BIO
Raymond Rahme had always played Seven Card Stud, but after retiring from his business interests and taking the decision to learn Texas Hold’em, he began playing tournaments on PokerStars, and incredibly, in the space of a few short years, the South African has been able to turn his hobby into a multi-million dollar career.
With a solid grounding in Stud poker, a poker variant that requires a slightly different skill set, Rahme was able to make the transition to Texas Hold’em, where his competitive nature and aggression at the table paid off in spades.
Rahme put Africa firmly on the poker map in 2007 when he came third in the world’s biggest poker tournament - the World Series of Poker* Main Event event in Las Vegas. It was a stunning performance, and all the more amazing as Rahme had only been playing Texas Hold’em for two years and arrived at the tournament a complete unknown. His final table appearance broke all kinds of records – he was the first African to make the final table of the Main Event, he was the oldest player of the final nine that year, and his third place finish for $3,048,025 is the most money ever won at a single poker tournament by any African poker player.
The South African won his WSOP* Main Event seat at his home tournament, the All African Poker Championship held in Swaziland, an event where he has found a lot of success, winning it in 2007, and again in 2008. Rahme also cashed at the Aussie Millions in 2008 for $21,976, all results that back up his tournament credentials.
Further proof comes in the shape of two PokerStars European Poker Tour money finishes, both in Season 4, in San Remo and also at the Grand Final in Monte Carlo, for total EPT winnings of $79,485.
Rahme is easily the most successful South African player of all time with $3,347,468 in total live tournament winnings. Ray is married with six children and enjoys spending time with them when not playing poker. He is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name ‘RayRahme’.
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is not associated or affiliated with PokerStars.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.