Dara O'Kearney, born 17 June 1965 in Ennis, County Clare, is an Irish international ultra runner and professional poker player. He is the son of Irish language activist and writer Sean Ua Cearnaigh, and nephew of Irish politician Chris Flood.
He won the 2005 Tresco marathon, [1] the 2006 New York Road Runners 60K ultra marathon, [1] the 2007 Schinnen 50K, [2] the 2008 Brno Indoor 6 hour race, [3] and was the 2007 Irish 24 hour running champion. [4]
On the poker front, O'Kearney won the 2008 European Deepstack Poker Championship, defeating a high quality field that included Joe Beevers, Julian Thew, Tony Baitson, Arnaud Mattern, John Falconer, Dave Colclough, Conor Tate, Owen Mullen, Mickey Wernick, Barny Boatman and Christy Smith. [5] In 2009, he was ranked number 2 in live tournaments in the official Irish Poker Rankings, and again in 2010 & again in 2014.
In 2015, O'Kearney won the Mini Irish Open, and finished second in event 45 of the WSOP. [6]
As of 2020, he has over $3 million in cashes online and over $1 million live. [7] [8] He is a brand ambassador for Unibet Poker [9] and ShareMyPair, [10] and lead author of the books "Poker Satellite Strategy" and "PKO Poker Strategy" (co-author Barry Carter). His blog [11] is one of the most read poker blogs, and he cohosts popular poker podcast The Chip Race [12] alongside David Lappin.
In April 2019, O'Kearney joined CardsChat as a poker expert. [13]
In September 2023, O'Kearney joined Tight Poker as a poker expert and fact checker. [14]
Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won a record seventeen World Series of Poker bracelets, the majority in no-limit hold'em. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the Main Event of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and he is a 2007 inductee of the WSOP's Poker Hall of Fame. He is widely regarded as the greatest tournament player of all time.
Dan Harrington is a professional poker player, best known for winning the Main Event at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career. He is also a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.
Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, is a professional poker player and former professional magician, known for his elaborate chip tricks. Esfandiari was the face of the now-defunct poker site, UltimatePoker.com.
Philip Courtney Laak is an Irish–American professional poker player and a poker commentator, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, and has appeared on numerous nationally aired television shows.
Andrew Black is a poker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who presently resides in Dublin.
Liam Flood was an Irish bookmaker and professional poker player who was the 1997 European poker champion.
Julian "Yoyo" Thew is an English professional poker player based in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire.
Ciarán O'Leary is an Irish professional poker player who resides in Seattle, Washington.
Ryan Hughes is a poker player who won a World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2007 World Series of Poker in the $2,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better event and the 2008 World Series of Poker $1,500 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better event. In February 2007, Hughes won the Professional Poker Tour event at the L.A. Poker Classic. In 2023, he won a bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em - Deepstack Online Bracelet Event.
Alan Smurfit was an Irish retiree who won a World Series of Poker bracelet in his first ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) event, the 2007 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event.
Matt Keikoan is an American professional poker player who has won two World Series of Poker bracelets; his first was in the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em event and his second was in the 2010 World Series of Poker $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship.
Dennis N. Phillips is a professional poker player from St. Louis, Missouri. Phillips qualified for the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event through a $200 satellite tournament at Harrah's St. Louis, his local Harrah's casino. He entered the final table as chip leader with 26,295,000 in chips, and finished in third place, earning $4,517,773.
Peter Nicolas Eastgate is a poker player from Denmark, best known as the winner of the Main Event at the 2008 World Series of Poker. At the time, he became the youngest player ever to win the event. He was subsequently surpassed by Joe Cada in 2009.
David Bach is a professional poker player, and the winner of the $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2009 World Series of Poker. Bach defeated John Hanson heads-up after a record breaking marathon final table that lasted 20 hours and 492 hands.
Tristan Wade is an American professional poker player from Boynton Beach, Florida. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe. In addition to a bracelet, 2011 saw Wade earn his first 3 World Series of Poker (WSOP) final tables, with two at the summer 2011 World Series of Poker before his fall bracelet in Europe. He's known for limping the button then calling off 30bb shoves with 22 like a boss. Wade is also an instructor at Deepstacks University. Wade is an alumnus of University of Central Florida where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. WSOP.com lists him as a resident of Boynton Beach, Florida, while Hendon mob claims he is from Orlando, Florida. Wade made his first trip to Europe at the age of 26 in 2011 because of Black Friday, which had limited his options for play in the United States.
Martin Jacobson is a Swedish professional poker player, originally from Stockholm, Sweden, but currently residing in London, England. In 2014, he won the World Series of Poker Main Event for $10,000,000, the fifth largest single payout in poker tournament history.
Ben Yu is an American professional poker player, commentator, and writer. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and appeared at 15 World Series of Poker final tables. Yu, who grew up in Los Angeles, California, attended Stanford University before transitioning into a career in poker.
Qui Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. He won the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event, earning $8,005,310.
George Tony Dunst is an American professional poker player and a three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner.
Michael Addamo is an Australian professional poker player from Melbourne. He is a four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner.