The Mulhern Miracle
Jacob Mulhern may be the less decorated player of our two heads-up opponents, but his story is no less inspiring. We caught up with the Doncaster-based player in the moments before he stepped to the table to take on Maria Lampropoulou heads-up.
"It's great. I won $5,500 in a $22 Middleweight on partypoker online, and then came to Dusk Till Dawn in August last year to play a ￡500 Deepstack. I got really unlucky on the final table, but part of the prizes included a Caribbean Poker Party package for each player on the final table."
Jacob (known to his friends as Jake) flew to Punta Cana for a fantastic week of sun, sea and se...nsational three-bets.
Fast-forward five months from Punta Cana and here we are, Mulhern at the final duel, heads-up for a million pounds. The deal was offered by his opponent, Maria Lampropoulou, but Mulhern turned it down, telling us and his friends "I want the million."
With Mulhern taking his seat, his childhood friend on the rail Ross Nicholson told us that Mulhern's life may have changed, even in the last 24 hours, but the man himself remains the same popular guy he always has been.
"We're all from near Doncaster and it's a very close community. No-one's jumped on any bandwagon here, we all know Jacob and have done since we were kids. I met him 12 years ago, and his brother is on the rail too."
Mulhern had previously worked delivering beer by the keg to pubs around the United Kingdom. As Nicholson told us, that has changed very recently indeed.
"We drove home last night at 3.00am, but this morning made our way back to Dusk Till Dawn. We drove past the place where Jacob works. It's tough work, he's a tall lad, and his back...well, it's very physical work. Jake pointed out of the window at the place, and shouted 'I'll never have to work here again!"
Maybe you're rooting for Jacob Mulhern to triumph or maybe you want Maria Lampropoulou to break her own record in becoming MILLIONS Main Event champion. Either way, you can't help but applaud the back-breaking journey the former has made to be here.
The Mulhern miracle? Everyone in his corner are believers.