E048: Mike "Timex" McDonald Tells the Full Story Behind His $200,000 Free-Throw Challenge!

The Rake

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Timestamps:

0:00:09
Welcome Mike McDonald!

0:00:35
Do to recent events, some people might know him more for his mad basketball skills. To familiarize that portion of the audience, how did he get is start in poker?

0:05:32
In those early days, was he running entirely off his own bankroll?

0:08:19
A discussion about how, until concepts like swapping became the norm, a lot of people had 100% of themselves in tournaments, which seems ridiculous in hindsight. Plus, more on Mike’s early years in poker.

0:10:38
A discussion about the US falling behind the rest of the world in online poker due to the consequences of Black Friday.

0:12:37
Mike sort of left poker for a while at the height of crushing the game. What’s the story behind that decision?

0:17:22
COVID has had a big impact on the state of poker, both online and live. What does he think is going to happen if/when the current situation is “over”?

0:19:51
Mike bet pretty early on that WSOP was going to get cancelled this year. What type of odds did he get on that?

0:21:36
What made him feel so confident in that bet so early in the series of COVID events?

0:24:49
A discussion about how unprepared we were for the COVID pandemic.

0:27:05
Was lockdown-induced boredom what sparked his free-throw bet?

0:28:26
Mike tells us about the origins of the now famous / infamous free-throw bet.

0:33:14
Was there ever a stipulation that he couldn’t take any breaks?

0:35:43
They address Nick Schulman’s response to Mike’s win, and the ensuing controversy.

0:43:35
Does he accept Nick’s apology video? His response is followed by a in-depth conversation about accusations of scumminess in poker.

0:53:36
Did he ever consider paying off the other players so that he didn’t have to leave the court, resulting in the break that ended up creating so much controversy?

0:56:05
Mike walks us through video evidence of the moment he decided to leave the court.

1:00:31
What happened after he took the 30min break, and finished the challenge? Did he think it was a done deal?

1:04:19
After his first “win” was called into question, did he feel extra pressure to perform when attempting to replicate his results?

1:07:25
An extended conversation about spite / anger as a source of motivation, and the potential shortcomings of therapy.

1:20:23
Does he have any other prop bets in the works? If somebody challenged him to 95 out of 100, would he take it?

1:26:01
How many people ended up betting? Has he been paid out? How much did he end up betting on the challenge?

1:29:52
A closing shoutout to the best Twitter trolls of the challenge.

1:32:34
And a shoutout to Greg Dyer, poker’s most promising up-and-coming therapist.