The Most Famous Irish Poker Players

Ireland has diverse online casinos, including a no deposit bonus casino Ireland and others. Many professional poker players call the small island country home. As a result, this article will look at some of the most well-known Irish poker players. They include the following:


Andrew Black



Andrew Black was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and spent his youth there. His mother took the initiative to teach him how to play poker to divert his attention away from the growing sectarian turmoil in their area. Black was a dedicated and intelligent young man who excelled academically to the point where he could enter the legal program at Trinity College in Dublin with considerable ease. But Andy's interest in the card tables eventually overtook his interest in the courtrooms and became his main focus.


Black is best known for nearly winning the main event of the 2005 World Series of Poker; at the final table, he had more than one-third of the chips in play, but he finished in fifth place. Andy Black's poker career was not off to a good start until this near-miss was presented to a large audience of poker players on ESPN. Black's most notable title and the prize of $250,000 occurred in 2008 when he won the celebrity-studded, televised Premier League Poker tournament. This triumph was televised live on television.


Marty Smyth



It should be no surprise that Marty Smyth is currently second in total lifetime earnings earned by Irish professional poker players in events, having won several important titles throughout his career.


He has a poker career that no other player in Ireland can match, having won the Poker Million, the Irish Open, a World Series of Poker championship bracelet, and the World Open title.


Smyth has acquired substantial wealth from a relatively small number of tournaments, as indicated by his $4 million lifetime profits. Marty Smyth is the only person in Ireland who can boast six-figure victories or more, and no one else can make that claim.


Dermot Blain



Dermot Blain is an Irish poker player who cashed for the first time in a live event in 2008. In his first three years of poker, he won the money 24 times at big tournaments, made nine final tables, won the APPT Macau, cashed out at three World Series of Poker events, and earned about $1.2 million.


 


Dermot was born in the Irish county of Sligo in 1984. He fulfilled his competitive nature as a child by being an avid sports fan and engaging in various games such as soccer, football, and basketball. His education included time at Killybegs' St. Catherine's Vocational School and Sligo Institute of Technology, where he earned a business degree and a three-year program in sports and leisure. Dermot settled in Derry after finishing his education and establishing a sales job. After starting to play poker in his spare time and winning about $20,000 in cash games in three weeks, he quit his day job to become a professional poker player.


Marc MacDonnell



Mark McDonnell is a great tournament player who has won about $1.1 million online and another $3 million in live events.


McDonnell has an uncanny tendency to win at least one major yearly award. In 2018, he completed this accomplishment by coming third in the Caribbean Poker Party Main Event and winning $1 million. Only Craig Mason and the eventual winner, Philip Oliveira, defeated McDonnell in that competition.


Dara O'Kearney



Dara O'Kearney's first official cash came from her triumph in the 2008 European Deepstack Poker Championship, which earned her €47,000 in prize money. Since then, O'Kearney has cashed out nearly 200 times at events worldwide, winning over a million dollars in prize money due to his accomplishment.


He has also had a great career playing online poker, earning more than $3.5 million. O'Kearney is an ultramarathon runner who has won several important championships in sports, including the title of champion in the New York Road Runners 60K in 2006.


O'Kearney began his writing career on a poker blog and has lately evolved into the role of a published poker author. He also heavily discusses satellite tournaments and progressive knockouts.


Final Words


Ireland, although being a very small island, has a lot to offer in terms of online gambling history. It is common knowledge that Irish people adore gambling, particularly in casinos and at poker table Ireland. Many Irish individuals from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have visited the casinos in Dublin and experienced the thrill of actual gaming. And a few of them have even made a full-time living from it, winning prizes at prestigious tournaments and earning six-figure sums.