The United Kingdom has seen 3 WSOP bracelets heading its way in 2015, and although the probabilities have become incredibly slim, the region is hoping one man by the name of George McDonald can bring home the 2015 WSOP Championship.
George McDonald
Photo by Joe Giron
courtesy WSOP.com
George McDonald of Glasgow, Scotland is the last man standing to represent the UK in the WSOP Main Event this year. He’s already defied the odds by surviving nearly 6,400 competitors to make his way to Day 7 as one of just 27 contenders remaining. Unfortunately, he won’t have any easy time of it, possessing the second smallest chip stack of the final three tables.
OnlinePokerRealMoney.co.uk tries to dispel some legal confusions stemming from passage of George Bush's UIGEA of 2006 . Federal status seems to depend on interpretation of the wire act and other laws which were crafted many years ago and which remained high level in nature. The United Kingdom has much clearer laws including their own real money gambling commission .
With just 2,875,000 chips to his name, only American poker pro David Peters (2,100,000) is in worse shape. Leading the pack is America’s Thomas Kearney with 14,400,000, but the undeniable favorite to win the 2015 WSOP Main Event Championship has to be Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu, who sits comfortably enough in 9th place with 8,495,000.
UK’s George McDonald has Limited Live Experience
George McDonald isn’t the most experience poker player in the world by far, but he does have some successful runs in his brief live tournament background. The Glasgow native has cashed in 7 events dating as far back as 2006, collecting a respectable total of $47,138 USD (or about £30,165 GBP).
Of notable interest, two of those cashes, including his very first, came from World Series of Poker events. In 2006, George McDonald finished in 42nd place in a $1,000 No Limit Holdem event, capturing his first recorded cash of $4,004 USD (£2,562 GBP). Then in 2011, McDonald landed himself a 73rd place finish in a $5,000 No Limit Holdem 6-Max tournament worth $9,289 USD (£5,944 GBP).
The largest cash of George’s spasmodic career came at the 2013 Aussie Millions in Melbourne, where he final tabled the $1,100 NL Holdem/PL Omaha mixed event, finishing 6th for $13,390 AUD ($14,136 USD; £9,046 GBP).
At this point, no matter where he finishes in the 2015 WSOP Main Event, George McDonald is guaranteed to greatly exceed his current personal record. The least he could possibly win for a 19th-27th place finish is $262,574 USD (£168,031 GBP), more than 18x larger than his current highest cash.
George McDonald Narrowly Makes Final 27 of WSOP Main Event
Just minutes before the clock struck midnight on Day 6 of the 2015 WSOP Main Event, George McDonald put his tournament life on the line. Short stacked with just 1,755,000 remaining, and all of the action folded to him, the Scot shipped it all into the middle. Neil Blumenfield hesitated before folding to Max Steinberg, who instantly shoved his 5,915,000 over the top.
The cards were tabled.
George McDonald: A♥ Q♥
Max Steinberg: 7♦ 7♣
The K♣ 3♦ 2♦ flop didn’t bode well for McDonald, but he hit runner-runner Aces (A♦ A♣) on the turn and river to stay live, doubling up to 3,750,000 on the hand.
39 minutes and 2 eliminations later, George would find himself on the short end of the stick, but gleefully alive and kicking for Day 7’s action, which will resume at the Rio in Las Vegas any moment now.