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Poughkeepsie family cheers on young man against world's best

When he was 18, Michael DeMichele began his professional poker career at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, Oneida County.

When he was legally able to play in the bigger poker rooms of Las Vegas, the former Poughkeepsie resident moved out west at 21.

DeMichele has always known he belongs in the world of poker. Early Monday morning, he showed why.

The 23-year-old, who attended Arlington High School in Freedom Plains, placed second in a field of 148 entrants at the HORSE World Championship event at the World Series of Poker, held at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

"I've been a high-stakes mixed games player for quite some time now, and I think everyone still perceives me as an Internet Hold'em player," he said. "Hopefully the world will see more of me in the future."

DeMichele, who also placed fourth at the World Championship Mixed event at the World Series, earned a paycheck on Monday morning of a little more than $1.2 million. Still, it was the gold bracelet, signifying a first-place finish at a World Series event, that he really wanted at the end of the five-day HORSE tournament.

"I wanted to win so bad, winning the whole thing meant so much to me," DeMichele said. "At one point I had more than half the chips in play, so my eyes were on the prize. So, I was very discouraged to see I wasn't going to end up winning."

During a HORSE tournament, players compete in five different rotating types of poker: Hold'em, in which players are dealt two cards and there are five community cards; Omaha High, where players are dealt four cards with three community cards; Razz, a game where the player receives seven cards and the worst combination of five cards wins; Seven-Card Stud, in which the player receives seven cards and the best five-card combination wins; Eight or Better, a combination of the last two games, the pot is split between the best five-card combination and the worst, while the worst hand cannot have any card higher than an eight.

While No-Limit Texas Hold-'em is the game most generally associated with poker, as it is the game played in the World Series' main event and numerous television shows such as NBC's "Poker After Dark" and Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown," HORSE is widely known in poker circles as the "Players Championship," due to the variety of skills required to win.

DeMichele's mother, Poughkeepsie resident Donna Place, said the prestigious competition is part of what attracted her son to the event.

"He liked the idea of the tournament,'' she said, "it had basically the best of the best players."

Written by Mike Benischek

poughkeepsiejournal.com