Shahram "Sean" Sheikhan is a professional poker player who was born in Iran in 1969 and is currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada with his family. Sean Sheikhan is the owner of a retail chain of tobacco and tattoo stores. Sean Sheikhan immigrated to the United States at the age of nine and is now married to an American woman with which he has a nine year-old child.
Sean Sheikhan is well known for his irascible temper - he got into a much-discussed word dispute with Mike Matusow at the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Sean Sheikhan slammed the table when he saw a flop on a hand he was not participating in. Both players got a penalty since Matusow used inappropriate language after Sean Sheikhan made a reaction that let the other players know what his hand was and thus giving those who were still in the hand unfair advantage. Sean Sheikhan was also involved in several other incidents: one with Phil Hellmuth on Poker After Dark when he didn’t stop talking while Hellmuth was involved in a hand with Annie Duke; and another one with Freddy Deeb on High Stakes Poker when he incorrectly accused Deeb of going south. Sean Sheikhan made the final tables at the 2006 NBC's National Heads-Up Poker Championship, collecting more than $125,000. He lost to Ted Forrest, who eventually won the tournament. In the early stages of the event, when facing Gus Hansen, Sheikhan told him to “throw away” his cards - Sean Sheikhan had made Four of a kind and eventually eliminated his opponent. In July 2007 Sean Sheikhan finished at 3rd place in the World Series of Poker No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball event. Besides that Sean Sheikhan has also won a Poker After Dark title after eliminating a field which included Phil Laak, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow and Antonio Esfandiari. This first place finish brought him $120,000. He has also had some appearances in the GSN television series High Stakes Poker in which he damaged an expensive pair of Matusow's sunglasses on purpose. As of 2008, Sean Sheikhan`s total live tournament winnings exceed $1,400,000.
Aside from his problems on the poker table, Sean Sheikhan was also involved in a car accident in 1999 - while driving in Las Vegas during heavy rain, he lost control of his car and clashed with another vehicle, which lead to the death of one of it’s passengers. On August 30th, 2007 Sean Sheikhan was arrested for violation of his immigration status due to a 1995 conviction for misdemeanor sexual battery on a girl under 18. He served nine months in prison and 5 years probation[2]. Sean Sheikhan was on an immigration hold for 1 week awaiting deportation proceedings to his native country of Iran. However those proceedings have been since ceased.