Action folded to Mike McDonald on the button and he raised to 60,000. Mike Watson called from the big blind and the flop came down 
. Watson checked and McDonald bet 66,000. Watson folded and McDonald took his second pot in a row.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,876,000
103,000
|
103,000 |
|
||
|
536,000
-68,000
|
-68,000 |
|
||
On the first hand of the final table, action folded to Ilari Sahamies in the hijack seat and he raised to 65,000. Mike "Timex" McDonald was in the small blind and knew he had a lot more chips than both Erik Seidel in the big blind and Sahamies, so he moved all in having them well covered. Both Seidel and Sahamies folded, giving McDonald the first pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,773,000
123,000
|
123,000 |
|
|
||
|
616,000
-69,000
|
-69,000 |
The players have finished with the group photo and the introductions have been made. Today's competitors are in their seats and the cards are in the air. Let the battle for �50,000 Super High Roller supremacy begin!
Level: 16
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 4,000
![[user116926]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
In just two weeks, the 2012 World Championship of Online Poker will begin, running September 2-23, with an overall guaranteed prize pool of $30,000,000. There will be 65 events running across 22 days of action, so this is not one that you want to miss.
If you're not quite used to playing such a huge online series of events, then here is a collection of advice from those who know best.
JC Alvarado got his feet wet in poker after he graduated from high school. Through home games with friends �� that actually began outside of the home at a local IHOP �� Alvarado accumulated a small bankroll and built confidence in his game. From there, he took to the virtual felt.
As many who make the dive into online poker, Alvarado quickly lost his first deposit and was forced to reload. Soon, he learned the game and progressed through the ranks, but then disaster struck and Alvarado found himself broke. Nevertheless, Alvarado's drive and determination led him to get back into the game. With the support from his Mom, soon enough, his hard work paid off and Alvarado's bankroll was flush.
After building his bankroll and confidence back up online, Alvarado took to the live felt in 2006. He cashed in a few events that year, including one at the World Series of Poker where he took sixth place for just under $30,000. Then in 2007, he has his best year with nearly $650,000 in live tournament earnings. The big score that year was a runner-up finish in the World Poker Tour World Poker Challenge in Reno, Nevada where Alvarado scored $366,798.
In total, Alvarado has nearly $900,000 in live tournament earnings. That also means that this cash here will have Alvarado joining the seven-figure club as he's already locked up �122,960.
Overall, Alvarado has been quiet on the live felt since 2009, having only a few tournament results, but he's making a big splash here. Alvarado has a very solid chip stack coming into the final table, entering third with 3.116 million in chips.
Yesterday, PokerNews hostess Kristy Arnett chatted with Alvarado and you can check out that interview below.
Mike McDonald enters the final table second in chips at 4.65 million, trailing only his good friend Dan Smith. Yesterday on Day 2, McDonald built and built, knocking a few players out throughout the day's play including John Juanda and Anatoly Gurtovoy.
Hailing from Waterloo, Ontario, McDonald may be better known to all of you as "Timex." In 2008, he became the youngest player ever to win a European Poker Tour title by taking down the EPT Dortmund for $1,370,161 at the age of 18. McDonald nearly went back to back after having placed fifth in the same event the following year. In 2010, McDonald took third in the EPT Deauville Main Event for over $400,000.
He also has cashed in various events such as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Aussie Millions, Canadian Open Poker Championship, World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker.
In 2011, McDonald made his first WSOP final table in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha - Six Handed event. He went on to finish in sixth place for $73,965. He continued to have a strong year and went on to win the Epic Poker League's second event for over $780,000. This year at the recent WSOP, McDonald cashed five times and made one final table.
In total, McDonald boasts a career live tournament record of over $4.2 million. He currently sits ninth on Canada's All-Time Money List. By making this final table, McDonald has already guaranteed himself to jump ahead of Scott Montgomery into eighth place on that list and could climb as high fourth if he were to win the event. McDonald is also 19th for total number of cashes from his country with 37.
