18 Year Old Wins Huge Poker Tournament

Eighteen year old, Michael McDonald participated in a high stakes poker tournament. The event took place at a German Casino and provided over $1 million for a first place finish. McDonald is a recent Waterloo Collegiate Institute Graduate and at only 18 has been unable to participate in tournaments in the United States and most of the Canadian provinces. McDonald has played in several tournaments including some in London, Prague, Macau and Aruba.

In the Prague event McDonald won $20,000 but that number is small in comparison to the $1.4 million he won in the German Tournament. McDonald began playing poker in high school and was mentored by Steve Paul-Ambrose. Steve won $1.3 million in a Bahamas poker tournament two years ago.

In the German event, McDonald had been playing for four days when the final hand began. McDonald was up against Andreas Gulunay, a German Veteran. McDonald held an A-K with two Kings on the board. Gulunay continued to bluff raising the pot to the $1.4 million mark. McDonald said: "He was being too aggressive ... I was more or less waiting for him to make a mistake," He then called Gulunay, and showed his cards. McDonald had won the huge pot and instantly made a name for him.

McDonald has earned sponsorship offers from poker websites due to his win. McDonald says he doesn't plan on playing poker his whole life. He is going to invest most of his winnings and most likely install a hot tub in his townhouse he shares with his friends.