Another one of the relatively new faces in poker is Hevad Khan. Born in New York in 1985, Khan has already built up a respectable tournament resume, won over $2.5 million in tournament earnings, and earned himself a spot on Team PokerStars.
Much like fellow Team PokerStars member Bertrand “ElkY” Grosepllier, Khan began playing StarCraft before picking up professional poker. He attended SUNY Albany before dropping out to pursue poker full time. In the online world, Hevad goes by “RaiNKhaN” and is known for his ability to push multi-tabling to the extreme. In fact, his account was once under investigation by PokerStars for being a “bot” program and not a real person playing. Khan was able to video himself playing and prove that is was indeed him playing so many tables simultaneously.
At the 2007 WSOP, Khan had a breakout year. He cashed in two preliminary events for over $20,000 total before really putting himself on the map with his performance in the Main Event. Throughout the Main Event, Khan celebrated flamboyantly with circus-type performances. He chanted and even picked up his chair to pump it up and down a few times. His actions combined with his success in the tournament landed him a lot of coverage from the ESPN cameras and a star was born. Khan went on to finish sixth for $956,243 and earned himself a ton of fame once the broadcast aired.
Hevad continued to have success with numerous cashes throughout the year and into 2008. In March of 2008, he took down a preliminary event at the Foxwoods Poker Classic for over $100,000. That same month, he also won the PokerStars Sunday Warm-up for nearly $100,000.
He cashed twice at the WSOP in 2008 and it was because of Khan’s antics the year before that the staff at the World Series put a new rule into effect appropriately named “The Hevad Khan Rule.” The rule prohibited players from engaging in excessive celebrations.
After the WSOP was finished in 2008, Khan took down the $9,800 Championship Event at the Caesars Palace Classic. He won a cool $1 million for his victory. A few months later, he kicked off 2009 with a win at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $200,000.
