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Spotsylvania's Michael Kessler with his children Michael (right) and Mikayla, holding a suited ace-king, a hand that treated him well in this year's World Series of Poker. Kessler bought into the 10,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em world championship tournament, placing 17th in a field of over 5600 players.
Spotsylvania resident Michael Kessler placed 17th in a field of over 5600 players in this year's $10,000-buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. |
By ADAM HIMMELSBACH
Growing up in Las Vegas in the 1960s, Michael Kessler had no trouble getting a seat at the spiciest card game in town.
Sure, he was just in grade school, too young to stroll through a smoky casino amid pickpockets and deep pockets. But Kessler found a great home game where the returns were wonderful. It just happened to be at his home.
His mother was a blackjack dealer at the Golden Nugget casino and his father a probation officer. Once a week, Kessler and his brother tussled with their parents in a comfy round of poker.
The odds were wonderful, because Kessler was gambling with house money--literally. That all changed, though, when he turned 13.
"That's when we started playing for real," the Spotsylvania resident said Friday. "If we lost, we lost our allowance."
Kessler loved playing cards, all kinds of cards. He played poker and pinochle and hearts and spades. He learned about game odds while other kids learned arithmetic.
Last week Kessler returned to Sin City.
He mixed all that practice with a tubful of luck, and emerged as the most famous card player this area has ever seen.
The 47-year-old financial manager placed 17th in the World Series of Poker's prestigious No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament and won $350,000. Australian Joseph Hachem ultimately pocketed the first prize of $7.5 million.
Kessler was one of 5,619 players who submitted the $10,000 entry fee to compete in the grueling nine-day event, which will be broadcast on ESPN starting in October.
"When I paid that $10,000, I was pretty much sure it was gone when I did it," said Kessler, who had never played in a tournament before. "The enjoyment for me was going to be being in the same room as a bunch of players I admire. The fact that I ended up cashing out was just gravy."
Kessler arrived in Las Vegas on July 6, the night before the event was to start at the Rio casino. Many of his old high school friends still live in the area and work at the resorts, so Kessler called a buddy and wiggled a complimentary room at the Rio.
That night, he thought about his approach and persona. As poker took over television in the past year, Kessler had seen the way some players act. Some of them were loudmouths. Others wore silly sunglasses. So many tried to be intimidators and so many had gimmicks.
Kessler decided on his own trademark. He would be the nice guy, the happy nice guy who wears the flowery button-up shirts.
He brought sunglasses, but he kept them on his head. He drank hot tea instead of alcohol. He was more smile than smirk.
Each time Kessler was placed at a table with eight other players, he walked around the baize and personally introduced himself to each competitor. He got some this-guy's-kinda-weird looks, but he didn't care.
"I had the biggest grin on my face the whole time," he said. "The ESPN people kept telling me I was the happiest player there."
Friends kept asking Kessler if he was nervous. Come on. Kessler used to be a demolition diver in the Navy. Once, when he was helping blow up an old trestle bridge, one of the charges exploded prematurely, sending Kessler swirling around the water and taking 90 percent of his hearing in one ear. This wasn't a guy who'd be nervous about a card game.
But No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em has a way of making the toughest players want to gnaw on their fingernails.
In fact, even though Kessler's run lasted eight magical days, it nearly came to a boulder-in-the-road halt just a few hours into his first evening of play.
Kessler's $10,000 stack had been whittled down to a measly $975. He looked at his two hole cards, and saw he had a pair of 10s. All of his chips were put in the pot.
A pair of players called the bet, and a third player raised and a fourth player called the raise. The initial two callers folded, leaving Kessler and two players. The three community cards--or "flop"--were 3, 7 and 9.
After the fourth card came out, the initial raiser went all-in, and the third player folded, leaving Kessler with just one opponent.
Kessler's opponent showed an ace-king. Kessler's pair of 10s was still the top hand. The final community card did not help either player, and Kessler quadrupled his chip stack.
Afterward, one of the players who had folded showed that he'd had a pair of queens. Had he stayed in, Kessler would have been eliminated.
"I walked over to the guy that got the pair of queens to fold," Kessler said, "and I kissed him on the head. Then, two hours later, I eliminated him."
Kessler made a strong push on the second day, finishing with $179,000 in chips. Monday should have been called Mon(ey)day, as play continued until there were 560 players left, each of whom was guaranteed to win at least $12,500. Kessler survived.
On Tuesday, he was seated at ESPN's featured table along with 2004 champion Greg Raymer. There were bright lights and boom microphones and plenty of people watching. Kessler didn't flinch, as he finished play with $986,000 in chips--good enough for 21st place.
He called his family in Spotsylvania and told them to snag the next flight to Las Vegas. Kessler's children Stewart, 24, Mike, 13, and Mikayla, 11, arrived in Nevada early Wednesday night.
"I told Stewart that this is one of the few times that if I'm not at the airport to come get you, it's a good thing," the father said.
Kessler wasn't at the airport. He was busy building his chip stack. Late in the night, he had about $1.2 million and was ready to make his move. He picked up ace-king, and went all-in.
Poker pro Tim Phan called with a pair of queens. The flop was no help to Kessler, but the fourth card was an ace, and Kessler held on to win the hand and double his stack. Play ended in the wee hours of the morning, and Kessler had $2.7 million in chips and was one of the tournament's final 27 players.
He returned to his hotel room at 3 a.m. to find his two youngest children wide awake, waiting to hear how their daddy did.
Just after midnight on the eighth day of play, Kessler's final chip finally turned into a pumpkin. He had ace-king again and went all-in with about $1.4 million in chips. Scott Lazar called the bet, and flipped over a pair of queens. This time, Kessler got no help from the next five cards, and was eliminated in 17th place. He won $350,000.
"They were the two best cards I'd seen in two hours," Kessler said of his ace-king. "I had to give it a try."
After he was defeated, Kessler went to the bar at Binion's Horeshoe casino--where the final two rounds were played--and had a celebratory scotch with some friends. Then he returned to the hotel and hugged his children.
"My dad's better than a whole bunch of those guys," Mike Jr. said last week. "He's been playing since he was itsy-bitsy, and we knew he could do it."
Kessler called a buddy who works at Caesar's Palace casino, and the friend set him up with a complimentary two-story suite that was featured in the movie "Rain Man." Kessler and his family stayed in Las Vegas for two days, and Kessler didn't gamble another penny. He took his children to arcades and stores and restaurants. They took over the town.
Last Sunday Kessler returned to Spotsylvania with his children. He says the $350,000 won't change his life much--about 40 percent was taken for taxes. He bought his wife, Kim, a new Rolex. He bought his oldest son a new truck. The rest will go into college funds and the like.
Kessler says he might try his luck in the World Series of Poker again next year. But for now, he's content to be the head of a comfy home game, and he has no problem providing the chips.
"Pretty soon we're going to switch over to real money," he said with a smile, "and see how my kids like that."
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