22-year old Michael DeMichele started playing poker at age 18 in the $1-$2 NLHE cash games at the Turning Stone casino. From there he moved to online play, where he began multi-tabling limit hold'em and built a bankroll. From there he moved on to play at Foxwoods and Atlantic City, where he learned non-hold'em variants and found great success in the $200-$400 mixed games. In 2006, DeMichele came in third at the U.S. Poker Championships and banked $215,000 for his finish. Though he considers himself a live cash-game player, DeMichele cashed twice at last year's WSOP, in the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. and the $3,000 stud 8-or-better. This is his first WSOP final table.