Ciarán O'Leary (born 27 October 1973) is an Irish

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player who resides in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

Early life

O'Leary grew up in modest conditions in

Carrigaline Carrigaline (; ) is a town and civil parish in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated on the River Owenabue. Located about south of Cork (city), Cork city, and with a population of 18,239 people, it is one of the largest commuter ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The son of a greyhound trainer, Terry O'Leary, and his wife, Sheila, he is one of three children. Much of his childhood was spent accompanying his father anywhere from different "Point to Point" Horse track events, the Cork Greyhound Track, and to the various betting shops across County Cork, where he would often be found in the corner observing the games.

Poker career

O'Leary arrived in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a young rounder in 1997 with $1,000 in his pocket. His first night stateside was spent in a poker game at a

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

pub where he won $3,000. He then traveled cross country, via

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, ending up in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he quickly made his mark in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

poker scene, developing a winning reputation at ''Lucky Chances'', taking down numerous titles. It was there that the moniker "Big C" was tagged in lieu of the constant mispronunciation of his name. O'Leary's biggest win came at the

2007 World Series of Poker The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on June 1, 2007. The $10,000 ( US) no-limit Texas hold 'em Main Event began on July 6 and was completed on the morning of July 18th. All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las ...

when he won Event #3. The $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event attracted 2,998 participants, which at the time was the biggest live tournament in Poker history outside of the 2005 and 2006 Main Events, with the victory earning O'Leary his first bracelet and $727,012. The event was nationally televised on ESPN. In 2008 O'Leary was selected to play on the Irish team in The Poker Nations Cup. He played in the final heat, composed of Roland DeWolfe,

Marcel Lüske Marcel Lüske (Amsterdam, Netherlands 23 March 1953) is a Dutch professional poker player. He finished 10th in the 2004 WSOP Main Event. Lüske is a mentor to and encourages the development of younger poker players. Early life Lüske's father w ...

, Robert Williamson III, Benjamin Kang, and William Thorson. He finished second in the heat and Ireland would eventually end up finishing second to Great Britain. In 2008 O'Leary joined

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Dublin, alongside a satellite office ...

as the company's brand ambassador and sponsored professional. As such, he represents the poker room at large buy-in live events, in promotional work and by writing a

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on the company website.

World Series of Poker bracelets

References

External links

Hendon Mob profileWPT profileWSOP profile

MSNBC Article

Poker News Interview

Poker News Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Ciaran 1973 births Irish emigrants to the United States Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Irish poker players Living people Sportspeople from County Cork Sportspeople from Seattle World Series of Poker bracelet winners People from Carrigaline