Police sergeant Mike Kosowski was a first responder on 9/11. While helping to evacuate people from the World Trade Center, he was thrown ten feet by an explosion and injured his neck and back. Returning to Ground Zero day after day, he developed asthma, and after retiring in 2004, Mike spent the next few years going to doctors. Then in 2007 he decided to pick up a new hobby: poker. One night he dreamed that he beat poker champion Daniel Negreanu, which his wife kind of resented. He later heard about a TV competition that would give one person a chance to play Negreanu one-on-one — for a $1 million prize. Mike signed up, and just days after his wife was laid off from her job, he beat out 16,000 challengers to make the finals. This story would be a huge letdown if Mike didn’t end up beating Negreanu, and needless to say, that’s exactly what happened. There will be no Airing of Grievances at the Kosowski household this year — if they celebrate Festivus, which they almost certainly don’t.
9/11 Hero Wins Million-Dollar Poker Challenge [FBN via Mediaite]
