GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan dad was presented with an absolute jackpot of a gift for his 60th birthday— his six adult children and their spouses paid for him to compete in the 2023 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Rob Johnson and his wife Lynne have always had a special place in their hearts for poker.
“We've known each other since we were in kindergarten," Lynne told FOX 17 Friday. "I can remember him playing poker with my dad and my uncle in the basement growing up when he was about 15, 16 years old.”
The longtime couple has six grown children, many of them now married themselves.
For as long as Lynne can remember, Rob has talked about one particular experience on his bucket list: "He's always said it was a bucket list, and I gotta admit, it never dawned on me that would have been a great present to give him some day," she recalled, laughing.
About four years ago, one of Rob's sons came up with the perfect idea for his 60th birthday.
"My brother contacted all of us like, 'Hey, Mom and Dad's 60th is coming up in a couple of years, and dad's bucket list had been to play the World Series of Poker,'" Kelsey Eisen, Rob's daughter, said. "He goes, 'What do you think if we all started chipping in money and saving up and we could...buy it?' And I was like, 'all of us agree. That would be fantastic.'"
It all came to fruition last July during a Johnson family game of poker.
"The next part of the surprise was that we were going to short him a chip and, which we knew he would count his chips and say that you shorted us, which it, it fell into plan. He did exactly that," Kelsey recalled.
Not only did Rob learn he was going to Las Vegas for the 2023 World Series of Poker, his kids had already paid for his buy in so he could compete.
"We can laugh about it but we truly did cry, both of us. More so for the fact of who these kids have become, you know, they're just joyous, giving children," Lynne said. "It was just extremely special and, to be honest, a little bit humbling for us."
They say the trip was purely magical for Mom, Dad, all six kids and their loved ones. They say it was one beautiful memory after the next, with Rob making it up to Level 5 on day one.
"Most of us were there, like, three to four days, and we're all there on Monday when he got to go do the World Series Poker, so it was really fun to watch," Kelsey said.
"From the start to the end, we had no travel difficulties. There's so many funny things that we do together anyway. It was the Johnson epic adventure!" Lynne added.
