World Poker Tour

Mike Baker

Hometown
Glendale, Arizona

Birthday
December 15

Total Winnings

Michael Baker was born and raised in Arizona, even staying in-state to attend Arizona State University where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Engineering. After going out of state to the University of Houston for an MBA, he returned to Arizona and secured a job that became a career as an Information Technology Professional. Though his job is important, as is family life with his wife and two daughters, he always enjoyed some down time at the local casinos near his home – Harrah’s AK-Chin and Casino Arizona – where he began playing in the 1990’s when the casinos were built.

Though he played several tournaments, including a 2006 World Series of Poker event, and cashed, Michael had dreamed of competing on the World Poker Tour for years. After having traveled to Bay 101 in San Jose, California for business on a previous occasion, he decided to return in March of 2008. He took some time off from work and bought into the World Poker Tour Shooting Stars event at Bay 101, with his brother putting up half of the buy-in.

As Michael played through his first WPT event, he was able to participate in the special bounty part of the tournament by eliminating Isabelle Mercier and collecting the $5000 bonus for doing so. But that was only part of the fun of the event for Michael, as he went on to make it to the final table. With his brother, wife, and daughters in the audience, he ended up finishing in fifth place for a $200,000 cash prize. With such a stellar finish, it won’t be surprising to see him at another WPT event in the future.