As 2025 turns into 2026, we’re talking to some of the biggest names in the poker world, and reflecting on the year’s most interesting stories and events.
Faraz Jaka is an accomplished player but also the man behind Jaka Coaching — an online learning community for tournament poker players. Jaka has close to $10 million in career tournament earnings and ranks in the top 10 of Calfornia’s all-time money list. In February he finished 3rd for $138K in the Los Angeles Poker Classic Main Event.
'The new year is a good time to get some new habits in place'
What’s the best thing that happened to you in 2025, poker-wise?
I had some big scores early in the year. My 3rd place finish at the LAPC was a pretty fun one. I don’t remember if that was my biggest score or not.
How about the worst thing that happened?
I’ve been having some back issues. It's an ongoing battle, trying to manage it.I put off surgery a few years ago and it's kind of been creeping back up, so next year I'm kind of back to debating if I want to take some time off and maybe do surgery.
Are you a New Year's resolution guy?
Kind of. I mean, I try to make resolutions throughout the year, but yeah, the new year is a good time to get some new habits in place.
For me, it's trying to work out 5 days a week, specifically on my back. It's very, very hard when you're in poker tournaments, so I'm actually thinking of traveling a little bit less next year.
What are you looking forward to most next year?
I’m looking forward to two things next year. I want to spend more time growing my business. Right now, I'm playing a lot of poker and trying to run my business at the same time, and make content. It’s a lot of work. I played a lot more volume this year than I had in previous years. I only play part-time now. Next year, I really want to zone in and take the business to the next level, and grow the community further.
The other thing I’m looking forward to is that we're having baby number three, so growing the business and spending time with my new baby are the two things I'm most excited about.
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