Ram Vaswani, born in 1970, is an English professional poker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob, a group of four professional poker players from London, England. At the 2004 World Series of Poker, he married his girlfriend Jackie, and they now have a daughter named Hollie.
Ram Vaswani grew up in Finchley and, initially, took up to playing snooker professionally. He started playing at the early age of 18 and carried on for two years. Before shifting to poker, he managed to make 3 centuries and achieved a 147 break in his snooker career. Since 2001, he has also been managing the snooker career of his brother, a professional player, who finished second in the race for the 2001 English Amateur award.
Ram Vaswani started playing cards at the age of nine, and by the time he was twelve years old, he had already organized his first low-stakes poker game with his friends during a school trip to Wales. Ram Vaswani developed his poker skills by playing £100 7-card Stud games at the Victoria Casino on Edgware Road. One day while he was in Luton, he crossed paths with Joe Beevers, and they decided to organize a private game together. During one of these games, they met Barny Boatman and Ross Boatman. The foursome banded together to form The Hendon Mob and started participating regularly in the European poker tournament circuits.
Ram Vaswani was nicknamed “The Looks” by journalist Victoria Coren in an article on The Hendon Mob because he was the most attractive of the group. His friends, however, call him “The Quiet One.” He is also known as “Crazy Horse” because of his tendency to waver his game during tournaments. He prefers to use this name, which was also used by the Lakota leader, Tashunca-uitco.
In 1999, Ram Vaswani participated in the HFL 5,000 LIDO tournament at the Master Classics of Poker tournament in Amsterdam and clinched his first major tournament win. On February 9, 2002, he emerged victorious in the €5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Euro Finals of Poker and walked away with $140,892. On April 20, 2002, Ram Vaswani finished third in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event at the World Series of Poker and pocketed $98,620. In the same tournament, he also ranked second in the $2,000 1/2 Hold’em – 1/2 Seven Card Stud event and walked away with $54,140. In 2004, Ram Vaswani won the European Poker Tour Irish Masters and three final tables at the WSOP. In the 2005 William Hill Poker Grand Prix, he was second to Phil Laak at the final table. Ram Vaswani won his first World Series of Poker title in the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout event in 2007, earning him his first WSOP bracelet till date. He is credited for being the first and only player so far to reach 4 European Poker Tables, the latest being at Monte Carlo in 2007. Apart from playing at live poker tables, Ram Vaswani has also appeared in each of the six Late Night Poker television series
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Throughout his poker career, Ram Vaswani has had 91 cashes, 15 first-place finishes, and 1 WSOP bracelet. In 2007, his overall live tournament winnings exceeded $3,000,000 and he ranked 667 in the ProRank 1 listing.
Ram Vaswani – Recent Tournament Placings
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Event: 2008 WSOP, Event 37, World Championship Omaha Hi-Lo Split / Finished: 6th / Earned: $110,450
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Event: 2007 WSOP, Event 53, Limit Hold'em Shootout / Finished: 1st / Earned: $217,438
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Event: EPT Season 3, EPT3 Monte Carlo Grand Final / Finished: 8th / Earned: €159,270
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Event: EPT Season 2, French Open / Finished: 5th / Earned: €97,700
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Event: EPT Season 1, Irish Masters / Finished: 1st / Earned: €93,000