Introduction
James Mackey (born February 1986 in Kansas City, Missouri) attended the University of Missouri before dropping out of a pre-med program to pursue a career in professional poker. At 21 years and 4 months, James Mackey became the third youngest poker player at the time to ever win a World Series of Poker bracelet when he won the 2007 $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event.
The final table in this event included two players from the 2005 and 2006 Main Event as well as 2 former bracelet winners. Mackey, however, dispatched his competition in the shortest final table since May 2003 in 2 hours, 35 minutes. The final hand of the tournament was the famous 10-2---the same hand that Doyle Brunson won back to back World Series of Poker Main Events with.
James Mackey started playing poker online in 2005 when he invested $75 in an online account. He turned that initial investment into $20,000 and decided to pursue a career professionally.
In the 2008 World Series of Poker, Mackey finished runner-up to Anthony Rivera in the $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event, earning $297,792.
World Championship of Online Poker
On September 24, 2007, Mackey under the screen name mig.com won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $1050 buy-in event winning $580,212.50 and the WCOOP bracelet. This was the third biggest prize in the site's history.
As of 2009, James Mackey has live tournament winnings over $1,700,000. His 5 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,060,800 of those winnings.
World Series of Poker bracelets
| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | $ 5,000 No Limit Hold'em | $ 730,740 |