Meet the young Irishman who is taking the World Series of Poker by storm

Eoghan O’Dea from Dalkey is currently in second place at the WSOP Main Event.

AN IRISH POKER player is all set to make a big splash as the Main Event of the 2011 World Series of Poker enters its final stages in Las Vegas.

With over 19 million chips to his name, Eoghan O’Dea is primed to seal a place at the competition’s final table, guaranteeing him the biggest payout of a career which started off with a couple of small-stake games on the internet.

Now, the man from Dalkey, Co. Dublin lies in second place in the No-Limit Hold’em Championship – the most prestigious event in all of poker – two million chips behind leader Anton Makievskyi.

After seven days of play, O’Dea is one of just 22 players still standing out of the 6,865 contestants who paid the $10,000 entry fee on 7 July. This evening, the remaining players will be whittled down to an elite group of nine who will return to Vegas for the event’s final table in November.

The Main Event is just one of the 59 tournaments in this year’s World Series, which kicked off on 31 May in the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. O’Dea has already been in action in a number of the smaller No-Limit Hold’em tournaments, picking up about €6,500 in prize money – small change in comparison to the windfall which is now coming his way.

As things stand, the Dubliner has guaranteed himself a payout of over $300,000 (€212,000) from the event’s whopping prize pool of $64,531,000.

A place at the final table would guarantee him a cheque for $782,115 with prize money increasing substantially thereafter. The overall winner is in line to pocket a cool $8,711,956 as well as one of the highly sought-after WSOP bracelets.

To those in the know, O’Dea’s progress in Vegas is hardly a surprise. To date, he has won over half a million euro in prize money, including a career-best second place finish at the prestigious Poker Million tournament in 2009.

His father, Donnacha, is also a familiar face at poker’s top tables after making it to the Main Event’s final table in 1983 and again in 1991.

Play continues in Las Vegas at 20:00 BST tonight. The event will be streamed live at www.wsop.com.