Freddie Deeb

To many aspiring international poker players, Kassem “Freddie” Deeb represents a different kind of American dream. While Deeb came to America as a teenager in search of a more traditional career, the Lebanese civil war cut him off from his country, his family, and his funding.

Originally a Mechanical Engineering major at USU, Deeb was forced to take an alternative career path when his parents lost the ability to send money for his school tuition. Further complications involving Deeb's immigrant status prevented him from taking a normal job.

Young, broke, and stranded alone in America, things were looking pretty bad for Deeb. But fortune smiled upon him. Deeb was an enterprising young man, and it didn't take him long to learn that there was money to be won playing poker.

Like so many other notable players, Deeb had a rocky start. The first decade of his life as a professional poker player was hand-to-mouth as Deeb got by on small stakes pots. It didn't take long for him to gravitate toward the bigger stakes and more consistent action offered by the many casinos in Las Vegas, NV.

Throughout the 80's, Deeb was a relative non-entity in the poker world, but in 1990 he made his first major blip on the radar with a 2nd place finish in the No Limit Hold 'em Event at the 21st WSOP. From there on out, Freddie became a regular feature at WSOP events.

In 1996, Freddie Deeb took home $146,250 and his first WSOP bracelet at that year's No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball event. Over the course of his 30-year poker playing career, Deeb has netted a total of 25 WSOP placings and purses.

Unlike some of his fellow competitors, Deeb's skills have not waned but rather appear to be holding steady (and even improving) in spite of the recent addition of a newer, younger, internet-based crowd of poker pros. In 2005, he netted a cool million with his win at the World Poker Tour's Aruba Classic.

And in 2007, Freddie proved he was not only a good player but a truly great one when he nabbed the much-coveted bracelet for the WSOP's World Championship H.O.R.S.E. event. With that bracelet came a prize of over $2.2 million; it remains a career-high win for Deeb, though he continues to play at the WSOP in hopes of repeating his '07 victory.

Deeb also started 2009 at the head of the WPT pack with a first-place finish at the LA Poker Classic. When he's not making his competitors sweat at WSOP and WPT events, Deeb is often spotted cruising the high stakes tables in his hometown of Las Vegas.