Terrence Chan and Mike McDonald Clash Over PokerShares Betting Odds

Poker pro - turned - MMA fighter Terrence Chan and Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald have fallen out this week, the pair clashing on Twitter with each accusing the other of poor behaviour connected to bets on the Bill Perkins-Landon Tice heads-up challenge.

Chan claimed he knew nothing of Perkins giving his young opponent a 9BB/100 head start in their upcoming ‘Heads up for Soulz’ match when he placed bets on McDonald’s PokerShares site.

McDonald, however, seemed to believe he was being played by Chan, not believing such an experienced pro could have believed the odds offered were for a straight up encounter, rather than a handicap contest.

However, how he went about discussing things with Chan was called into question when he opened their correspondence with “Are you dumb?”

That was simply unprofessional according to many, no matter that the pair have been friends for some time – though perhaps no longer as the dispute grew arms and legs, McDonald accusing Chan of angleshooting him.

Chan claims he wasn’t angling his friend, having asked several friends about the “strange” line being offered. He also believes that an email he received from PokerShares explaining the mistake was “not a 'clarification'--it's changing the rules of the bet.”

A number of well-known pros, as well as an army of regular Twitter poker fans, soon lined up to take sides.

VeniVidi1993, who lost to Phil Galfond in their PLO Challenge match last year, was on McDonald’s side.

“Not sure why I feel like responding to this message, but I think you are making a pretty big fool out of yourself. I don't know @MikeMcDonald89 personally and I would respond exactly the same if I was in his position.”

Daniel Colman also seemed to be on Mike’s side.

“Seems pretty obvious the bet is on the challenge winner, so the handicap is included,” he tweeted.

The man most famous for his $15million+ scoop of the 2014 Big One for One Drop win, added:

“Either way, if you consider Mike a friend of 20 years, why not message him first to clarify instead of repeatedly clicking max to try and snipe some EV in what u hope to be a loophole.”

WPT champ Patrick Serda took the opposite viewpoint, siding with Chan:

“Wait WTF is everyone talking about that HU challenge insinuates 9bb/100? Mike makes and changes lines for a living…”

“Timex” also took to the 2plus2 forum, posting:

“Phrasing this challenge is somewhat challenging in that we want wording that helps those uninformed on terms while not misrepresenting the situation to those who are informed on terms.”

With McDonald refusing Chan’s offer to arbitrate, and then apparently showing proof that Chan also knew about the 9BB headstart when he posted his bets, it looks like a points win for Timex in this feud.

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