I bear in mind taking place the Event Poker Million cruise in 2005. Believe it or otherwise, every cabin on the ship would run a documentary video clip about Mike. It informed the story of his time as a gymnast at Ohio State College and in the Army as a paratrooper. Whenever, day or evening, you might see Mike on the rings or offering a scenic tour of his beautiful home. It was my very first glimpse right into what his actual life was like, just formerly seeing him on some Globe Collection of Casino Poker as well as World Casino poker Trip broadcasts.
The first time I ever before had any kind of interaction with him was at a Specialist Texas hold’em Excursion stop. The PPT was the temporary collection produced by the WPT that you were required to qualify for. I was just one of the youngest people in the field, as well as most of those who certified had been around the game for a long time. I was a little misplaced, despite what I had actually already accomplished in poker.
I was shuffling around the space while we were getting ready for the event to begin, and also I stumbled right into a conversation. Huck Seed was bargaining terms with Erik Seidel for a heads-up suit, with Mike gladly moderating in the middle. Annie Duke strolled up as well as asked what was taking place.
Huck stated, “I’m trying to establish a match with Erik where if I win, he owes me $50,000, and if I shed, I have to remove a foot.” Annie quickly said she wanted know the action and also without being reluctant a beat, Huck replied, “Okay, I’ll lay you 2:1.” Most of us started chuckling as well as Mike launched into some great prop wager tales from his time, maintaining all of us entertained till the cards were in the air.
I had a rough start to my WPT job. I really did not money in my very first 17 events, just lastly running deep at The Bike in 2007. I wound up busting in 20th place, but before the day started, Mike made it a point to come up to me and state that he had actually been expecting seeing me run deep in among these occasions and also he hoped to see me at the last table. I make sure that is something he stated constantly to individuals, yet Mike had a genuineness about him that made you feel like he meant what he was claiming and also hadn’t additionally simply claimed it to the other 15 guys that were still in the event.
Just a couple of months after that Legends of Casino poker occasion, I ran wonderful at the Borgata Winter months Open and also ended up winning it for $1.4 million. After the event mored than, they told me I needed to stay to do the victor’s interview and images. Gladly! One of the pictures they intended to take was with Mike and Vince Van Patten. I had actually been sick for the last pair days of the event, yet I had lots of power and was all smiles for those images.
Vince was an expert actor and also TV host, so he might summon a smile for days. Mike was an online poker player as well as was utilized to concealing his emotions. Also, Mike is such a real individual that it was probably hard for him to bring a fake smile to his face and also make it look excellent. So as the cams are clicking, I speak with behind me this little chuckle.
I didn’t understand what it was at initially, but I at some point recognized it was Mike laughing aloud to himself to ensure that he could draw out a real smile for the couple mins that all these electronic cameras were popping in front of our faces. He was a thoughtful man as well as he didn’t want any one of the winners to really feel cheated of their time in the spotlight.
To today, whenever my partner as well as I are taking a picture where we have to remain focused on the cam for a little, I do a little chuckle like Mike’s to bring a genuine smile to both of our faces.
Although I really did not recognize Mike that well, I had three or four tales all set to deal with him. That, above all, ought to tell you why Mike means a lot to a lot of in the online poker world. He could make you feel like you were his good friend in the course of the minutes, hours, or days that you reached play casino poker with him.
