Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald Calls Million Dollar Bluff

February 4, 2008

Canadian born Mike McDonald has defiantly turned heads in his most recent win at the Poker Stars European Poker Tour. Not only has he only been playing for six short months, but he took down a massive win and a prestigious title at the EPT Dortmund tournament where he placed first for over $1.4 million dollars and has become the youngest person to ever win an EPT event.

In a recent interview with Canadian newspaper the Toronto Sun, McDonald also known as ‘Timex’ discussed his win and how the one million dollar bluff will not be changing things any time soon.

During the final hand and four long days of solid poker, McDonald was up against German veteran Andreas Gulunay. McDonald held AK and hit a beautiful flop K-T-7 and bet. His opponent re-raised him and instead of pushing Mc Donald let him continue to bet the turn which gave him a set of Kings and river.

“He was being too aggressive … I was more or less waiting for him to make a mistake,” McDonald said.

When Gulunay moved allin on a deuce on the river it was an insta-call for McDonald. With his opponent chucking his cards and saying “You win” McDonald became the EPT Dortmund champion.

Although he is not legal to play in the United States, he has taken his game overseas with the support of his family. His mother was quoted as saying “he has been playing in an overseas poker circuit that has taken him from London to Prague to Macau to Aruba and back again. He’s basically living out of a suitcase, but he’s chasing his dream,”
“He’s a minimalist. He’s not about the money,” Patti said. “He’s just focused on the game and the here and now.”

He started playing while in high school at the Waterloo Collegiate Institute where he then approached Steve Paul-Ambrose, the Waterloo student who two years ago beat about 700 players to win $1.3 million at a Bahamas poker tournament to coach him. He then went on to study mathematics at the University of Waterloo and decided to give poker a chance.

Although he has no intentions of making this his life long career, he has earned himself a seat in the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final along with a few endorsement offers from some of the top online poker rooms.

This isn’t exactly beginners luck for this kid either, with another win at the at the Aussie Millions -the Pokerpro NL Holdem for a prize of $34,000.

The next event is in Denmark at the Casino Copenhagen scheduled from February 19th – 23rd. Only 500 players will be able to register and the buyin is just over 6700 pounds. Poker Stars is offering players the chance to qualify for these events and you can find various qualifiers scheduled daily. If you’re a new player, don’t forget to use the new PokerStars marketing code PAWSUB49 to make sure you receive the top bonus for the room.

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