Epic Poker League Event #2

Day 4 completed

Posted 09-10-2011 08:30 GMT-7 by donpeters

Mike McDonald Wins Second Epic Poker League Main Event ($782,410)!

Posted 09-10-2011 03:27 GMT-7 by CrysQ • Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

The second Epic Poker League Main Event has ended with Mike McDonald coming out on top of the 97-player field to win the $782,410 first-place prize and coveted Champion's Ring.

When play began at the eight-handed final table there was no shortage of talented players. Along with McDonald were Erik Seidel, Dutch Boyd, Fabrice Soulier, David Steicke, Sean Getzwiller, Isaac Baron, and Nam Le. McDonald had quite a task in defeating the other seven players but he proved he was up to the challenge.

The first four eliminations of the day happened relatively quickly. Dutch Boyd was the first player to go when his pocket jacks ran into Erik Seidel's pocket aces. The next player eliminated was Sean Getzwiller. Getzwiller's performance was particularly impressive because he has now participated in both EPL events having won his seats via the Pro/Am Qualifiers. As a result of his final table appearance today, Getzwiller now has a temporary EPL card that will allow him to buy in directly to the next EPL event.

The next two players to be eliminated were Isaac Baron and Nam Le. Le's elimination came on the 46th hand of the day and that's when things slowed down quite a bit. Although a number of large hands took place, we didn't lose another player until over five hours later. That player happened to be Erik Seidel.

Seidel had a very up and down day, at times being the chip leader and at others ending up as the short stack. Seidel finished 2nd in the inaugural EPL Main Event and has clearly made himself a force to be reckoned with this 4th place finish.

Soulier was very aggressive during the lengthy three-handed play, shoving all in preflop at least a dozen times without being called. Mike McDonald eventually looked him up with Soulier's trailing to McDonald's . The board brought no help to Soulier and he headed to the rail.

Heads up play only lasted 23 hands. While their stacks were similar in size for the first part of heads up play, the turning point came when they got all the chips in the middle in a classic coinflip situation. McDonald was the one at risk holding the against Steicke's . The board gave McDonald quite a sweat as it ran out . After the hand Steicke was left with only 230,000.

Steicke was hot on the comeback trail though and doubled up two times, once when his out-drew McDonalds and then again when his held against the of McDonald. Those two doubles put Steicke back over the one million mark.

Steicke's comeback run ended when he went all in preflop with and ran into McDonald's . The board ran out and Steicke was eliminated in second place making McDonald our winner!

Final Table Results

That wraps up PokerNews' coverage of the second EPL Main Event. It was a very exciting four days of poker. Congratulations all of the winners, particularly Mike McDonald for becoming the second EPL Champion at the young age of 21 and winning the Champion's Ring along with $782,410.

David Steicke Eliminated in 2nd Place ($506,260)

Posted 09-10-2011 03:19 GMT-7 by CoryDowd • Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

David Steicke moved all in on the button for 1,125,000 and after some thought, Mike McDonald decided to try and end this thing one more time.

Steicke:
McDonald:

The flop was which left Steicke still looking for a king or a deuce. The meant McDonald was just one card away from the championship. The made everything official and David Steicke's impressive run was ended.

Shortly after the two competitors shook hands, a few of his supporters in the crowd cried, "Mike McDonald is our champ, E-I-E-I-O!"

Tags: David Steicke, Mike McDonald.

Steicke Officially Back

Posted 09-10-2011 03:09 GMT-7 by CoryDowd

Mike McDonald put David Steicke to the test again by moving all in first to act. Steicke made the call to put his tournament life at risk again.

McDonald:
Steicke:

The board ran out and Steicke earned himself another chance to win this despite losing the massive flip just a short time ago.

Chip Counts
	Mike McDonald		3,840,000	-560,000
	David Steicke		1,000,000	560,000

Tags: Mike McDonald, David Steicke.

David Steicke's Turn To Double

Posted 09-10-2011 03:04 GMT-7 by CoryDowd

Mike McDonald forced David Steicke all in and he made the call. McDonald held and was ahead of the of Steicke. The flop was to give Steicke some hope of doubling up and getting back into this match. The turn not only left McDonald drawing to just an inside-straight draw, but gave Steicke a flush draw. It would take a non-diamond ten in order to end things but the was not what McDonald needed.

Chip Counts
	Mike McDonald		4,400,000	-140,000
	David Steicke		440,000	140,000

Tags: David Steicke, Mike McDonald.

McDonald Wins Flip To Double

Posted 09-10-2011 03:00 GMT-7 by CoryDowd

Mike McDonald raised to 90,000 on the button and David Steicke reraised to 300,000. McDonald thought for awhile and decided to move all in. Steicke thought for a considerably less amount of time, nearly snap-calling to put McDonald at risk.

McDonald:
Steicke:

The flop was and Steicke was still looking to pair one of his hole cards. The turn not only gave him counterfeit outs, but an inside-straight draw as well. The river was the , a complete blank for Steicke and he is now left crippled with just a few hundred thousand chips left.

Chip Counts
	Mike McDonald		4,540,000	2,230,000
	David Steicke		300,000	-2,240,000

Tags: David Steicke, Mike McDonald.

More For McDonald

Posted 09-10-2011 02:53 GMT-7 by CrysQ • Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

Mike McDonald raised to 90,000 on the button and David Steicke called. The flop came and Steicke check-called a bet of 100,000 from McDonald. After the came on the turn, Steicke checked again and McDonald fired out a bet of 180,000. Steicke took little time in folding his hand and McDonald won the pot.

Tags: David Steicke, Mike McDonald.

McDonald Can't Induce a Bet

Posted 09-10-2011 02:44 GMT-7 by CrysQ • Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

David Steicke raised to 90,000 from the button and Mike McDonald called. The flop came and McDonald check-called a bet of 150,000 from Steicke, but that was where the betting ended. Both players checked after the fell on the turn and the came on the river.

It would seem that McDonald was hoping Steicke would bet on either of the final two streets as McDonald held the for a full house. Steicke mucked his hand as McDonald scooped the pot.

Tags: Mike McDonald, David Steicke.

Notables In The Room

Posted 09-10-2011 02:35 GMT-7 by CoryDowd • Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

The players are on a very short break and will begin heads up play any moment.

In the room to watch the duel are some of EPL's own. Nicolas Levi was here supporting his friend Fabrice Soulier. JJ Liu has been here much of the night cheering for David Steicke. Tim West is just off the set watching the action and talking with some friends.

Fabrice Soulier Eliminated in 3rd Place ($299,160)

Posted 09-10-2011 02:29 GMT-7 by CoryDowd

David Steicke folded his button and Fabrice Soulier moved all in, again, from the small blind. Mike McDonald called quickly and after about three hours since our last all in, it was Soulier who would be the first at risk of finishing in 3rd place.

Soulier:
McDonald:

The board ran out and the ace-queen high of McDonald held.

According to the Global Poker Rankings (GDI), invented and updated by the Epic Poker League, Fabrice Soulier is the 7th ranked poker player in the world. While impressive enough on its own, he exceeded even those expectatations in this tournament, finishing 3rd.

Here are the chip counts heading into heads up play.

Chip Counts
	David Steicke		2,845,000	-140,000
	Mike McDonald		2,005,000	975,000
	Fabrice Soulier		Busted

Tags: David Steicke, Fabrice Soulier, Mike McDonald.