Right smack-dab in the middle of the
World Series of Poker - June 2007, to be completely accurate - an extraordinary thing took place in a suite at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. Many famous world-class players took time out of their busy day - some on break from their various tournaments, some even missing a few hands - to pay tribute to a young man from Wisconsin named Mitchell Maxey.
Who is this young poker whiz? He is the guy who whipped a room full of pros, whose very presence at the poker table would normally intimidate full-grown adults, much less a teenager from Onalaska, Wisconsin. Onalaska, Wisconsin? You never heard of it? Well, neither had I, until that night. I had heard of Wisconsin, however; that is the state that produced one of our latest inductees in the Poker Hall of Fame, Mr. Phil Hellmuth Jr. Congratulations, Phil, you earned it.
Mitch is terminally ill, and he wanted to meet and play against as many world-class poker pros as could be rounded up on short notice, and he got his wish. A private table was set up in a suite at the Rio, and Mitch had his own private poker tournament. This was all made possible by Mitch's dad, Dale, who made numerous phone calls and sent e-mails and faxes - and got the help of PokerStars. It started with Natalie Pinkham, and then Rich Korbin from PokerStars. Rich really got the ball rolling and then passed it on to Joan Hadley and Terrence Chan. PokerStars paid for the room and all of the food and drinks, and gave away tons of shirts and jackets and hosted a very nice dinner at the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio.
The lineup of players who took turns sitting at the table with Mitch was a veritable who's who of the poker world. Some of the players who made an appearance while I was there were: Phil Laak, Layne Flack, Gavin Smith, Patrik Antonius, and Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, who presented Mitch with one of his special fossils. Other players in attendance were Isabelle Mercier, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Bill Chen, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, John Juanda, Mike Sexton, Humberto Brenes (who gave Mitch one of his sharks), and yours truly, who presented Mitch with an autographed book on no-limit hold'em strategy. Mitch did not seem to need that book, as he plowed through the field, playing tight at first but opening up when the blinds got larger. He survived a few all ins early on, and eventually got heads up with me. I played my best, even when I got short-stacked, so that I would have the honor of playing heads up against Mitch. I also wanted to outlast the other pros in the room as a matter of principle for bragging rights, if nothing else. Mitch and I battled back and forth for a while, but he eventually prevailed, although I won a few all-in battles first to stay alive. Some of the pros who participated were actively involved in
WSOP tournaments, and Phil Laak, in particular, wanted to win this special event, and missed some hands of the $5,000 no-limit hold'em event that was going on downstairs in the Rio. Phil eventually finished 11th for a nice payday.
Another top pro who got to meet Mitch was Phil Ivey. Phil was in the middle of a tournament hand when Mitch's dad brought him downstairs. The tournament was briefly interrupted so that Mitch could meet Phil, and, sure enough, Phil won a big pot. Phil then asked Dale if he could take Mitch with him to the craps table - because he was lucky.
Mitch met many other top players, and if I omitted some of them, it is only because I wasn't there when he met them. Just when you hear that poker players are selfish and have no time for others, this type of thing happens. Poker players have a heart, and Mitch is a shining example of how unimportant a bad beat is at the poker table. Mitch took a bad beat in life and is not complaining; on the contrary, he is making the most of it. If life sometimes deals you a lemon - make lemonade. Mitch has done that. Afterward, Mitch said this was the best night of his life since his first cancer operation more than three years ago.
On a final note, I would like to offer special congratulations to Barbara Enright. She was the first female inductee in the Poker Hall of Fame. She gave a very moving speech, and told it like it is. She earned this honor, and considers it a lifetime achievement award. This is the highest individual honor a poker player can receive - induction into the Poker Hall of Fame. For the record, Barbara is a two-time ladies world champion. She also won a pot-limit hold'em event at the
World Series and is the only woman to make the final table of the main event. She eventually finished fifth in 1995 when Dan Harrington went on to win the event. Well done, Barbara, you deserve this honor.
Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He can be found playing under his own name on PokerStars, and is happy to chat when he can.
