Mike Kosowski is a retired NYPD detective who got anything but a bad beat this month. The retiree has been through a lot. On September 11th, 2001, he was part of a team which tried to help survivors escape the Twin Towers between the time of impact and the time of collapse. When the South Tower collapsed, Kosowki was thrown into the air, suffering multiple injuries.
He retired less than three years later, and took up an interest in online poker. He played PokerStars.net’s freerolls, and placed high enough to be eligible for a place in their Million Dollar Challenge show. With some help from his son and daughter, he submitted a video interview to YouTube and was accepted to play.
He and his wife had to delay an anniversary party that they had been planning for him to play, but he, his wife, and his daughter, flew to Las Vegas for the taping. His son, 15, couldn’t miss school and was unable to join them.
When it came time to tape, none of the contestants in his game managed to beat the celebrity contestants they were up against, so an off-stage game was played and Koswski managed to beat the other three contestants. Then he went up against contestants from the previous three shows.
Download PokerStars.com and take a shot at becoming the next Million Dollar Challenge winner.
Luck was with him, and even though he mucked some good hands along the way, the former detective managed to beat the other three players and soon it was just him and Daniel Negreanu in the final. Kosowki managed to walk away from the table one million dollars richer!
