The game of poker is all about numbers and chances. Michael
Keith knew the odds were against him. He had less than a .005
percent chance of moving forward in Pokerstars.net Million Dollar
Challenge.
With 1,500 chips, Keith was up against 5,000 other players with
the same goal: to be a contestant on Fox’s poker reality show
featuring professional poker player Daniel Negreanu. The Million
Dollar Challenge is a show that gives home poker players the chance
to play celebrities such as former National Football League running
back Jerome Bettis, professional poker players and Negreanu
himself.
The game of poker is all about numbers and chances. Michael Keith knew the odds were against him. He had less than a .005 percent chance of moving forward in Pokerstars.net Million Dollar Challenge.
With 1,500 chips, Keith was up against 5,000 other players with the same goal: to be a contestant on Fox’s poker reality show featuring professional poker player Daniel Negreanu. The Million Dollar Challenge is a show that gives home poker players the chance to play celebrities such as former National Football League running back Jerome Bettis, professional poker players and Negreanu himself.
Negreanu acts as the contestants’ poker coach until the round where they will meet, according to the shows guidelines. If the winner beats Negreanu they get a grand prize of $1 million.
Keith, an avid poker player for more than seven years, hoped he would get his shot to play against poker professionals to see just how good he is, he said.
“How neat would that be (to play with professionals)?” Keith said. “I would love the chance to sit at the same table.”
And online poker was his doorway.
For more than four hours, Keith played online and kept gathering chips. Eventually he was one of 20 left standing. His total chip count was well above 250,000 and he placed eighth out of those 5,000.
After placing inside the 20 contestants, Keith was asked to create a two-minute movie to explain why he should be a contestant on the Million Dollar Challenge next year.
Keith now awaits his chance, as his video gathers the votes he needs to move on. Under the name “pokerpops13,” Keith has gathered 97 votes since the video was posted at the shows website at memelab.com/mdc on Dec. 6. The leading vote getter has nearly 4,000 votes.
Keith plays two to three tournaments online a day, he said. Over the past few years, Keith has collected as many as 20 million chips. None of the money is real though.
“It’s just a fun hobby that I can do with family,” he said.
His family and friends routinely hold small poker games because of the love of the game. With three kids and three grandkids, Keith always finds someone to play with.
“It’s a big family affair and it’s just fun,” he said.
