Alexander Farahi Breaks Through With First WPT® Title at Rolling Thunder

Who is Farahi?

Farahi was not an unknown who spiked one event. He already had a serious résumé, including 15th place in the 2022 WPT® World Championship for $217,100 and third place in the 2017 WSOP Millionaire Maker for $561,530. This Rolling Thunder score was not his biggest payday. 

It was the breakthrough in the form of his first WPT® title and, according to PokerNews’ reporting and public results, his first recorded live tournament win.

Farahi’s own reaction fit that angle. In WPT®’s winner release, he said, “it feels weird” and added that “it doesn’t feel real.” In great news for Farahi, it's the words of a player finally closing one out after years of getting close.

Farahi’s path was a grind before it became a run

This was not a wire-to-wire win. Farahi ended Day 2 with only 178,000 chips. Late on Day 3 he was sitting on 720,000, which was just 29 big blinds at one official count. At the final-nine redraw, he was still only seventh in chips with 1,120,000. 

He was alive, but he was hardly cruising.

The tournament changed when he doubled through Soheb Porbandarwala. Farahi got his 1,120,000 in with A-K against Porbandarwala’s A-Q and held to jump to 2.3 million. That hand did not win him the event on the spot, but it changed the feel of his run. From there, he had room to work instead of just room to survive.

By the time the six-player April 1 final-table session began, Farahi had climbed all the way to second in chips. The last day then moved quickly. PokerNews reported that it took only 28 hands to go from six players to three, and just nine more to get heads-up after Nat fell in third. 

Farahi reached the duel with the lead, 9.225 million to Salsberg’s 6.325 million.

He pressed that edge immediately. WPT® live updates show Farahi won seven straight pots to open heads-up play, stretching the gap from 9.225 million against 6.325 million to 11.95 million against 3.6 million by Hand No. 44. Salsberg fought back well enough to keep the match alive, but he never found the double-up that would flip the story.

The match ended on Hand No. 93. Farahi moved in with A♦6♦, Salsberg called off with A♣2♣, and the board ran 6♥ 5♠ 2♦ 7♥ 10♦. Farahi paired the six and closed out the title. It was not a flashy final hand. It was fitting instead. He got the money in ahead enough, held, and finished the job.

The Salsberg matchup mattered because this was not a soft final hurdle

There is some entertainment crossover here, but that is not the real point. 

Salsberg was not just a recognizable name from television. He won WPT® Grand Prix de Paris in Season XI, earned WPT® Season XI Player of the Year honors, and then reminded everyone he was still dangerous by winning the WSOP Circuit Commerce Main Event in November 2024 for $286,134. 

In short, Farahi did not beat a novelty finalist. He beat a proven closer.

That gave the heads-up match more weight than a standard final-table finish. The two players agreed to a deal once Nat was out in third, flattening the payouts to $159,226 for Farahi and $151,274 for Salsberg, with another $34,500 and the $10,400 WPT® World Championship seat left to play for. 

So even after the chop, there was still real money and the title itself on the line.

Rolling Thunder still means something on the WPT® calendar

This result also lands well because of where it happened. WPT® Rolling Thunder debuted at Thunder Valley in 2013, when J.C. Tran won the inaugural edition, and WPT described the 2024 running as the event’s tenth year on the schedule. 

It has long been one of the California stops that gives the tour a distinct West Coast identity.

So Farahi did not just pick up a random title. He won a long-running WPT® stop with history, in a tournament that still drew 310 entries and nearly a $1 million prize pool. That matters for the résumé. It matters for the Mike Sexton WPT® Champions Cup. 

And for a player whose public record had plenty of deep runs but no live title, it feels like the kind of win that changes how the rest of the résumé reads.

Perhaps the most apt way to say it is this: Farahi did not need this result to prove he could play. He needed it to prove he could finish. 

At Rolling Thunder, he finally did. 

More to come.