like this, you find a lot of No-Limit players who have not played much Limit. So, if you have any edge in Limit, you can do well. I have a strong background in Limit. I found that I was able to really make (major gains) when we were playing Limit. I sat back in the No-Limit and just picked my spots.”
On being surrounded by poker players sharing a summer rental during the 2009 WSOP: “We thought someone from the house would break through and win a gold bracelet. I am just happy it was me.”
Iranian-Born Poker Players at the WSOP
Despite being a Canadian citizen who moved from Iran at age-4, Ahmad wanted to point out he is proud of his heritage and wanted the victory credited to Iran. During his bracelet presentation ceremony he had the Iranian National Anthem played.
Many Iranian-born poker players have enjoyed success at the WSOP. The most notable gold bracelet winners (originally) from Iran are:
Farzad Bonyadi – three gold bracelet wins
Mansour Matloubi – 1990 WSOP Main Event winner
Hamid Dastmalchi – 1992 WSOP Main Event winner and three gold bracelets
Amir Vahedi – gold bracelet winner
Farzad Rouhani – gold bracelet winner
Antonio Esfandiari – gold bracelet winner
2009 WSOP Event 47 Final Table Results
1st Place: Bahador Ahmadi ($278,804)
2th Place: John McGuinness ($172,227)
3th Place: Ylon Schwartz ($112,967)
4th Place: Karlo (The Wizard) Lopez ($78,628)
5th Place: Barry Greenstein ($57,671)
6th Place: Matt Woodward ($44,520)
7th Place: Randy Haddox ($36,084)
8th Place: Hasan Habib ($30,641)
9th Place: Zachary Humphrey ($27,199)
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