Farha moved to the United States after the Lebanese Civil War broke out when he was a teenager.[citation needed] After settling in Wichita, Kansas, in 1977, he attended the University of Kansas.[citation needed] He graduated with a degree in business administration and moved to Houston, Texas, to work with his brother. Farha first played a game of poker a year after moving to Houston, and won several thousand dollars. He quit his job in 1990 to focus on playing poker full-time.[citation needed]