Dominik Panka raised to 115,000 in early position with , and the action folded to Mike McDonald in the big blind, who had . He examined Panka’s stack before calling, and the two took a flop of . McDonald checked, Panka continued for 140,000, and McDonald called.
The turn was the , McDonald checked again, and Panka bet 255,000. McDonald called.
The completed the board, McDonald checked a third time, and Panka emptied the chamber, firing a third bullet worth 575,000. McDonald employed his signature stare on Panka, but ultimately the Canadian folded the best hand.
Most people have never watched their kid win a million bucks. Surprisingly, Mike McDonald's parents haven't either, despite their son's $6 million in winnings. Today, the Timex family may finally get to see it happen.
TD Mike Ward speaks to Roger Teska about his penalty
Getting this show up and running requires players to listen up and obey the rules. PokerStars Blog lingered in the background before play got under way today. It's an eye-opener if you think these final table players have it all easy.
Some use statistics while others rely on the power of positive thinking. Mike McDonald’s statistics leave him on the verge of becoming the first double winner, or at the very least an “-est”, as the PokerStars Blog reports.
Canadian student Pascal LeFrancois first shot to fame in 2010 when he won the WSOP $1,500 NL Event $568,974. However it wasn’t his victory that made him famous – it was the fact that he ripped off his shirt and posed bare-skinned in the traditional winner’s photo shot. It was the first time any player in the history of the WSOP had gone bare-chested for the champion’s portrait. He said at the time that he’d done as a joke for friends: “They were all cheering for me to take off my shirt. I was excited, so I did it.” Only a month after that victory, LeFrancois then went really deep in the WSOP Main Event, finishing 11th for $ 635,011 – his biggest cash to date. His other major result was runner-up to fellow Canadian Jonathan Roy in the 2012 WPT Montreal Main Event for $470,130. His lifetime tournament winnings already total nearly $1.8 million. LeFrancois is here at the PCA for the fourth time and has been an EPT regular for the last four years as well. He is one of a large group of French-Canadian players who have started playing on the EPT circuit.
Panka, who hails from the tiny town of Brześć Kujawski in Poland, is enjoying the deepest run he’s ever experienced in a live event. Before this year’s PCA Main Event, Panka only had $8,092 in live tournament cashes to his name, the majority of that from a 42nd place finish in the EPT 10 Barcelona Estrellas €2k High Roller. Guaranteed $173,220 for eighth making the PCA final, Panka is now set to earn at least 21 times his lifetime tournament cashes. Panka is the ninth player hailing from Poland to make an EPT final table but no Pole has ever laid claim to a title. Entering the final table fourth in chips, Panka has a solid chance to make history and become the first Polish EPT champion. He won his seat to the 2014 PCA in a $700 Mega Qualifier on PokerStars.
Shyam Srinivasan isn’t a well-recognized face on the live circuit, but his online handles “g’s zee” (PokerStars) and “s_dot111” (Full Tilt Poker) certainly are by those in the know. Srinivasan has clocked up more than $7m in online tournament winnings and is looking to convert that success into a PCA title tomorrow.
"I think I'm gonna win," Srinivasan told the PokerStars Blog. "That's it. I'm not here to do anything else. I know I'm gonna win. I told myself I'm gonna win… and anything else would be a disappointment to me because you don't know when this opportunity will come up again." Srinivasan won his seat in the PCA $700 Qualifier on PokerStars.
Originally from Menlo Park, Calfornia, Baron now calls Chicago, Illinois home. It’s not the only major change for the 26-year-old online poker legend. Baron has lost a lot of weight in recent months and is hardly recognizable. This is Baron’s first major final table in nearly two years.
“It’s been a while since I made a big final table. I’ve kind of been flying under the radar. I haven’t been playing too many tournaments,” he said.”
In the meantime, the man with millions in online wins and $2.6 million in live cashes has been playing live cash games and taking some college classes. He’s looking forward to getting back to the big time.
“I had decided to give tournaments a break for a little while, but I decided in the New Year I was going to give them another go. It’s going good so far.”
Fabian Ortiz, a 44-year-old businessman from Argentina, has owned several discos during his career, but recently he’s been doing most of his dancing on the poker circuit. Ortiz was the first Latin American player to win a LAPT title when he made a sensational comeback from just one small blind to take down LAPT2 Viña del Mar in Chile in January 2009. But his biggest live result was last summer when he finished 17th in the WSOP Main Event for a cash of $357,655. His lifetime tournament winnings of $565,570 put him at third on the Argentina All time money list, behind Team PokerStars Pros Nacho Barbero and Leo Fernandez.
Canadian phenom Mike McDonald is currently in second place, and looking a very strong contender in the bid to become the first-ever two-time European Poker Tour Main Event champion. The 24-year-old from Ontario, whose lifetime tournament winnings already total nearly $6 million, first shot to fame in 2008 when he became the youngest ever EPT winner, taking down the EPT Dortmund Main Event for €933,600, aged just 18. He came close to retaining his title the following year, with a fifth place finish. As well as making the final of this PCA's $100k Super High Roller, his phenomenal results also include third at EPT Deauville, bubbling the EPT Madrid final and making the final in both the EPT Barcelona Super High Rollers - in 2012 and last August. Like 426 other players, McDonald won his PCA 2014 seat on PokerStars – but he isn’t just any old qualifier - he was actually the very FIRST player win a package, securing his trip in a $700 qualifier back in August last year.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, and the action folded to Mike McDonald in the big blind, who had 
. He examined Panka’s stack before calling, and the two took a flop of 
. McDonald checked, Panka continued for 140,000, and McDonald called.
, McDonald checked again, and Panka bet 255,000. McDonald called.
completed the board, McDonald checked a third time, and Panka emptied the chamber, firing a third bullet worth 575,000. McDonald employed his signature stare on Panka, but ultimately the Canadian folded the best hand.
