By
Dan |
Published
Nov 04 2008, 10:20 AM
Recently, one PocketFiver made waves on the Las Vegas Strip. Despite his win not being in a World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour event, Hevad RaiNKhaN banked $1 million by taking down the Caesars Palace Classic. Joining him at the final table of the tournament were fellow PocketFives.com members Jonathan FatalError Aguiar and Adam A_Junglen Junglen. Khan made a deep run during the 2008 WSOP Main Event and famously made the final table last year in the marquee poker tournament, which was ultimately won by Jerry Yang. Khan took time out of his day to talk with PocketFives.com about his Caesars Palace Classic win as well as his renewed outlook on life.
Winning the $1 million first place prize at Caesars was a major relief for the native of Poughkeepsie, New York. Khan told PocketFives.com, “It’s been a long year. When you don’t have a big score for a while, you don’t expect to win a tournament when you enter it. Everything until the final table was domination. I got all in behind six times because I was committed to call.” He defeated Michael Kamran heads-up in a roller coaster of a final table that saw Khan enter with a sizeable chip lead only to become a 4:1 underdog against Kamran. In the end, however, Khan’s poker skills proved to be superior.
Khan described what was important to him about the tournament, which was not beamed to households around the country like WPT and WSOP final tables are: “What was important was that I enjoyed it.” He enjoyed it to the tune of $1 million and defeating a field of 311 players. His celebration was saved for the end of the tournament.
If you’ve watched the 2008 WSOP on ESPN, you’ll notice an inherently subdued version of RaiNKhaN in comparison to the one who reached the final table of the 2007 Main Event. He credits the change in his demeanor to a recent trip to Korea. He describes the sojourn: “Korea is the biggest country in the world for Starcraft. It was a fresh start in life for me there. I was able to socialize, go out, experience a new culture, and be an adult in front of my peers. People had an unbiased view of me. They didn’t look at me as a poker player from television.” In essence, Khan was able to reinvent himself in Korea.
He told PocketFives.com, “I got burnt out and wanted to figure out what was important,” so he headed west. Khan was joined in Korea by several well-known poker players including Bertrand ElkY Grospellier, who like Khan recently took down a major live event, the World Poker Tour’s Festa al Lago.
From talking to RaiNKhaN, he seems to have a renewed focus and concentration for poker. He added, “At the Caesars final table, my responsibility was to win. What mattered was winning. I wasn’t trying to win because I needed money. Sure, now I can buy house or car, but those are materialistic. What mattered to me was being happy.”
Like several other highly successful poker players, Starcraft was Khan’s original passion. In Korea, the competition is incredibly fierce. Just like in poker, one small slip-up can leave a player on life support: “In Starcraft, if you make one tiny error, it’s more or less the reason you lost.” Just like in Starcraft, Khan maintains that the ideal way to become skilled at poker is to practice: “The best way to become good at poker is to play on the internet. You can see more flops, more turns, and more rivers online. When you get to live play, it’s slower, so you have more time to think it out.”
Also in Korea, Khan was able to hone his cash game abilities. In doing so, he improved his confidence at the tables, which has manifested itself in tournament play as well. He revealed, “In the past, I hoped I would get hand when I played. Now, I’m fearless. It was a severe upsurge in confidence that came with traveling and self-assessment. My core confidence and happiness are much higher now.”
His 240th place finish in the 2008 WSOP Main Event was worth $35,383. He also had a strong showing at the WPT Bellagio Cup IV, held around the same time as the 2008 WSOP Main Event, landing in 25th place for $38,785. Khan won nearly $1 million for taking sixth in the 2007 Main Event. Online, he finished as the runner up in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up in June for $58,410, three months after winning the same tournament for nearly $100,000. Khan took third in the Second Chance in the beginning of November for $26,600.
Khan is a member of Team PokerStars Pro. Congratulations from all of us here at PocketFives.com to Hevad RaiNKhaN Khan for taking down the Caesars Palace Classic in Las Vegas.
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