Poker Hobbyist Shakerchi Incurs £850k Losses In Monaco

Last weekend, Talal Shakerchi lost a staggering £850,000 playing poker at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel in Monaco, but whereas losing that amount of money would be enough to induce feelings of nausea in most, to the hedge-fund tycoon it was just the price you sometimes pay for your hobby.
You see, the UK tycoon is believed to have a personal wealth of £100 million and manages around £3 billion worth of assets under his own hedge fund, Meditor. The 49-year-old Shakerchi also took up playing high stakes poker five years ago and says he feels fortunate to be able to learn from competing against the very best players in the world.
Shakerchi certainly needed all the poker know-how he could acquire when the philanthropist played in the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop event, which raised $10 million for the charitable One Drop foundation. Shakerchi may not have cashed in at that event, but he has certainly had his fair share of successes since his first live cash in 2010 and now boasts $1,639,904 in live winnings. Shakerchi’s list of accolades include
victory in 2010 at the €10k EPT Grand Final Monte Carlo 6 Max Turbo High Roller for €223,000, and another 1st place finish in 2012 at the £10k EPT/UKIPT High Roller London for £436,330.
Commenting on his evolution as a poker player, Shakerchi said: “Occasionally, if I see a play I don’t understand from a player I respect, then I ask them what their reasoning was. Learning that way gave me the confidence to play in the toughest tournaments without feeling completely out of my depth. After a while you realise that some of the best known names aren’t as strong as their image, whereas there are a number of relatively less known players who are much tougher opponents.”
At his latest tournament in Monaco, Talal Shakerchi may have lost his €500,000 buy-in within the first two hours of play, but as a commentator noted at the time: “Talal seems very unlucky and running very bad – can’t seem to win a hand.”
Shakerchi obviously took all the vagaries of the game in his stride and after exiting the table was heard to say; “Goodbye, see you guys tomorrow.”