Hafiz Khan  

He is better known for his online poker success, but Hafiz Khan has become a force at the live tournament tables as well. With more than $1.7 million in live earnings thus far, he stands out from many of the newer players in the game.

Hafiz Khan was born in Stockton, California, and his youth was spent around computers. It was no surprise that he then went to college and entered the work force as a software analyst. He enjoyed the solitude of working with computers, though he reveled in his social time with friends as well.

It was through friends that he first played poker in a home game. He noticed that there was a skill element to the game and pursued it further through cash games in local card rooms in Northern California. He spent much of his leisure time there but soon determined that his game could best improve if he gave it his full concentration. He took a year off from work and spent it in isolation, studying the game through internet forums, training videos, and hours upon hours of playing online poker.

When he emerged, Khan was a skilled player with a bankroll and the desire to play poker full time. He quit his job and continued to play, eventually finding an attraction to the live tournament poker scene when he qualified online for a seat to the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event.

He took that seat for the $8,000 NLHE event and produced a second place finish from it, worth $1,094,976. He then qualified again for a seat later in the year to the European Poker Tour Barcelona stop, and he cashed in that €8,000 NLHE Main Event for €14,900.

Khan then racked up significant final tables at events like the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, three in 2008 to be precise. After another cash in the PCA in 2009 – 21st place for $50,000 – he won his first tournament at the L.A. Poker classic when he took down a $5,000 NLHE event for $285,569.

He made final tables at the 2009 Five Star World Poker Classic in Las Vegas and another back at the 2010 L.A. Poker classic, and he cashed in another PCA Main Event as well as two World Poker Tour Main Events. Most recently, he took third in a $5,000 NLHE event at the Five Star World Poker Classic for $59,595.

In August 2011, Khan cashed in the Inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event when he finished 16th for $43,190. In December 2011, he earned his second Epic Poker League cash when he finished 11th in the Mix-Max Main Event for $50,920.

Khan has nearly made a full transition from online poker to live tournaments, and he continues to enjoy the game, having made close friends in poker along the way. By discussing strategy and immersing himself in the tournament scene, Khan has produced more than $1.7 in live earnings in only a few years.