A poker player and coach in the Israeli Poker Academy from 2017 to 2019 was among those gunned down by Hamas militants during the 7 October surprise attack on an Israeli music festival, it was recently learned.

The early-morning attack killed some 1,400 youngsters attending the Nova music festival to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, including Omri Ram, the poker guru. He was 28.

Born on 8 April 1995, Ram was known as an exploitative poker player and played online at GGPoker as "laolalo." He finished  sixth  in the 2020 GGPoker WSOP Online Super Circuit Event #15: Monster Stack $500K Guaranteed  and banked $21,989.

"He had a love for the game and for teaching it," an acquaintance of Ram told PokerNews. "He also loved surfing and music festivals."

The oldest of three siblings with brothers Tomer and Eyal, Ram recently finished a degree in economics.

In an interview with an Israeli news site, Omri's father, Menashe Ram, said:

"Omri is our eldest son and also our eldest grandson. He was a charming boy whose most striking feature is that he loved everyone, and everyone loved him. He spread light, love and joy and help to friends, and there was a whole world."

Recently graduated with a degree in business administration and economics, Ram has a sunny disposition, according to his father. "He was always smiling."

Ram, he said, was killed along with two of his friends. "We were in contact with him since the morning and at about 10:30 the connection was lost. After a few hours we received the terrible message."

His mother also wrote a eulogy on social media that in part read:

How many experiences did you go through,

How many friends did you collect,                             

In recent days we've been getting lots of messages.

About people you met,

That touched their soul,

That you were happy, that you laughed, that you listened.

That's you, man of the people

A genuine soul with a huge smile.

A funeral for Omri was held on 10 October.

POKERNEWS