Mike McDonald Takes Down Second Epic Poker League Main Event

Mike McDonald took down the second Epic Poker League Main Event, winning $782,410 and an EPL championship ring. McDonald overcame a talented final table to become just the second EPL champion in the league’s history, following Chino Rheem’s victory in the inaugural event.

McDonald had to get past some of poker’s biggest names at the final table on the way to claiming his prize. Dutch Boyd went out in 8^th place, falling to Erik Seidel’s pocket aces. He was quickly followed by Sean Getzwiller, who only qualified for the event by making the final table of the Pro/Am Qualifier held before the tournament. His final table performance earned him a tour card that will allow him to participate in the next EPL event, in December.

Isaac Baron and Nam Le soon followed, leaving four players to compete for the title: McDonald, Seidel, David Steicke – who came into the final table with the chip lead – and Fabrice Soulier. Seidel went out in 4^th place, which was his second impressive finish in the first two EPL events; Seidel was the second-place finisher in the first EPL tournament.

After Soulier went out in third place, McDonald and Steicke were left with approximately equal stacks. This led to a rather short heads-up confrontation, where McDonald doubled through his opponent when his 66 held up against an unimproved AQ. A few hands later, McDonald’s A4 was enough to beat Steicke’s K2; neither hand improved, and McDonald took home first prize.

The final table finishers and their winnings were as follows:

1^st - Mike McDonald - $782,410

2^nd - David Steicke - $506,260

3^rd - Fabrice Soulier - $299,160

4^th - Erik Seidel - $184,100

5^th - Nam Le - $126,570

6^th - Isaac Baron - $92,050

7^th - Sean Getzwiller - $69,040

8^th - Dutch Boyd - $57,530

A total of 97 players participated in the second EPL tournament, down significantly from the attendance of the first event. Much of the downturn was attributed to tournaments occurring at the same time both online – the PokerStars WCOOP – and in Europe – the Grand Prix de Paris WPT event. The next EPL tournament will take place in early December, and will feature a nine-handed format.