Liberty Quarter Million Online Poker Tournament Winner Crazymichael1 Talks to G911
This past weekend’s Americas Cardroom Liberty Quarter Million online poker tournament grand prize of $50,000 was won by a New Jersey player who just barely made the cut as one of the last two qualifiers in the final satellite.
“If I didn’t have $80 in my account I would not have entered the tournament,” said online poker player CrazyMichael1.
That’s right, CrazyMichael1 is your typical recreational player who began dabbling in online card rooms back in the summer of 2007 while participating in an internship fresh out of college.
“I’m someone who would deposit between $50 and $200, nothing more than that,” the Liberty Quarter Million winner told Gambling911.com. “I was doing this internship in Vero Beach (Florida) and just got bored one night.”
CrazyMichael1, like many online poker players, felt the affects of “Black Friday” last April. It was at that time the US Government cracked down on the multi-billion dollar Web poker industry, freezing accounts associated with Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars. The three firms had been processing transactions through a Utah bank that as under investigation.
PokerStars, where CrazyMichael1 had most of his money, refunded players fairly, including Crazy, immediately following the seizures. Full Tilt Poker has yet to pay anyone back. Signs of a Full Tilt Poker comeback may not be of much comfort to US players as their suitor has backed off plans to pay back Americans.
“I didn’t play online poker for a few months (after April 15). I just got a job at a New York City brokerage firm and during the fall I started shooting the s*** at Americas Cardroom.
“I am really grateful. I got very lucky. I always loved (playing) online poker. I’m a very competitive person.”
He’s also very humble and has no grandiose plans to spend his $50,000 winnings.
“I’m definitely going to pay off college loans. I have a few younger brothers so I am going to try to help out around the house, and I’m going to leave a few thousand aside to play in future tournaments at Americas Cardroom.”
CrazyMichael1, who had his doubts about the remaining online poker rooms that target the US market following last April’s crackdown, remains quite content with the ACR website.
“The software is significantly better than most others out there. It looks and feels great.”
But if Americas Cardroom could make one drastic improvement it would be to become MAC-compatible. CrazyMichael1, in his mid-20’s, definitely raises a great point.
“I had to play the Americas Cardroom (Liberty Quarter Million) tournament at my friend’s house. Nobody in my house owns a PC. Everyone has a MAC. Now with the money I’ve won in the tournament I can run out and buy a little Dell.
“But they need to be MAC-Compatible to get the college dorm crowd. If you want to crack into the college campuses you have to be MAC-compatible. The majority of computers in college dorms are not PCs.”
We here at Gambling911.com wouldn’t be surprised to see Americas Cardroom come out with a MAC-friendly software platform by summer’s end. We will keep everyone posted.
What ACR currently excels at: Increasing the number of tournaments and fast payouts.
CrazyMichael1 is a tournament player who is overjoyed to see Americas Cardroom offering more weekend tournaments and he confirmed his intention to enter the upcoming weekend’s $50,000 GTD on Sunday April 22nd at 7pm ET. The buy in: $200+15 and 10000 starting chips.
Oh, and we wouldn’t let the $50,000 online poker tournament winner go without asking his opinion regarding the US crackdown on Internet poker.
“Too much of the anti-poker movement is emotional. It should be legal. The (opposition) always offers this image of a 22-year-old losing all his student loans. Just teach him how to manage his or her money. Teach them how to be responsible citizens. If you have a proper perspective of the game, play hard, play long hours and have a good system, you will make a couple of bucks.”
CrazyMichael1 wanted to thank Americas Cardroom for their professionalism and plans to spread the word about their online poker room.
“As long as they keep putting more tournaments up and offer quick payouts, I will be a player forever. Julius (Maxwell), Gabby and everyone else I spoke to over there have been great and easy to get a hold of.”
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
