Maciek ("Michael" or "Mike") Gracz (pronounced Grahtz) (born October 23, 1980 in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
) is a Polish professional
poker player, based in
Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
.
Gracz learned poker from his father and played regularly whilst studying at
North Carolina State University.
Gracz's first major victory was in the $5,000
no limit
No Limit may refer to:
Music Record labels
*No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P
* No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P
Albums
* ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977
* ''No Limit'' ...
hold'em
Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fac ...
championship event in the 2004 Trump Classic in
Atlantic City. He won over the field of 155 entrants to take home the $295,275 first prize.
On March 19, 2005, he won the
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...
(WPT)
PartyPoker.com
bwin.party Digital Entertainment was an online gambling company, formed by the March 2011 merger of PartyGaming plc and bwin Interactive Entertainment AG. Formerly the world's largest publicly traded online gambling firm, it was best known fo ...
Million IV Cruise event (the
largest
Large means of great size.
Large may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics
* Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers
* Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...
limit hold'em tournament in history) and the $1,500,000 first prize, defeating a final table that included
Paul Darden.
Three months later, he won his first
World Series of Poker bracelet
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1 ...
in the $1,000 no limit hold'em w/ rebuys event, scooping the first prize of $594,460.
As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,000,000. His 7 cashes at the WSOP account for $764,897 of those winnings.
World Series of Poker Earnings
, worldseriesofpoker.com
Gracz has served as a frequent commentator for the Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
poker tournament program ''Poker Dome Challenge
''The MANSIONPoker.net Poker Dome Challenge'' was a 43-week series of speed poker tournaments offering a grand prize of US$1,000,000. The tournament aired in the United States on Fox Sports Network from May 2006 to March 2007. The tournament featur ...
''.
World Series of Poker bracelets
References
External links
Official site
World Poker Tour profile
Hendon Mob tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gracz, Michael
1980 births
Living people
Polish poker players
World Poker Tour winners
World Series of Poker bracelet winners
Poker commentators
North Carolina State University alumni