Farzad Bonyadi is a professional poker player who currently resides in Laguna Hills, California. Born in Tehran, Iran, Farzad was influenced by his grandfather. The man was a great card player who taught Farzad to play poker. After the Iranian Revolution, Farzad attended college in Vienna. There, he studied agriculture.

Farzad plays live online at Full Tilt Poker
In 1983, he moved to the Los Angeles area of the U.S. He was able to land a job as a proposition player at a casino through connections with friends. Though the job was not a high paying one, he did take advantage of the opportunity to improve his poker game. He spent time learning and finally mastering each of the different poker games and steadily worked his way up to higher limits.

Before too long, Farzad found himself the executive host of high-limit games at Commerce Casino. There he hosted and played in high limit games with the well known players such has Freddy Deeb, Annie Duke, Johnny Chan and Howard Lederer. These games led to his eventual entry into tournament play in 1997.

That first appearance in the World Series of Poker lead to a second appearance—which resulted in a win. He had won a bracelet in just his second ever event he had played, a Limit Hold’em event. His second bracelet came in 1998 when he was playing a $2,000 2-7 Triple Draw tournament. The third bracelet was won in 2005 by Farzad in a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament. With four final table appearances in other WSOP tournaments and two in World Poker Tour events, Farzad is a recognized face amongst the leaders.

Perhaps the greater accomplishment in 2005 was that he and his wife celebrated the birth of their first child. With a young family and a successful career, one must find ways to creatively balance the two. Online poker has begun to take precedence over live play on a regular basis for Farzad. He plays at and endorses the Full Tilt poker rooms.

His personal site through the Full Tilt organization can be found at www.farzadbonyadi.com and features an impressive gallery of photos, articles of interest on other Full Tilt players, and some valuable poker tips for enthusiasts.

His highest placement in live poker play so far this year was at the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic in February. This was a No-Limit Texas Hold’em event. He took a fourth place finish, earning $25,665. Just a month later, in March, he landed a 15th place finish at the 2006 Bay 101 Shooting Star event. This was a No-Limit Hold’em Championship. Though not a final table seating, the performance earned him $65,000.

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This page was last updated on May 9th, 2006.