Poker tells at the World Series of Poker, with $1.75M WSOP winner Rami Hammoud

Rami Hammoud finished 6th in the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event, winning $1.75 million. Before the final table, he hired me (Zach Elwood) to study poker tells/behavior in the footage of his opponents. In this talk, Rami shares the story behind his journey to winning a life-changing amount of money, including how he almost left Las Vegas before the Main Event began, and how a mindset of having nothing to lose helped him play fearlessly. He talks about how studying poker tells transformed his approach to the game, sharing specific hands where behavioral clues helped him make decisions—and others where relying on such clues backfired. We discuss the psychology of high-stakes decisions, why even highly experienced poker players can be reluctant to trust behavioral reads, how the fear of looking foolish can lead to suboptimal decision-making. We also talk about some dynamics from the final table, including a call that many people thought was one of the worst calls in the history of WSOP Main Event final tables. This is a talk about risk, high-stakes decision-making, anxiety, confidence, and the way people can reveal hidden information through their behavior.

For more about my poker tells work, see www.readingpokertells.com.

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