The Incredible Story of Michael Lynn

"Can you cover our winner of the Activision WSOP Xbox 360 contest?" the PR representative of Activision asked me on my cell phone. She had been hounding me for three days, and begrudgingly I introduced myself to Michael and Liz Lynn.

Michael won a Main Event seat by winning a seven-handed tournament at the Gaming Expo, including Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. He was always competitive, playing AAU basketball until he was stricken with cancer. You can read the complete story I did on Michael Lynn .

The profile done by ESPN, as well as his play with Annie Duke and Mark Vos at the ESPN Feature Table as they all made the money, is an easily remembered part of the early coverage of the Main Event. He finished 272nd for $38,759.

This year, Liz and Michael returned searching for magic once again. He had spoken to a few companies about potential endorsements here at the Main Event, but they all wanted him to prove himself once again. He laid in the floor at the first break, his legs craming as his mom sat beside him.

He quietly built his chip stack then made a move up to
75k after the dinner break. In a matter of minutes, a new chapter in his incredible story was written.

Michael was in the 10s, and the 4s had him covered. The 4s re-raised him, and he called. The flop came 10♣-6♠-9♣, and Michael checked. The raiser bet, and Michael raised. The raiser then moved all-in, and Michael went into the tank a bit.

David "The Dragon" Pham had been moved into the 7s, and he watched intently. Michael called and turned over two red sixes. His opponent had the deadliest hand at the Main Event, pocket jacks.

"One time, hold up!" Michael screamed. This wasn't the excitement of a neophyte. No, this was someone who had been close before and wanted a second chance. 2♥-K♠ came, and Michael had the chip lead at 150k.

Two hands later, the 4s moved all-in after a raise and Michael's early position call. "I have your hand sir," Michael said. He counted out the additional 7.4k and called with Jc-Js. The 4s had 7c-7s, and he was in bad shape. 3♣-A♣-Q♣ came on the flop, but 7♦ surged the 4s into the lead. K♣ gave the four-flush to Michael. He quickly jumped out of the seat to shake the hand of a shell-shocked player, his 85k now sitting in towers and piles in front of Michael.

His mother sat excitedly above the action, watching from the Milwaukee's Best Light Lounge to see the action. And it was déjà vu all over again as Liz went through all of the emotions and excitement of last year. As dealers yelled "All-in and a call," and the floor rushed around the tables to witness the results, Michael finished stacking his chips. We'll hear more from Michael this week, you can count on that.