Michael ‘Timex’ McDonald Takes the EPT Dortmund Crown
Friday, 8 February 2008
He began the final table as chip leader, he ended the day with all
the chips and €933,600 in prize money. With just a couple of blips
along the way, McDonald showed composure beyond his years to secure
his first EPT title and a seat into the EPT Gran
He began the final table as chip leader, he ended the day with all
the chips and €933,600 in prize money. With just a couple of blips
along the way, McDonald showed composure beyond his years to secure
his first EPT title and a seat into the EPT Grand Final in Monte
Carlo later this year.
Chip counts and seat allocations at the start looked like
this:
1 - Mike McDonald 862,000
2 - Diego Perez 744,000
3 - Thibaut Durand 148,000
4 - Johannes Strassmann 827,000
5 - Christian Harder 339,000
6 - Andreas Gülünay 560,000
7 - Torsten Haase 369,000
8 - Claudio Rinaldi 276,000
Christian Harder was first out after looking for a good moment
to put his short stack in the middle. Looking down at AKo is
normally good enough in these situations, but it can’t have felt
too good when he was called by McDonald’s pocket aces. No help for
Harder, although he did cash in a cheque for €85,500 for his eighth
place finish. He was also the first ever player to make it to
back-to-back EPT final tables, having come 7th in the PCA.
Next to fall was Durand after he pushed all in with As-4d to be
called by Torsten Haase’s pocket eights. The eight on the turn
sealed Durand’s fate, and sent him out in seventh. McDonald then
regained the chip lead, knocking out Johannes Strassman in
sixth.
After the dinner break the speed of the eliminations picked up,
with Rinaldi being the next to the rail. It was another classic
race scenario, with Rinaldi’s two overcards (Ad-9d) losing out to
Gulunay’s 7s-7c. McDonald then eliminated his second player at the
final table, when Deigo Perez’s lost a race with JTo against
McDonald’s pocket ducks (2-2).
McDonald got his hattrick when knocking Haase out in third
place. Haase raised preflop, with both McDonald and Gulunay
calling. The flop came Qh-5h-3s, which McDonald moved all in on.
Haase called with middle pair, top kicker (Ac-5c) and was behind to
McDonald’s Kc-Qs. With a harmless three on the turn and four on the
river, Haase ended up leaving in third place for €307,000.
Going into the heads-up battle, the young Canadian held a 3-to-1
chip advantage, and it only took twenty minutes for McDonald to
seal the deal. In the last hand of the EPT Dortmund, McDonald
raised from the button and Gulunay called. The flop came Kh-Jd-7c,
which Gulunay check-raised McDonald on. A smooth call from McDonald
saw another king on the turn. Gülünay bet again, and again McDonald
called. When the river brought the harmless looking 2h, Gülünay
moved all in and McDonald called, tabling Ac-Ks for trip kings.
Gülünay’s Tc-7d was no good, and Michael 'Timex' McDonald took down
the EPT Dortmund for €933,600 and his first EPT title.