Erik Seidel needs no introduction, but we��ll give him one anyway. The 8-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer has been putting up results from around the world since 1988, including a career year in 2011 when he won $3,090,693. That made him the all-time money winner until Antonio Esfandiari took over those honors this summer with a win the$1-million buy-in Big One for One Drop.
Among the former Wall Street man��s 2011 accomplishments are a fourth-place finish in the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller Event for $295,960; third in the A$100,000 Aussie Millions High Roller for $618,139; first in the A$250,000 Aussie Millions Super High Roller for A$2,500,000; first in the L.A. Poker Classic $25,000 High Roller for $144,570; first in the NBC National Heads-Up Championship for $750,000; and first in the $100,000 World Poker Classic Super High Roller for $1,092,780. Needless to say, Seidel is no stranger to Super High Roller events.
In April of this year, Seidel finished 46th in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo? Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event for $33,006, his only EPT cash to date. Obviously he will be adding another here today after entering the final table fourth in chips, which is well-below chip average as the three players above him have separated themselves from the pack.
Nonetheless, Seidel managed to make the final table with an under-the-radar approach with practiced patience and balanced aggression. Combine that with his experience in these sort of events, and he has to be the odds-on favorite among the short stacks.
Mike Watson is one of a couple Canadian players to make this �50,000 Super High Roller final table, coming in seventh in chips with 604,000. With over $3.4 million in live tournament earnings, Watson's shorter stack shouldn't deceive his opponents.
Watson most notably won the World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup IV in July 2008 for $1,673,770. He followed that up with a third-place finish worth ��241,000 at the EPT London ��20,000 High Roller.
Outside of his prominent WPT victory that really put him on the map, Watson has a few other notable wins. He won the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em side event at the Bellagio Cup V in 2009 for $140,625, the A$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2010 Aussie Millions for A$129,920, the �5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max Turbo side event at the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe for �104,400 and the �5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Six Max side event earlier this year at last season's EPT Berlin for �70,300.
Needless to say, Watson has quite the record in live events and has only improved upon that here in this one. Known to many as "SirWatts," Watson will be looking to turn it on for an electric come back here at the final table.
The chip leader heading into today's EPT Barcelona �50,000 Super High Roller final table is none other than young superstar Dan Smith, who continues to smash up the poker world here in 2012.
Back in January, Smith was down under at the Aussie Millions where he won the $100,000 Challenge for A$1,012,000 and the largest win of his career. Prior to that result, Smith had just $628,939 in live tournament earnings. Coming into this event, he's built that up to over $2.8 million �� a feat that was clearly ignited by his outstanding result in Melbourne, Australia.
As if winning seven figures in one tournament wasn't enough to show the poker world you're a star, Smith decided to take to the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo? Casino EPT Grand Final and win all three of the �5,000 side events within a week's time.
First, he won the �5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max Turbo for �152,980. Then, he won the �5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for �250,500. Finally, Smith won the �5,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max for �118,000. It's amazing anyone else decided to play the third one with the hopes of beating Smith.
What's more is that Smith's stellar 2012 hasn't slowed down at all. Following his crushing performance in Monaco in May, Smith cashed five times at the World Series of Poker this summer, including a big score in �� you guessed it �� another $5,000 event. He took third in Event 50: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $368,943. We're now going to pick up our jaw from the floor.
Yesterday on Day 2, Smith stormed to the chip lead in a big way and hasn't given up the reigns since, although his close friend Mike McDonald is right on his heels. Entering the final table, Smith's stack sits at 5.108 million and he doesn't look to be slowing down. Fittingly, he was the player to burst the bubble in this event by sending Artem Litvinov home in ninth place.
Combining Smith's result here with his previous ones of 2012, he's virtually a lock to win all player of the year races and awards out there. If he doesn't, someone needs to check the scoring criteria.
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