Michael McDonald, from Waterloo Canada may be, at first glance, your typical eighteen-year old.

This teen wears braces, loves watching “The Simpsons”, teasing his kid sister and hanging out. In the United States and most Canadian provinces, he is not legally allowed to enter a live poker tournament.

But one thing sets McDonald aside from the rest of his contemporaries. He recently became one of the youngest players in history to grab a European Poker Tour title, winning a cool $1.4-million in the process.

At the EPT Dortmund event recently, Michael “Timex” McDonald beat players double his age, with years more experience and managed to stay ahead in the game for the majority of the exciting tournament. After four long days of poker action, McDonald faced the German professional Andreas Gulunay who upped his bluff again and again, while the teen watched coolly with a King and Ace in hand. McDonald said, “He was being too aggressive ... I was more or less waiting for him to make a mistake.”  Noticing his chance with two other Kings on the table, McDonald asked his opponent to see his cards. All Gulunay could say was: “You win”, before throwing in his cards and shaking McDonald’s hand.

McDonald became the youngest person on earth to win seven figures in an international poker tournament and he has fulfilled his dream of earning himself a seat at Europe’s biggest poker tournament, the EPT in Monte Carlo in April of this year.

McDonald’s professional poker career is not even six months old yet, but already he has earned quite a reputation for himself in the industry. He recently won $20,000 in a tournament in Prague and another $34,000 in the Pokerpro NL Hold ‘em event at the Aussie Millions.  The youngster learned to play poker online after a teacher commented that he could use his exceptional analytical skills as a chess player to make money playing poker. Since then his career has taken off, resulting in his most recent million-dollar windfall.

Regarding his plans for the future, McDonald seems to know what he wants. While he plans to play the circuit for a few more years, he predicts that he may eventually become bored with the repetitive style of the professional version. "I see these guys who are playing 60 hours a week when they're old, and none of them seem very happy," he said, “I don't want to make this my long-term career ... I might like to go back to school and get a real job.” In the meantime, he might spend part of his winnings on a hot-tub and a second-hand car!

Author:  Renee Kingsley