Faraz Jaka: WSOP Bracelet Winner and WPT Player of the Year
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Faraz Jaka is an American professional poker player, World Series of Poker bracelet winner, former World Poker Tour Player of the Year and tournament poker coach. His career has stretched from the online-poker boom and major WPT final tables of the late 2000s to seven-figure lifetime earnings, a long-awaited WSOP breakthrough and continued deep runs against modern tournament fields.
Jaka won WPT Season VIII Player of the Year honors after a season highlighted by two major final-table performances, then added his first WSOP bracelet in 2023. He has also remained a regular presence in high-level no-limit hold'em events while building JAKA Coaching around tournament strategy and player development.
As of September 5, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Jaka with $10,271,414 in live tournament earnings and a career-best live cash of $774,780. His results continued through the 2026 World Series of Poker, confirming that he remains an active tournament professional.
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Who Is Faraz Jaka?
Faraz Jaka is a poker professional and coach from San Jose, California. PokerNews reports that he was born in 1985 and began playing poker while attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
His early development came through a combination of online tournaments and smaller live games. Jaka reached the money at the World Series of Poker in 2007 and steadily built a tournament résumé before breaking through on some of poker's largest stages two years later.
Jaka became particularly associated with no-limit hold'em tournament poker. His record includes major results in full-ring, six-handed, shootout, heads-up and high-roller formats, reflecting a career built around adapting to changing table sizes and tournament structures.
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Faraz Jaka's Breakthrough in 2009
The 2009 tournament season established Jaka as a major live-poker threat.
At the World Series of Poker, he finished third in the $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event for $400,526. Soon afterward, he made an even larger run at the WPT Bellagio Cup V, finishing runner-up for $774,780.
That Bellagio Cup result remains Jaka's largest recorded live tournament cash according to The Hendon Mob.
His momentum continued later that year at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Jaka finished third for $571,374, giving him another major WPT final table during the same season.
Those performances positioned him at the top of the World Poker Tour's season-long points race.
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WPT Season VIII Player of the Year
Jaka won the World Poker Tour Season VIII Player of the Year award for the 2009-2010 season.
The accomplishment was notable because he secured the honor without winning a WPT Main Tour championship. His consistency and repeated deep runs produced enough points to survive a closely contested race through the season-ending WPT World Championship.
The World Poker Tour's Faraz Jaka player record lists five Main Tour final tables and no Main Tour victories. It also records a WPTDeepStacks victory, demonstrating an important distinction between his Player of the Year accomplishment and his tournament-title history.
Among Jaka's most important WPT Main Tour finishes are:
Runner-up in the 2009 Bellagio Cup V for $774,780
Third in the 2009 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $571,374
Fifth in the 2015 Bay 101 Shooting Star for $216,320
Runner-up in the 2018 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown Championship for $454,496
Jaka later won the WPTDeepStacks Black Hawk Main Event during the 2018-2019 season for $77,290.
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Major Results Beyond the WPT
Jaka's tournament résumé extends well beyond World Poker Tour events.
One of his largest scores came in the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. He finished third for $755,000, a result that ranks behind only his Bellagio Cup runner-up finish among his largest recorded live cashes.
Over the following years, Jaka continued producing final tables and deep runs in major no-limit hold'em tournaments. Those results helped establish a career that eventually crossed the $10 million mark in recorded live earnings.
His longevity is particularly notable because his major results span several different eras of tournament poker. Jaka first became nationally prominent before modern solver-based strategy became widespread, yet he continued reaching significant final tables as tournament theory and field strength evolved.
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Faraz Jaka Wins His First WSOP Bracelet
Jaka's biggest missing tournament credential disappeared at the 2023 World Series of Poker.
He won Event #85, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, defeating a field of 987 entries and earning $237,367. The victory gave Jaka his first WSOP bracelet after years of deep runs at the series.
A shootout uses a different progression format from a standard multi-table tournament. Rather than continually balancing players between tables, competitors must win their individual table to advance to the next round.
Jaka successfully navigated each stage before defeating Michael Finstein heads-up at the final table. PokerNews' coverage of the 2023 WSOP Shootout documented the victory as Jaka's first bracelet.
As of September 5, 2026, the WSOP player database lists Jaka with:
One WSOP bracelet
Zero WSOP Circuit rings
25 WSOP final tables
147 WSOP cashes
Those WSOP statistics are separate from Jaka's complete live-tournament record tracked by The Hendon Mob.
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Continued Success in 2024 and 2025
Winning a bracelet did not mark the end of Jaka's major tournament results.
In 2024, he won the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Deep Stack at the Seminole Hard Rock Rock 'N' Roll Poker Open for $313,495.
His 2025 results included several additional six-figure scores. Jaka won a $1,110 MSPT Main Event for $127,849, finished third in a €25,000 no-limit hold'em event at EPT Barcelona for €219,500 and took second in a $20,000 NAPT Super High Roller Warm Up for $202,600.
He closed 2025 with one of the biggest scores of his career at WSOP Paradise. Jaka finished 13th in the $25,000 Super Main Event for $520,000.
