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Residence:
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Raleigh, North Carolina
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Birthdate: |
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October 23, 1980
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Career Highlights: |
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1 WSOP Bracelet
1st Place 2005 WSOP Event No-Limit Hold'em ($594,460)
1st Place 2005 WPT PartyPoker.com Million IV Cruise Event ($1,525,500)
His total live tournament winnings as of 2008 over $3,000,000
2005 “Breakthrough Player of the Year” awarded by CardPlayer
“Number One Player to Watch in 2006” awarded by Poker News
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Affiliated Poker Room(s): |
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Full Tilt Poker
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Personal Website: |
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http://www.maciekgracz.com/
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Products: |
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Full Tilt Poker Clothing
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Michael Gracz
Maciek Gracz, born in Warsaw, is known as Michael Gracz in the poker world. Pronounced as ‘grahtz’, this Polish poker player learned his skills from his father and as a student played regularly at the North Carolina State University.
His family migrated to the US when he was only four years old. He was working as a local store in the neighborhood where he was introduced to poker. Though he had been taught poker by his father, he really got into the game when he was playing against his friends. He was very interested in the game that he taught himself the trick and reads that you have to know to be able to achieve success in the game. He read books, he practiced and he played every chance he gets. He kept on winning and earned more money through playing than doing his part time job.
Gracz kept on playing until he was on college not giving up on his dream of becoming a professional poker player someday. But the reality of having to finish his college degree to be able to get a real job kept him from living his dream. Because no matter how passionate he is about the game and no matter how good he got, he could not believe that he can make it as a professional poker player.
A friend of Gracz who is confident on his game took a chance on him and made him play in the Trump Poker Classic in Atlantic City. He bested 155 entrants and won the tournament title and won $295,275 in cash. He was living the dream, but he had to wake up, he had college finals to go back to.
A few months after his big win, he graduated from college and started his sales job. Not a day since did he stop thinking about poker and his desire lives his dream. So after just three months of employment, he ditches his job and took his poker career in third gear. Gracz has a remarkable start on his poker career. On his first year as a fulltime poker player, he earned well over $2 million and appeared at four final tables at the tournaments. Not all professional players have the kind of start as notable as Gracz’. Poker has always been a passion for him rather than just a game. His ability to maintain his focus is a strength envied by other players.
He may seem quiet and a loner in the table, not really starting a conversation with the other players. But in reality, he is quite the opposite, he is outgoing, fond of joking around, witty and often cracks a joke – he never meets a stranger in a crowd. But during the game, his quiet stature and incredible focus on the game makes him a formidable opponent that is hard to read.
In 2005, Gracz made poker history by taking home World Poker Tour title for winning PartyPoker.com and winning himself $1,500,000 – not so bad after a week's work. In just a few months after that impressive win, he won himself a World Series Poker bracelet thus earning the “Breakthrough Player of the Year” in the CardPlayer and being named as the “Number One Player to Watch” by the Poker News.
He is famous for his “9 at a time” logic. This means that you do not have to think about any other people but the nine opponents you are playing against at your table. Because tournaments have thousands of entrants, but you can only play with nine each time and each game is as important as the next.
He often travels around the world to play poker tournaments. A far cry from his poker games in the local game store. But each game is as important, no matter how big or small the pot is, the game he started to play with his buddies made him start believing that he can live out his dream. Good thing that when his reality and his dream collided, he didn’t give up and kill his dream.
Common Misspellings: Michael Gracs, Michael Graz, Michael Gras
Learn more about Michael Gracz at Full Tilt Poker.
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