James Mackey

Who is James Mackey?

James Mackey 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.