PokerStars EPT Dortmund, Final Table: 'Timex' Rolls to Title

February 02 2008, John Hartness

Michael 'Timex' McDonald started the final day of the PokerStars European Poker Tour German Open as the chip leader, and after a few hiccups along the route, finished the same way, claiming his first EPT title and the €933,600 first prize. The young Canadian played strong technical poker throughout and also earned a seat into the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final with the win. The chip stacks looked like this as play began:

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 started the day as one of the smaller stacks, and was the first to head to the rail. He got all his money in the middle with , and found himself against the worst hand possible, Michael McDonald's . No help arrived for Harder, and he busted in eighth place (€85,500). Harder became the first player in EPT history to reach back-to-back final tables, as he finished seventh at the recent PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Short stack Thibaut Durand was next to fall when he pushed all in from early position with . Torsten Haase called with , and he picked up a set on the turn to bust Durand in seventh (€120,000). After a quiet early period, Michael McDonald reclaimed the chip lead when he eliminated Johannes Strassmann in sixth (€152,000). McDonald raised preflop, then moved all in over the top of Strassmann's re-raise. Strassmann called with , and McDonald was ahead with his . The flop left Strassmann drawing dead, and McDonald picked up a full house on the turn.

The pace of elimination picked up after dinner, with Claudio Rinaldi the first to fall. After Andreas Gülünay raised preflop, Rinaldi pushed all in with . Gülünay called with , and the board ran out . Rinaldi picked up €193,000 for his fifth-place finish. McDonald took out the next victim when he called Diego Perez' all-in re-raise preflop with . Perez tabled , and McDonald's deuces held up on the board of . Perez was eliminated in fourth place (€234,200).

McDonald continued his streak of eliminations by knocking out Torsten Haase in third place (€307,000). Haase raised preflop, and McDonald and Gülünay both called to see a flop of . McDonald moved all in on the flop, Gülünay folded and Haase called with . McDonald tabled for top pair, and the board ran out and to send Haase to the rail.

McDonald took a 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play against Gülünay, and it took less than 20 minutes of heads-up play for him to claim the EPT title. In the final hand, McDonald raised preflop and Gülünay called. The flop came down , and Gülünay check-raised McDonald. McDonald flat-called Gülünay's check-raise, and the turn brought the . Gülünay fired again, and again McDonald called. Gülünay moved all in when the river brought the , and McDonald called, revealing for trips, top kicker. Gülünay held , and was eliminated in second place (€528,500). The hand meant that Michael 'Timex' McDonald, fresh off a three-cash performance in the Aussie Millions, took down the EPT German Open for €933,600 and his first EPT title.

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