Mike McDonald

Mike McDonald is a Canadian poker player who was born on September 11, 1989. He burst onto the poker scene when in February 2008, at the age of 18, he won the European Poker Tour (EPT) German Open for $1,370,161, to become the youngest person to win an EPT event.

Six years later, he finished runner-up to Dominik Panka in the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event, good for $1 million but coming up just one spot shy of becoming the first-ever two-time EPT champ.

As of October 2022, McDonald had $13.3 million in lifetime tournament earnings, which at the time put him seventh on Canada’s all-time money list according to the Hendon Mob.

Background

McDonald started playing poker when he was a teenager and soon became known at the online poker tables by his nickname “Timex”. McDonald was still underage when he picked up the lifestyle of an online grinder, and as soon as he became of age, “Timex” took his game to the live felt.

Seven-Figure Scores

McDonald also made a name for himself at the Aussie Millions thanks to a trio of seven-figure scores in back-to-back years. In February 2014, he finished second in the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge for $1,343,436, and two days later placed third in the $250,000 Challenge for a career-high $1,701,808. The following year, he took second in the $250,000 Challenge for $1,235,228. As it happened, Phil Ivey won both of those $250K tournaments.

All told, McDonald has five career seven-figure scores. He also won the 2011 Epic Poker League $20,000 Main Event for $782,410, and in 2015 took down the EPT Malta €25,000 High Roller for $561,622.

World Series of Poker

While McDonald has had success at Aussie Millions, EPT, and even the World Poker Tour (WPT) – he finished third in the 2013 WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts for $434,560, his skills haven’t translated over to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as he’s amassed just $281,123 in earnings. Granted, McDonald doesn’t play a ton of WSOP tournaments, but nonetheless, he’s still considered “one of the best without a bracelet.”

McDonald's first WSOP money finish was in 2011 as it was the year when he could start legally playing poker in the United States. He marked his debut by cashing in two events. In one of the two, McDonald went all the way to the final table and collected over $70,000 for the sixth-place finish in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Six Handed tournament. He came back to Vegas in the summer of 2012 and scored five more money finishes. His best result was once again the sixth place finish at the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Ante Only event in which he cashed almost $40,000. A few months later he went to the WSOP Europe in Cannes, France, and placed 11th in the €1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha / Six Handed event for just over €5,000.

Mike McDonald's Top 5 WSOP Results

Basketball Prop Bet

McDonald, who launched the now-defunct PokerShares platform, made headlines in 2020 when he won a highly-publicized prop bet for $250,000. He had to shoot 90 percent from the free throw line over a 100-shot sample to win the bet, and despite not being a basketball player and with an unorthodox stance, he won the bet within five months. Some of the poker pros he beat included Nick Schulman, Will Jaffe, Jake Abdalla, and Christian Harder.

Did You Know?

• Not only was McDonald the youngest player to win an EPT event, but he also became the youngest person to score a win in the infamous Epic Poker League. He won the $20,000 No-Limit Hold'em 8 Handed League Main Event just before his 22nd birthday.
• He earned the nickname “Bank of Timex” due to his propensity to book bets, set lines, etc.
• In 2008, he won two awards at the European Poker Awards – People’s Choice Award and Best Overseas Player.
• In 2017, McDonald topped a 53-entry field to win the $10,300 partypoker MILLION North America High Roller for CA$200,000.
• McDonald was a part of the Montreal Nationals team in the defunct Global Poker League (GPL).
• McDonald beat out Steve O’Dwyer by a slim margin – less than one point – to become the EPT Season 12 Player of the Year.
• McDonald coached 2012 October Niner Jacob Balsiger.
• McDonald was once a guest instructor in a three-week course MIT course by former online poker pro Will Ma that discussed the mathematical strategies needed to be a no-limit hold’em specialist.