button in SafariPoker Legend Sammy Farha Allegedly Physically Attacks Dealer in Cash Game
Sammy Farha, one of the most popular TV poker stars during the 2000s, allegedly physically attacked and injured a poker dealer at a Texas card room.
The incident happened inside the Houston Social Cardroom at around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning. PokerNews spoke with multiple sources who were present during the incident and confirmed a police report has been established.
Doug Caillier, the dealer, suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from an emergency room in Houston. Caillier is well-known in the industry, having dealt at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) during the Binion's era in the 1990s. He's also dealt in numerous card rooms around the country, including major Las Vegas rooms such as Aria.
Not Farha's First Physical Incident
Farha was a regular on the top poker shows during the 2000s such as High Stakes Poker. He played in the biggest cash games and was considered one of the most feared and colorful characters at the table. But numerous dealers and players have spoken out about his questionable behavior when cameras aren't rolling.
Farha, 67, is a regular in Houston card rooms. He frequently plays the $1/$3/$6 ($15 button straddle) Pot-Limit Omaha at Houston Social, a poker club where Poker Hall of Famer Johnny Chan serves as a minority owner. On Oct. 21, at around 3:30 a.m., Farha, playing his usual PLO game, accused the dealer of taking cards out of the muck, our source said.
Two players had gone all in on the flop and had agreed to run the turn and river twice, and one player scooped the entire pot. According to our source, both players turned their hole cards face-up, and then Caillier shipped the pot to the player who won the hand. But Farha, who wasn't involved in the pot, asked the dealer why he grabbed the losing player's cards out of the muck, which apparently irritated the player who lost the hand, as he told Farha his cards were turned over face-up.
Farha then allegedly became aggressive with the dealer after the dealer disputed his claims, telling him to "shut the f**k up" and "I'm gonna beat the living f**k out of you." Caillier confronted Farha, letting him know his behavior was unacceptable. Security came over to the table, but Farha maneuvered around the secuity guard, approached the dealer, and allegedly punched him in the chest.
"He has a sick obsession his entire life with trying to f**k with dealers," our source said of Farha.
Caillier, we've been told, did not attempt to fight back and walked away from the angry poker player. Farha allegedly took one last shot at Caillier, attempting to slap him in the face, although it's unclear if the slap landed.
The dealer went to the hospital and was treated with minor injuries before filing a police report. Farha has been banned for life from Houston Social. Incidents such as this aren't uncommon inside many Houston rooms.
Farha's reputation in the Houston area is that of a player who is verbally, and now allegedly physically, abusive to dealers, and sometimes other players. He was involved in a physical altercation at Legends Poker Room in 2022. The popular TV poker personality has $3 million in live tournament cashes, and was last spotted in tournament poker at the 2025 WSOP where he ran deep in the Super Seniors event.
