Canadian wins EPT event at just 18 years
5th February, 2008
A teenager from Ontario has become the youngest player ever to win a European Poker Tour (EPT) event after winning $1.4 million (£710,000) in a German poker event.
At just 18 years of age Mike McDonald already had a $20,000 cash prize from a poker tournament in Prague to his name - an accolade which has now been dwarfed following his incredible victory in Dortmund.
The rising star called German player Andreas Gulunay's bluff to come up trumps in the EPT event and in addition to his cash prize has now earned a seat at Europe's biggest poker event in Monte Carlo this April.
Commenting on his victory, McDonald said: "I start all tournaments thinking I could win or else I wouldn't play. This event was great, when I had big hands the others seemed to just give me their chips."
The 18-year-old reportedly started playing online poker when his chess teacher told him he had the mathematical skills to make a living out of the sport.
And his mentor wasn't wrong. Within his first year of online gaming the poker prodigy had won over $10,000 and he went on to win hundreds of thousands more in the following months.
