Hevad Khan’s table antics on his way to the final table at the 2007 WSOP Main Event propelled him into the poker spotlight, but has he changed his ways?
For many in poker, Havid Khan is principally known for his attention grabbing yelling and screaming at the 2007 WSOP. While raising his profile and notoriety and even provoking the introduction of the ‘Hevad Khan rule’ at the 2008 WSOP (preventing players from over-zealously celebrating hands) this comical episode does not define the confident American.
A successful 2008, capped by a $ 1m win at the Caesars Palace Classic, as well as a determination to perfect his cash game is slowly seeing the man known online as RainKhan regarded more for his poker game than his chest-beating theatrics. We meet Khan to discuss his ambition to reach the poker elite, his new-found celebrity and a fresh outlook on life and poker.
After a successful year which saw you go deep in the PCA and the main event at the World Series as well as triumph in the Caeser’s Classic, you must be feeling on top of your tournament game at the moment?
Hevad Khan: Yes. It’s just been a rollercoaster for me this past year. I had several tournament scores online and good scores live. Since the main event last year, I had the WCOOP win where I won the Heads-Up Overflow. I had a second place finish in a Warm Up. I also had the Second Chance third place.
What is the key to your consistency this year?
HK: I keep telling myself that there are people better than me. That drives me to want to make improvements to my game.
What part of your game has improved the most since your final table at the World Series.
HK: Playing off my image and according to table flow. In tougher fields you have to play according to your image. You can’t just raise in late position with the Q-J because people with medium to large stacks will re-pop you and put you to the test. You have to pick the right time to steal. It tests your focus.
How has this change in focus transferred to your live game?
HK: I’ve been changing my composure. If I bet, I feel people are afraid of me because I am making good decisions and am thinking through the hand – not just sitting there trying not to give off tells. I used to be very quiet and try to clear my mind, but by doing this I wasn’t actually thinking through the hand. Sometimes I would be playing tight and hoping that they didn’t call my bet. But now I’m really thinking things out. That’s helping me play really good poker and appear like the fearless guy at the table. At Caesars I felt people were afraid of me because I was able to combine all of these things.
Run through your Caesars experience.
HK: Day one I had a tough table but I had position on the good players and was re-raising them with junk – chipping up that way. I was also only continuation betting flop, turn and river against the bad players. I knew they wanted to call me because of who I was and because I was being aggressive. I mixed up my complete bluffs with my huge hands so they never really knew. If I was able to show down a big hand I would continue playing complete junk for the next couple of hours just because I could feel the table was letting me do it. You have to be thankful for these situations – I was thankful that people were buying it. It made to sense to them that I had to have a hand. A lot of my success was due to circumstance, focus and good cards.
And you hit the final table with the chip lead.
HK: Midway through day two I had a huge stack and was chip leader all the way. I was confident right before the money that I was going to win. My good friend Dan Schreiber was trying to monster the table but I was completely focused and was sure no one was going to beat me.
At $ 1m it was your biggest cash to date. Was it more satisfying than your WSOP final table?
HK: The WSOP was way more satisfying – a mixture of excitement and adrenalin. Caesars was more about confirming that I can do this for a living and that it’s not a joke. That I’m not just some guy who gets sponsored for being loud on TV.
Do you think that people didn’t take your game seriously before and you needed a big win to get respect?
HK: Honestly, I don’t think I was that big of an icon where people would think or care. A lot of people just saw me as a TV puppet instead of a poker player. This win lets people know that I’m a serious competitor and I have what it takes to be one of the best tournament players.
Was it annoying to be known just as that person who was crazy on the TV?
HK: After the first couple of months I got annoyed with all the questions. It’s in the past and I don’t really care much anymore. Back then I wasn’t used to all the attention so I didn’t know how to react.
Your profile has certainly risen since then. You are now being asked for autographs at events. Is that something you welcome?
HK: Of course, who wouldn’t want to sign autographs? It’s cool – I get to feel like a bit of a rock star. It’s very rewarding to look at what I have accomplished and the money I’ve won. But I’m learning that you shouldn’t base your level of self-respect on materialistic things and it’s more about understanding who you are and being the best person you can be. That’s why the Caesars win doesn’t mean as much to me as the WSOP final table – even though it was more money. The World Series had more emotion to it – a lot of excitement and relief – pure things that you can’t buy with money.
Do you play a lot of cash games online?
HK: You can regularly find me at the $ 3/$ 6 six-max games – playing four tables at once. From my own experience I think you should only play four tables. The six-max cash games are tough and very aggressive. When it’s more aggressive the pots are bigger, there’s more variance and people are raising more. You need to be aware of what’s going on or it will cost you.
But your bankroll can surely cope with that level?
HK: Absolutely. I have a very very good bankroll. I could play on $ 3/$ 6 and lose for months and months and still be fine. But what is important to me now is getting better at the game. I’m looking to the future. I want to beat the high stakes games and you can’t do that unless you build your way up. Maybe in the future I want to be playing the nosebleed stakes but I only want to play if I’m confident that I have at least a minimal edge on every player at the table. For the first time in a long time cash games are interesting to me because I care a lot more about how I play. I’m ready to take this game a lot more seriously.
Do you think good tournament players can excel at cash games and vice versa?
HK: I think there are good players and bad players. But there are very few really good tournament players and very few really good cash game players. By really good I mean top-notch. That is why a small percentage of people win in poker in the long run.
Any goals for next year?
HK: I’m still going to be attacking all the major tournaments but I really just want to put in quality work now. I want to make sure that when I go to a tournament I don’t have any other excuses apart from the fact I got unlucky.
Do you see your long-term future being in poker?
HK: Right now I do. I think a person can only dedicate himself to one thing at a time – and for now it’s poker.
Subscribe to PokerPlayer magazine HERE
