The much anticipated PokerStars Final has finally taken place and the winner certainly deserved every cent of his winnings, although it was a tough choice on who to back. There was the poker playing priest who had already said he would be donating all his winnings to the church in order to get a new roof built. Then we have the badly injured 9/11 veteran policeman who due to injuries sustained whilst rescuing people trapped in the towers, has been unable to work.

Playing on behalf of his parish was Father Andrew Trapp, who needed to win to finance the 1 million Dollar quote for the new roof on the church.  With Father Trapp already having won almost 100,000 US Dollars in the first round, the final had the potential to cover the new roof costs.  During round one, he relied quite a bit on a spot of divine help to assist him with winning the much coverted first prized.

It would seem however that the church were not going to be lucky on this night as the big chap upstairs was smiling down on retired New York Police detective Mike Kosowsk.

It would be hard to imagine how the prize could be more deserved than for Father Trapp, but we think that it certainly comes close with Mike Kosowsk.  Back in September 2001, Detective Kosowsk was on scene when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center.  He rushed into the falling buildings to help those trapped inside escape and unfortunately suffered serious injury himself.  His injuries were quite significant and included 3 herniated discs in his neck and 2 in his back due entirely to the collapsing South tower.

With no thought for himself or the pain he was in, he escaped to the nearby World Financial Center, where he also managed to assist others to their safety.  He says it was undoubtedly the worst day of his life.  For his heroic efforts he was awarded the Medal of Valor due to the fact that he managed to save members of the public and the forces.

Unfortunately, due to the extent of his injuries, he had to take early retirement a few years later.  As Mike was now housebound due to the dreadful pain in his back, he took to learning Poker to distract himself.  After seeing the tournament advertised, he decided it would be worth trying for a place and it proved to be a great decision.  The final turned out to be a real hum dinger with him scooping the jackpot prize of 1 million US Dollars.  Mike is planning to use the money to not only ensure his family are well taken care of, but plans to ensure children of parents who were killed during 9/11 get a chance to attend college and he also intends giving money to the homeless project called CityHarvest.

With such a fantastic winning steak, perhaps they could try their hands at Online Poker, with a game of Full Tilt Poker or maybe Betfair Poker thrown in to the mix.

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