Famous poker player Mike McDonald has turned out to be a fan of altcoins – which seems apparent from his recent tweets about BAT and COMP (BTC was also mentioned, but less often). However, in a recent tweet, McDonald commented on a recent interview with the Canadian-American venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, who also used to be a. Member of the young guard, Mike McDonald was born on September 11, 1989 in Canada. It did not take a long for his poker career to explode as he managed to win EPT German Open for $1,370,000 at the age of 18. The Rise, Retirement & Rebirth of Waterloo Poker Prodigy Mike McDonald At just 24 years old Mike “Timex” McDonald has played out an entire arc as a professional poker player. The Waterloo-native was a champion on the European Poker Tour before he was old enough to play penny slots in Las Vegas. The latest tweets from @MikeMcDonald89.

Canadian poker pro Mike McDonald, known as “Timex” online, announced on his blog at CardRunners this week that he is retiring from the game of poker. McDonald, 20, earned more than $2.6 million in live tournament earnings during his brief career, but plans to take his life in another direction after having secured himself financially at such a young age.

“Before talking about where I plan to go from here, I guess I should point out that I do enjoy playing poker and I doubt I’ll ever straight up quit playing poker. I just think at this point, I sort of feel no ambition towards poker,” said McDonald.

“In poker, although I’ve met tons of people I really like and had tons of cool experiences, I just kind of feel like there is nowhere to go from here. I can’t really think of anyone who is more engrossed in the poker world than me who I aspire to be like and poker seems to be a lot more isolating than I initially realized.”

McDonald, who still isn’t old enough to play in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), has only a handful of live cashes on the tournament circuit since turning 18 in 2007, but four of them were enormous paydays. In February 2008, he became the youngest person to win a European Poker Tour (EPT) event when he took down the €7,700 German Open for €933,000. He returned a year later to place fifth in the same event for €197,000.

His brilliant success at the EPT continued this year with a third place finish at the €5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event in Deauville, where he earned €295,000. McDonald also won a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for another $146,804.

McDonald is a Full Tilt Poker Red Pro as a member of Team CardRunners, but intends to leave that career behind as he pursues other ventures in life. That path is likely to begin by re-enrolling at the University of Waterloo, where he spent three semesters before pursuing poker full-time. “I think returning to school and trying out a wide variety of courses, learning new things, meeting new people, and just beginning to live a life that is more in touch with everyone else seems aligned with my interests,” he said. “I currently am trying to get in touch with the University of Waterloo about possibly taking some classes this summer and depending on how that goes, may return to Waterloo or another university in the fall.”

McDonald admits that a comeback to poker is certainly possible and even concedes that he’s “probably a heavy favorite to return” to the game at some point. For now, the 20 year-old is excited about the new life challenges in front of him.

Mike Mcdonald Poker Shares

“My life goal was to more or less get to the point where I never had to do anything for the rest of my life as early as possible. I’m at that point; I have almost no obligations, and if I really wanted to, I could sit around for the rest of my life watching the world go by and I’m just realizing that’s not what I want.”

Over the years, a lot of poker pros have been involved in exciting prop bets, putting a huge chunk of their bankrolls on the line.

Mike Mcdonald Poker Player

The latest poker player to take on the challenge is Mike McDonald, who agreed to a basketball prop bet back in April, with a six-figure sum at stake.

Under the terms of the prop bet, McDonald should sink 90 out of 100 free throws before the end of the year. While doing so, he must use a regulation basketball and hoop and must not commit any lane violation. The goal is quite challenging to seasoned basketball pros and a huge task for someone who does not play basketball regularly.

When McDonald announced the crazy prop bet in April, he admitted he hadn’t played basketball since 2012, which makes everyone wonder whether he could really succeed in the challenge.

NBA star Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, who’s been playing basketball for a decade, currently holds the record for the highest free-throw percentage in NBA history at 90.56%. McDonald’s prop bet demands that he comes close to Curry’s record by hitting 90% (90 out of 100 shots). Can he do it?

Closer To Victory

Mike Mcdonald Poker Girlfriend

While things initially looked bleak for the 30-year-old considering his lack of experience in basketball, contrary to his outstanding record in poker, his latest free throw stats indicate he might actually win the bet!

Over three months since the prop bet started, McDonald’s shooting percentage has significantly improved, as shown in a recent livestream on Twitch where he was able to hit 85 out of 100 shots. After that, he made another attempt and he almost hit his goal! He sunk 84 out of his firsts 92 shots, and then eventually scored 89/100, bringing him closer to victory.

Here's a video of the end of my 89/100 choke pic.twitter.com/KJ4SPcoGcB

— Mike McDonald (@MikeMcDonald89) August 21, 2020

McDonald still has several months left to reach that 90% percentage and if he continues to improve, he has high chances of winning the challenge and ultimately walk away with the $200,000 prize. While everyone initially doubted his free-throw shooting abilities, things have changed now and we can now bet that he’ll win the challenge

McDonald is one of the most successful poker players in the world, with more than $13,000,000 in live tournament earnings. At 18-years-old, McDonald won the European Poker Tour German Open for $1,370,161, making him the youngest winner in the tour’s history. He is currently ranked No. 6 in his home country of Canada.