Roger Hairabedian

Roger Hairabedian is a French professional poker player who made his first live event cash in 1999. In the first 12 years of his career, Roger cashed 102 times, made 72 final tables, won 13 events, cashed at the WSOP 4 times, and earned close to $3 million.

Born on September 19, 1955 in Marseille, France, Roger spent his school years mastering the art of judo. He competed in judo for 7 years on behalf of France, becoming the European champion in 1981, before an injury to his knee ended his judo career. He was introduced to poker 1985 at the age of 30, and he started playing in local poker rooms and in home games.

In 1999, Roger cashed in his first live tournament at the Aviation Club in Paris, finishing 5th in the FF 2,500 Stud event to collect FF 3,600. The next year, he cashed 3 times in Paris, winning twice at the 2002 Spring Tournament. He earned €3,560 for winning the €100 NLHE, and collected €32,490 when he won the €2,000 NLHE. His other cash that year was at the Winter Tournament, finishing 4th in a €100 PLO event for €570.

Staying in Paris, Roger cashed 7 times in 2003 and made 6 final tables. He finished 3rd in the €5,000 European Heads-up Championships, worth €15,000, before making 4 final tables at the Spring Tournament, cashing twice at the Autumn Tournament, and cashing once at the Winter Tournament.

At the 2004 Euro Finals of Poker, Roger cashed 4 times and made the final table in each event, which included winning the €1,000 European Seniors Championships event to earn €11,700. He cashed twice at the Rendez Vous a Paris, before making his first cash outside of Paris, when he placed 6th at the €100 NLHE for €2,200. His other cash that year was at the Austrian Classics.

From 2005 until 2007, Roger cashed 10 times. In 2006, he won the €100 NLHE at the Club Poker Championship in Paris to earn €4,320, and placed 5th for €4,335 in the €750 NLHE at the Rendez Vous a Paris.  In 2007, his biggest cash was for €3,980 when he finished runner-up in the   €250 HORSE Championship at the Euro Finals of Poker.

In 2008, Roger started the year by winning the €2,000 NLHE Main Event to collect €74,400 at the Paris Open of Poker. At the Rendez Vous A Paris he cashed twice, and won the €10,000 NLHE to earn €419,520 at the Grand Prix De Paris. Other cashes that year were at the WPT Spanish Championship Barcelona, the WPT Bellagio Cup, the Belgian Poker Championship, the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam, and he was runner-up in the €2,500 NLHE at the Monte Carlo Poker Masters for €81,000. At the Marrakech Poker Open that year, he cashed 3 times which included taking 3rd in the 100,000DH NLHE event for 778,320DH, and winning the 5,000DH PLO to take home 71,550DH.

Roger cashed 17 times in 2009, starting with a runner-up finish in the €5,000 NLHE Diamond Championship at the Euro Finals of Poker to earn €100,000. He also cashed in the Hold\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\’em Summer Series Paris, 4 WPT events, cashed the IPT San Remo, and cashed twice at EPT events. Roger won twice in 2009, the €1,000 NLHE for €15,000 at the Evian Poker Open Évian-les-Bains, and the €950 NLHE for €8,495 at the Championship of Morocco. He also finished finish in a NLHE event at the Barriere Poker Tour in Bordeaux to earn €21,900, and cashed at the European Championships, Partouche Poker Tour Grand Final in Cannes, and at the Wagrams Poker Event.

In 2010, the highlights of Roger’s 22 cashes included winning 5 events. He won the Fcfa 1,000,000 NLHE for Fcfa 29,700,000 at the Dakar Poker Tour, the €1,000 NLHE for €29,400 at the Ultimate Euro Finals of Poker, the €500 PLO for €8,575 at the Wagram Poker Events, the

€500 NLHE to earn €26,000 at the IPT San Remo, and won the NLHE for 371,000DH at the Mazagan Poker Million.  His other notable cashes that year were finishing 7th for €200,000 in the €10,000 NLHE Main Event at the EPT Grand Final Monte Carlo, took 3rd in for €40,000 the €20,000 NLHE High Roller event at the WPT Rendez-Vous à Paris, finished runner-up for

45,940DH in the 5,500DH NLHE at the Marrakech Poker Open, and placed 3rd in the £1,000 NLHE 6-Max at the EPT London to earn £11,870.

By October, Roger had cashed 11 times in 2011. He started the year by cashing 3 times at the Dakar Poker Tour, winning both the €1,350 NLHE for €36,557, and the €3,000 NLHE High Roller Event to earn €28,350. Other notable achievements were cashing in 4 WSOP events which included finishing 376th for $30,974 in the Main Event, cashing twice at the EPT Grand Final Madrid, taking 3rd in the £2,000 NLHE Turbo Bounty for £13,400 at the EPT/UK & Ireland Poker Tour, and a making the final table in the €8,500 NLHE Main Event at the Partouche Poker Tour Cannes.