CPTV Video Spotlight -- Mike "Timex" McDonald On Super Short Stack Play

Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald is only 24 years old, but already the young Canadian has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the premiere tournament poker players in the world. Six years ago an eighteen-year-old McDonald with braces on his teeth won the 2008 European Poker Tour Dortmund main event for nearly $1.4 million. Since then he has gone on to cash for more than $9.9 million in live tournaments.

McDonald is not only well respected as a player, he is also highly regarded as a tournament poker coach, selling his services to 2011 WSOP main event champion Piuz Heinz and 2012 third-place finisher Jacob Balsiger. “Timex” is known as a player with a great understanding of how one should adapt their play based on payout structures in tournaments and ICM considerations.

2014 has been his best year ever on the felt, with five final table finishes and more than $4.3 million in earnings. He finished runner-up in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event and made three final tables in super high roller events at the PCA and the Aussie Millions. As a result he now sits in third place in the overall Card Player Player of the Year standings. He demonstrated his responsiveness to ways that payout structures affect poker strategy at the 2014 PCA $100,000 super high roller, where he played a short stack in an interesting manner.

Card Player TV caught up with him a few days after that event to learn more about the dynamics at that final table and how they dictated a non-standard approach to play, which was to basically eschew the mantra of “playing for the win” and instead just focusing on squeaking into the money.

Check out the video below:

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