The game of poker is all about numbers and chances. Michael
Keith knew the odds were against him. He had less than a 0.005
percent chance of moving forward in the Pokerstars.net Million
Dollar Challenge.
The game of poker is all about numbers and chances. Michael Keith knew the odds were against him. He had less than a 0.005 percent chance of moving forward in the 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 show guidelines. If the winner beats Negreanu he or she gets 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 among the top 20 contestants, Keith was asked to create a two-minute video 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 more than 125 votes since the video was posted at the show’s website at http://memelabs.com/mdc/ on Dec. 6. The leading vote getter had more than 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.
“It’s a big family affair, and it’s just fun,” he said.
