Donnacha "The Don" O'Dea (born 30 August 1948) is an Irish professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game wa ...

player. In his youth, he was a

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

, and represented Ireland in the 1968

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. He was also the first Irish swimmer to swim 100m in less than one minute. His parents were actors Denis O'Dea and

Siobhán McKenna Siobhán McKenna (; 24 May 1922 – 16 November 1986) was an Irish stage and screen actress. Background She was born Siobhán Giollamhuire Nic Cionnaith in Belfast in the newly-created Northern Ireland into a Catholic and nationalist family. ...

Early life

O'Dea's parents were

Siobhan McKenna Siobhán is a female given name of Irish origin. The most common anglicisations are Siobhan (identical to the Irish spelling but omitting the acute accent over the 'a'), Shevaun and Shivaun. A now uncommon spelling variant is Siubhán. It is de ...

and Denis O'Dea, both notable actors. He attended

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Can ...

and went on to study at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

Poker career

O'Dea came close to winning a

WSOP bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 197 ...

in 1983 in the $1,000 Limit Hold'em event, finishing runner-up to

Tom McEvoy Thomas K. McEvoy (born November 14, 1944, in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a professional poker player, author and member of the Poker Hall of Fame, 2013 inductee. He is best known for winning the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. Early life ...

. He made the final table of the WSOP Main Event in 1983 when he finished 6th, which was eventually won by McEvoy, and again when he finished 9th in 1991 in the event won by Brad Daugherty. O'Dea also cashed in the Main Event in 1990 (32nd), 1994 (27th), 1996 (25th), and 2007 (171st). In 1998, O'Dea won a

in Pot Limit

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

with rebuys event, defeating two-time world champion, Johnny Chan in heads-up play. Donnacha first appeared in the

Late Night Poker ''Late Night Poker'' is a British television series that helped popularize poker in the 2000s. It used "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards. The show originally ran for six series between 1999 and 2002 ...

television programme in series 4, finishing 5th in a heat won by Robin Keston. He returned to the show in series 6, winning his heat and going on to finish 4th in the Grand Final. In 2004, he won the

Poker Million The Poker Million has been a televised European poker tournament since its inception in November 2000. The final debuted to 30 million viewers and has since remained popular. It was created by UK gaming outfit Ladbrokes with the help of sports pro ...

tournament, overcoming Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott in the eventual heads-up confrontation. The following year, he made the final table again and finished in 5th place. O'Dea was the first member of the European Poker Players Hall of Fame. As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,000,000. His 23 cashes as the WSOP account for $471,687 of those winnings. His son, Eoghan O'Dea, is also a poker player who competes primarily online under the moniker 'intruder123'. In December 2008 he followed up a $300,000 online win with a 2nd-place finish in the Poker Million for $260,000. In 2011, he made a deep run at the Main Event of WSOP 2011 earning his place in The November Nine.

References

External links

Gutshot.com interview

Hendon Mob tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odea, Donnacha 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from County Dublin People educated at Synge Street CBS Irish poker players Irish male swimmers World Series of Poker bracelet winners Olympic swimmers of Ireland Swimmers at the 1968 Summer Olympics