Amir Vahedi
Amir Vahedi, born in 1961, in Tehran, Iran, is one of the more aggressive players in professional poker and has had success in different games including victories in both Texas and Omaha Hold'em, Stud or Hi/Lo 7 Card, and many others.
Amir Vahedi won his breakout victory at the Legends of Poker tournament in 1997. He gained his first Vegas championship three years later. After 2000, Vahedi earned 85 cashes in tournaments from California to Connecticut. His big win came when he finished 6th in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP), when he captured his first bracelet and made the final table of the $10,000 Championship Event. 2003 turned out to be Vahedi's best year.
Prior to his poker career, Amir, as a youth, signed up for the Iranian army to fight in the Iran-Iraq War, also called the First Persian Gulf War, during the 1980s. In Iran, this affair was called the Imposed War. Many died and the fighting ended without a resolution, after over 10 years of strife. On a visit to his mother, Vahedi was asked to forego his duties as a soldier. Wishing to serve honorably, and at the same time respectful of his mother's wishes, he left the army and subsequently fled to Pakistan alongside his brother-in-law.
Amir Vahedi has been known to say, "In order to live, you must be willing to die."
Fun Facts:
- He once took on Hollywood star Ben Affleck as a student, though Affleck has since been taken in by other mentors.
- 1997