Maciek Gracz's mother is a professor of biochemistry at North Carolina State University, and she insisted her son receive a formal education. He says of the time he spent earning his degree at North Carolina State, "I studied finance with my concentration on business. I like the math part of business."

Maciek, known as Mike, has a good friend, Chris Bell, who believes in his talent and helped pay his buy-ins when he was starting out. Among the tournaments in which Mike has played are the $500 No-Limit Hold'em event in the Bellagio weekly tournaments in 2004, the Trump Classic of 2004, the World Poker Open of 2005, the L.A. Poker Classic of 2005, and the 2005 PartyPoker.com Million IV, where he won an impressive $1,500,000.

Not surprisingly, Mike is eternally grateful to his friend Chris. He says, "My friend put me in at Atlantic City and other tournaments I have played. We went 50%. So, now when I shine, I want him to shine, too. Winning is great, but in all honesty, I'd like to make a final table with my friend Chris Bell. It's a great feeling to cheer one another on. I am so happy with my life because the people in my life are what make it so great. I have a wonderful family; I'm close to my sister; I have great friends; and I live with the woman I love, my best friend, Katie. I don't need a new car or any other material things. Life is great, and I just want to live in a place where people are real."

Mike is known as an aggressive player, and yet more experienced players on the PartyPoker.com boat have said that he is humble, polite and respectful.