Ihsan "Sam" Farha was born in Beruit, Lebanon. As a teen, he excelled at Pac-Man, pinball, and pool, and he learned to make money on all three. He once played a single game of Pac-Man for $5,000. He moved to the United States in 1977 to attend the University of Kansas, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration.

He moved to Houston, Texas after graduating, where he worked several jobs before finding his calling at a poker table, playing with friends for fifty cents a hand.

He began playing with his friends more often, and at higher stakes. He tried his luck in Las Vegas, and turned $2,000 into $7,000. He finally decided he was good enough to quit his job and invest his money in poker.

He won the Pot-Limit Omaha championship at the World Series of Poker in 1996 and came in third in the event in 2002. In 2003, he was runner up at the World Series of Poker Main event, pocketing a $1,300,000 prize. In 2004, he took 19th place at the Grand Prix de Paris and 26th place at Festa al Luago.

His aggressive and unpredictable style of play, based upon his ability to read and intimidate his opponents, and based on the many different hands he plays has changed the face of poker.