That result became his fourth-largest recorded live cash behind the Bellagio Cup, PCA Main Event and Five Diamond performances.
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Faraz Jaka at the 2026 WSOP
Jaka remained active throughout the 2026 World Series of Poker and made another serious run at a bracelet.
His best finish came in Event #49, the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout. The tournament attracted 1,561 entries and generated a $3,473,225 prize pool.
Jaka entered the final day as the chip leader before eventually finishing fourth for $180,210.
He added several other 2026 WSOP cashes, including a 21st-place finish in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $100,497 and a 15th-place result in the $3,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event for $27,310.
His recorded WSOP results continued through July 15, 2026, when he cashed in the $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em event.
Those results pushed Jaka beyond $10 million in recorded lifetime live tournament earnings.
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Faraz Jaka's Playing Style
Jaka built his early reputation as an aggressive and difficult tournament opponent. World Poker Tour coverage has described the style that made him prominent during his first major WPT runs as fearless and dynamic.
His results provide some support for that reputation. Jaka has reached major final tables in six-handed events, succeeded in a WSOP shootout and recorded strong results in tournaments that increasingly emphasize short-handed and heads-up decision-making as fields narrow.
A long career also requires adjustment. Tournament strategy changed dramatically between Jaka's 2009 breakthrough and his 2023 bracelet victory, particularly as solver study and data-driven training became standard among serious professionals.
His continued results suggest that adaptation has been an important part of his longevity.
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Faraz Jaka as a Poker Coach
Jaka has developed a second major role in poker as a tournament coach.
He operates JAKA Coaching, a training platform focused on multi-table tournament poker. His coaching work has made him recognizable to a generation of players who may know him as much for poker education as for his earlier WPT final tables.
The connection between his playing and coaching careers remained visible in 2026. Jaka continued competing at the WSOP while producing educational material based on tournament hands and decision-making.
His role as both an active professional and instructor separates his current career from players whose public presence is based primarily on past tournament accomplishments.
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Faraz Jaka's Career Earnings
As of September 5, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Faraz Jaka with $10,271,414 in live tournament earnings.
That figure should be treated as a changing career statistic rather than a permanent total. Future tournament cashes will increase it, and live earnings databases generally track recorded tournament results rather than a player's net poker profit.
The same database lists his largest live cash as $774,780 for his runner-up finish at the 2009 WPT Bellagio Cup V.
Jaka has accumulated those earnings through a broad mix of results rather than one enormous tournament victory. Multiple scores between roughly $400,000 and $775,000, combined with years of smaller cashes and titles, have produced his eight-figure career total.
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Why Faraz Jaka Matters in Poker
Faraz Jaka's career connects several important periods in modern tournament poker.
He emerged during the late-2000s online-poker boom, became WPT Player of the Year through repeated deep runs, reached major final tables before eventually winning a WSOP bracelet, and continued competing successfully after tournament strategy became considerably more technical.
His résumé also illustrates that a successful career does not have to follow a simple sequence of early titles followed by gradual decline. Jaka waited until 2023 to win his first bracelet, more than a decade after establishing himself as a top tournament professional.
By 2026, he was still producing significant WSOP finishes while maintaining an active coaching business.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many WSOP bracelets does Faraz Jaka have?
Faraz Jaka has one WSOP bracelet as of September 5, 2026. He won it in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout at the 2023 World Series of Poker for $237,367.
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How many WSOP Circuit rings does Faraz Jaka have?
The WSOP database lists Faraz Jaka with zero WSOP Circuit rings as of September 5, 2026.
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How much has Faraz Jaka won in live poker tournaments?
As of September 5, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Faraz Jaka with $10,271,414 in recorded live tournament earnings. That total can change whenever new results are added.
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What is Faraz Jaka's biggest live tournament cash?
The Hendon Mob lists Jaka's largest live cash as $774,780 for finishing second in the 2009 WPT Bellagio Cup V.
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Did Faraz Jaka win WPT Player of the Year?
Yes. Jaka won the World Poker Tour Season VIII Player of the Year award for the 2009-2010 season after a series of deep finishes that included major final tables at the Bellagio Cup V and Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
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Has Faraz Jaka won a WPT Main Tour title?
No. The World Poker Tour lists Jaka with five Main Tour final tables but no Main Tour victories. He does have a WPTDeepStacks title from Black Hawk during the 2018-2019 season.
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When did Faraz Jaka win his first WSOP bracelet?
Jaka won his first WSOP bracelet on July 15, 2023, in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout. He defeated a 987-entry field and earned $237,367.
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Is Faraz Jaka still playing poker?
Yes. Jaka recorded multiple cashes during the 2026 World Series of Poker, including fourth place in the $2,500 Freezeout for $180,210 and 21st in the $50,000 High Roller for $100,497. His recorded results continued through July 2026.
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Does Faraz Jaka coach poker?
Yes. Jaka operates JAKA Coaching, a tournament-poker training platform, while continuing to compete professionally.