Wednesday was a much shorter day than the previous two at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Madrid Main Event. Whereas those who made it through Days 1A and 1B had to make it through eight levels, those who went on to finish Day 2 with chips got call it a relatively early night, needing to complete just five levels before bagging their chips. The field was trimmed by more than half, with 112 players remaining of the 264 who began the day. At the head of the class is a familiar face amongst chip leaders on the European Poker Tour, Mike “Timex” McDonald, proud owner of 409,800 chips. He is narrowly ahead of Frederik Jensen, the only other player over the 400,000 chip mark, 404,500 to be exact.
Mike McDonald has already had one heck of a live tournament career and he only just turned 22 and a half years old. The Ontario native had already earned over $100,000 in live tournaments when he officially grabbed the attention of the poker world in January 2008, becoming the youngest player ever to win a European Poker Tour Main Event. Having celebrated his 18th birthday just a few months earlier, he banked over $1.3 million by taking down the EPT German Open in Dortmund. He came close to repeating the feat the next year, placing 5th for a quarter million dollars and two months later placed 4th in the World Poker Tour Venice Main Event for $146,542. In January 2010, McDonald finished 3rd in the EPT Deauville Main Event ($417,610) and last year, he final tabled a World Series of Poker event. These are just some of the highlights. He has scads of five-digit cashes and has already won over $4 million in live tournaments. Remember, McDonald wasn’t old enough to play in Las Vegas until September 2010 and has only been old enough to play in any sort of casino whatsoever since the fall of 2007. He is already ranked 13th on the European Poker Tour’s all-time money list.
The money bubble will burst tomorrow, as the top 72 players will get paid. The plan, in fact, is to get deep into the money on Thursday; the schedule calls for play to stop with 24 players remaining. Though by the time play is suspended for the night more players who cash will have been eliminated than those who remain, the payouts still will not be all that great. Those who make it to Day 4 will only be guaranteed €13,000 (the buy-in is €5,000 + €300). It is not until there are five players remaining that the payouts will hit six-figures, with €545,000 going to the winner.
Play will pick up at noon local time on Thursday.
European Poker Tour Madrid Main Event – End of Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Mike McDonald – 409,800
2. Frederik Jensen – 404,500
3. Dmitry Vitkind – 368,000
4. Andries Swart – 339,100
5. McLean Karr – 330,700
6. Javier Etayo – 329,400
7. Erich Kollmann – 275,500
8. Siyu Sha – 274,500
9. Ilan Boujenah – 271,000
10. Ricardo Tavares – 264,300
