The making of a world poker ace
This week, Dubliner Eoghan O'Dea made it to the last nine of the world's biggest card game. John Costello reports
If cards are war disguised as sport, the World Series Of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas is the biggest and bloodiest battlefield of them all. But while most players embrace their inner Genghis Khan when sitting around the green felt, Dublin's Eoghan O'Dea proved more Ninja-like as he stealthily stacked mountains of chips to secure his spot at the final table and a shot at the life-changing first prize of €6m.
O'Dea navigated his way through a field of 6,865 players, making it the third largest live event in poker history, and in November will rejoin the remaining nine players as they wage war under the dizzy bright lights of Vegas to try and secure the grand prize, and take the coveted title of World Champion of Poker.
As a member of what has become known as the "November Nine", O'Dea will be treated like poker royalty over the coming months. However, when he finally takes his seat he will be standing on the shoulders of giants, as the third generation of what has developed into a poker-playing dynasty.
The family's 'card shark' tradition stretches back to his grandfather Denis O'Dea.
He was a well-known actor, who had a number of notable film roles, and married Siobhan McKenna while they were both treading the boards at the Abbey Theatre. But while Siobhan went on to wow audiences in the West End, Broadway and land roles on the silver screen in the likes of Doctor Zhivago in 1965, Denis became highly skilled in the theatre of poker.
"He was regarded as the best player in Ireland in his day," says Donnacha O'Dea, Eoghan's father. "He ran a game twice a week and they sometimes played in the house and I would be allowed watch them play for a half and hour. So I developed an interest from there."
Such schooling saw Donnacha (56) follow tradition and develop into one of Ireland's most well-known and successful professional poker players. He made it to the final table of the 1983 World Series Of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, where he eventually took sixth place. In 1991 he was back, this time coming ninth and also won a coveted 'bracelet', taking first place in a Pot Limit Omaha event in 1998 at the WSOP.
"When I was in college I was spending more time in the common room playing poker than I was studying unfortunately," he laughs. "I used to play twice a week in a house game until eventually I said to myself I'll have to go out and play this poker thing in Vegas."
Since his first journey to the bright lights in the Nevada desert in 1982 he has only ever missed one World Series Of Poker when his daughter was born, and this year it became a father and son affair.
"I played day three (of the eight-day event) and I actually got through with more chips than him (Eoghan)," laughs Donnacha. "But then on my second day I went out. It just didn't run well for me."
On Saturday last he packed his bags and flew back from Vegas to Ireland, unaware of the incredible journey that awaited Eoghan.
"I was in two minds to be honest," he says. "Eoghan was still there but there were still loads of players left. With so many players it is a bit like buying a lottery ticket. I didn't know whether to stay or whether to go.
'So I said to my wife, 'Sure look he can do it all on his own. He doesn't need any help from me.' But the last couple of days have been a nightmare, up all night watching the live streaming of the event on the computer. But it is just fantastic."
While the competition will be tough, Eoghan will sit at the table with the second biggest chip stack and a growing reputation as a player to be reckoned with.
His most high-profile appearance to date was in the annual Sky Sports-televised Poker Million in 2008, where he walked away with $260,000 for finishing second to fellow Irishman Marty Smyth. He has also won $300,000 in a big-money online tournament, but his biggest pot was in 2009, when he scooped $378,000 in the WPT event in Marrakech.
No matter what happens in November, O'Dea is guaranteed at least $782,000, if he somehow manages to quickly lose his mountain of chips and get knocked out in ninth place.
But the odds are the wily Dubliner will survive to battle for the millions and the fame that could change his life.
His poker-pro father smiles at the thought. "I think it is a bad state of affairs when you are not even the best player in your own house," he laughs.
Originally published in
