Ben Roberts “Gentleman Ben“

Birthplace
Iran

Birthday
March 11

Total Winnings
$143,612

Ben Roberts was actually born as Mehdi Javdani in Iran in the 1950's but moved to England as a child and has always referred to himself as British, having obtained citizenship there early in his life. When he prepared to marry his wife in the 1970's, he officially changed his name to Benjamin Roberts so that his children, of which they eventually had three, would have English names.

Always a competitive spirit, Ben took to any games that fed his hunger for competition and took into account his penchant for games requiring mathematical and psychological analysis. While poker always held his primary interest, he showed his ability to excel in other games as well by taking the title of County table tennis champion in 1978 and English pool champion in 1979. But poker was the game he took up in the 1970's and has continued playing to date. In all of the years, he has come to be regarded as one of Europe's top tournament and cash game players, as well as one of the nicest and most respectful players at the tables, thus the nickname "Gentleman Ben."

Ben's official tournament record dates back to 1990, near the time he decided to expand his game to include tournaments. He continually finished at final tables, including World Series of Poker final tables in 1998 and 2001, both in hold'em events " one of those being the $10,000 main event in which he finished sixth. But it was his first win that put him on the international players map at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam, and the 2004 Rendez Vous a Paris at the Aviation Club de France that took him to new heights. In Paris that year, he won the 3000 Euro Omaha Cup event, then made the final table of the WPT Grand Prix de Paris main event and finished in fifth place. Since then, he was inducted into the European Poker Players Hall of Fame and continues to gain the respect of poker players everywhere for his play and his demeanor at the tables.