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.[1]
World Series of Poker success
Mackey's near-record setting win (third youngest to win a bracelet), in the 2007 $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event, came against a final table that included two players from the 2005 and 2006 Main Event, as well as two former bracelet winners. 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.[2]
On September 24, 2007, Mackey under the screen name mig.com won the PokerStarsWorld 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.[4]
As of 2020, James Mackey has live tournament winnings over $4,200,000.[5] His 47 cashes at the WSOP account for $2,087,385 of those winnings.[6]