Ranking the Top 7 Irish Poker Players in History – Who Is the Best Ever?

Sure, you’ve heard of the luck of the Irish, but did you know that they are well-represented on the lists of the best poker players of all time? It’s true. In any case, it’s no mystery why Irish poker players appear so regularly at international poker competitions.

In fact, some historians even credit the Irish for making poker tournaments popular throughout Europe.

True or not, it’s unsurprising that Irish poker players were among the first to show up with great regularity at EPT and WSOP tournaments. Still, even among experts in any endeavor, some stand out as the best of the best.

I’ve looked at dozens of players, and I’ve found what I think are the seven of the best poker players from Ireland and ranked. While you may not agree with teaching one’s relative position here, I’m sure you’ll agree that they are the best Ireland has to offer.

You might be asking yourself why a native of Dublin is living in Hungary, and the answer is that he can.

The 36-year-old Marc Macdonnell was born in south Dublin in the late ‘80s and began playing poker at several of the best online poker sites. During his first few years in cyberspace, he earned a reported $1.3 million playing poker.

He then took that expertise to the international tourney level and proceeded to cash there, as well. The Hendon Mob has his earning to date in poker tourneys at $3.2 million.

He won his first live tournament title in 2018 when he went up against more than 600 players to clear the final table of the $1,100 no-limit hold’em event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in Florida. Macdonnell walked away with the victor’s share of the purse: $119,465.

That same year, he aced PartyPoker’s Caribbean Poker Party Main Event for a million dollars.

Born in Sligo, Ireland, in 1984, Dermot Blain currently lives in Dublin. He was most active in the ‘Oughts but continues to cash in tournaments throughout the world.

He attended and graduated from the Institute of Technology in Sligo with a business degree and cashed out his first poker tourney in 2008. For the next three years, he would rack up 34 awards for superlative poker playing, earning $1.2 million while he was at it.

Since 2009, he’s earned more than $2.3 million and is ranked sixth among the best Irish poker players of all time.

His specialty (and where he acquired most of his poker earnings) is Texas Hold’em, although he has shown expertise in Omaha. His most recent tourney was the 2022 World Series of Poker, where he cashed in three different Omaha events.

If you think you have what it takes to be a big poker star, you might want to check out our poker guide for some tips.

Born Dara Ruairi O’Kearney in 1965, Ennis (County Clare) native Dara O’Kearney first came to public notice not as a poker player but as an ultra-runner—that’s a runner who competes at distances greater than the traditional marathon length of 26 miles.

He took first in several international competitions, including the 2005 Tresco Marathon and the New York Road Runners 60K ultra marathon in 2006. Just reading that paragraph has me winded, so I am in awe that Dara was able to catch his breath long enough to kick some serious poker butt.

But kick it, he did.

In 2008, O’Kearney won the European Deepstack Poker Championship, and he has been ranked the #2 best Irish poker player three times–in 2009, 2010, and 2014.

And he’s also authored several books about poker strategy, including Poker Satellite Strategy and PKO Poker Strategy (with co-author Barry Carter).

By the way, if poker isn’t your cup of tea, but you like to gamble, and the Emerald Isle fascinates you, take a look at our list of the best Irish slots.

While Belfast native Marty Smyth played social poker in his teens, he didn’t start playing poker seriously until he was in his early 20s. That’s when he discovered the Omaha and Texas Hold’em at a Dublin casino. He was soon visiting the casino every weekend, gaining experience and skill as he moved slowly from losing player to winning player.

He spent time building his bankroll in cash games in Ireland and online, but eventually, he started entering poker tournaments.

He claimed his WSOP ring in 2008 with a win of the $ 10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Omaha at the 39th World Series of Poker, which makes him a required addition to this “best of” list of poker players that are Irish.

The Hendon Mob ranks him third in Ireland and 445th on the all-time money list worldwide.

It should be no surprise that there’s at least one O’Dea on this list of best Irish poker players. Everybody knows Eoghan O’Dea was born to be a poker great.

After all, his father is arguably the greatest Irish poker player of all time (see the #1 entry below). Even his grandfather—actor Denis O’Dea—had been well-known as an expert poker player. How could Eoghan NOT be great at the game?

And Eoghan has mirrored his father’s rise to prominence.

In 2011, Eoghan first made it to the final table at the World Series of Poker Main Event, even finishing sixth, just as his father did back in 1983. That same year, Eoghan also finished 9th in the 300 Pot Limit Omaha event at the WSOP Europe tournament in Cannes.

Eoghan has yet to win a WSOP ring, but he remains among the top players in the world (he’s ranked 4th among Irish poker players), so it might just be a matter of time.

Poker’s part of his heredity. It’s in his blood, and he was probably absorbing poker psychology before he learned to walk.

Affectionately known as “The Monk,” Andy Black was born in 1965 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he reportedly learned to play poker from his mother. He eventually played poker against far less sympathetic opponents while studying for a law degree at Trinity College in Dublin.

He earned his nickname, The Monk, quite honestly.

Early in his live tournament career, he experienced a series of defeats so crushing that he ended up selling all his possessions and moved to England, where he took up residence in a semi-monastic Buddhist retreat run by the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order.

From his tournament activity, the avowed Buddhist wasn’t a complete recluse during his reportedly five-year retreat. He’d been cashing in tournaments since 1997 when he finished 14th in the World Serie of Poker’s $ 10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship—regularly earned money every year until now. Black has earned nearly $4.9 million from his tournament play.

The Monk is ranked 2nd among the list of top Irish poker players of all time.

The top Irish poker player is known as “The Don.” Donnacha O’Dea was born in 1948 to actors Denis O’Dea and Siobhán McKenna.

Before embarking on his poker career, Donnacha represented Ireland at the 1968 Olympics and was the first swimmer from Ireland to swim 100 meters in under a minute.

He learned his impressive poker skills from his father, who was considered at one time to be the best poker player in Ireland. Donnacha went on to hone those skills during his brief time at Trinity College to study business management.

By his second year at Trinity, he was making more with poker than his fellow students could do interning with accountancies. His choice was clear.

When the World Series of Poker took off in the 1970s, Donnacha was among the first Irishmen to attain prominence. In 1983, he made it to the final table of the WSOP Main Event, where he finished sixth. He went on to finish ninth in 1991.

He picked up his WSOP bracelet in 1998 playing in the Pot Limit Omaha with rebuys event, defeating poker ace Johnny Chan during heads-up play.

Even though most of his professional play took place before the internet poker boom, Donnacha O’Dea remains among the top earners of poker in Ireland—which puts him at the top of my list of the best Irish poker players of all time.

Have you ever wondered what the biggest poker upsets are? Check out a few of what happened in gambling history.

Footnotes:

• Stats of Ireland’s All Time Money List provided by The Hendon Mob.
• Seminole Hardrock Poker Open provided the event details for the $1,100: Meet the Final Table.