Canadians have been a force in poker ever since the game exploded in North America in 2003. Players like Daniel Negreanu, Nenad Medic, and 2010 bracelet winner Gavin Smith have carried the banner for Canada, which is fresh off hosting the Winter Olympics. Calling Brampton, Ontario home is Mike Wywrot, who plays under the screen name “wywrotx” on PokerStars, “wywrot” on Full Tilt, and “xwywrotx” on UB.com. He reached the final 78 of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, exiting in 36th place for $255,000.
Wywrot recorded two in the money finishes at the 2010 WSOP, even donning a Poker Players Alliance (PPA) patch despite being from Canada. He finished 321st in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $1,900. Then, it was on to the big money, as Wywrot walked away with $14,000 from a $3,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em tournament.
His hallmark score in the online poker world is a final table appearance in the $215 buy-in PokerStars Sunday Million for $95,000 after a four-way chop in March 2009. Heading into play at the Rio in Las Vegas, however, Wywrot would need to muster all of his poker know-how in order to navigate the competition at the ESPN feature table. He posted on the popular poker forum PocketFives.com prior to taking to the felts, “I’m at the main feature table with Phil Galfond with a million chips. GL everyone that’s left!”
Wywrot became interested in poker at the age of 15 after watching World Poker Tour (WPT) broadcasts featuring Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten. He began playing in small home games in school, paying for lunches through the skill game. He’s proficient in heads-up poker online, so it should come as no surprise that he’s final tabled some of the richest tournaments offered, including the PokerStars Wednesday Quarter Million, PokerStars $100 rebuy, and PartyPoker $75,000 Guaranteed.
Wywrot is a dual Triple Crown winner on PocketFives.com, which involves taking down three $10,000 prize pool tournaments across three online poker sites in the same seven-day period. He attended University of Toronto in Mississauga and studied finance.
