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Stephen 'Steve' O'Dwyer is an American professional poker player currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although O'Dwyer has no major poker titles to his name, with three million in live tournament winnings and numerous money finishes in all the major poker circuits, he has proved to be a tough opponent to anyone who stands in his way at the poker tables.
Intro
O'Dwyer was born in 1982 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started playing poker after he saw Chris Moneymaker take down the 2003 World Series of Poker. O'Dwyer was always into games, but never realized that poker could be as profitable. Then in 2004 he started playing online and went to Vegas just after he finished college, seeking more games and bigger opportunities.
Background
Before he got into poker O'Dwyer was studying broadcasting at the East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, unlike his younger brother and sister, who chose schools in Philadelphia, closer to their home in Pennsylvania. In 2004 he saw an advertisement on a message board for a a new online poker site “Full Tilt Poker” searching for beta testers. He took the job and after playing 1,000 hands was able to enter a $,5000 freeroll. He cashed the tournament for $7.5, but ended up losing it pretty fast in a cash game.
After grinding online for awhile, O'Dwyer was able to score a couple of decent money finishes. He even won a Sunday tournament on Bodog which was enough to get him through the last semester in college. As soon as his studies were done, O'Dwyer was gone to Vegas.
World Series of Poker
The year 2007 was when O'Dwyer scored his first cash at the World Series of Poker. In fact he cashed in four events taking home a total of $70,000 in winnings. O'Dwyer made his first WSOP final table in 2009 when he finished eighth in the $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up event for more than $90,000. His best WSOP result so far came in 2011 when O'Dwyer placed sixth in the €3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout event at the WSOP Europe in Cannes, France for almost $50,000.
Steve O'Dwyer's Top 5 WSOP Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | WSOPE €3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout | 6th | €36,357 ($48,568) |
| 2009 | $10,000 World Championship Heads-Up | 8th | $92,580 |
| 2007 | $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed | 21st | $11,882 |
| 2010 | $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em | 21st | $5,870 |
| 2011 | $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em | 36th | $5,783 |
World Poker Tour
It was at the WPT that O'Dwyer scored his first live tournament money finish. In January, 2007 he entered the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure $7,800 Championship Event and took home $17,787 in cash for the 38th place finish. However, his best WPT achievement came only five years later when O'Dwyer won the €1,500 WPT Main Event at the National Series in Vejle, Denmark and took home more than $200,000 in prize money.
Steve O'Dwyer's Top 5 WPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | National Series - Denmark, Vejle €1,500 Main Event | 1st | €159,227 ($213,796) |
| 2011 | WPT Venice €3,000 Main Event | 2nd | €95,530 ($128,063) |
| 2012 | WPT Vienna €9,700 High Roller | 3rd | €42,780 ($56,986) |
| 2012 | WPT World Championship $25,000 Championship | 5th | $192,176 |
| 2009 | Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic $15,000 Main Event | 6th | $202,362 |
European Poker Tour
In 2011 O'Dwyer came just close to winning the European Poker Tour title when he finished second at the EPT London £5,000 Main Event. O'Dwyer lost the heads-up battle to the eventual winner, Germany's Benny Spindler and took home £465,000 for his runner-up finish. The same year he won an EPT side event in Loutraki, Greece. O'Dwyer topped the €1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Rebuy tournament for €18,500.
Steve O'Dwyer's Top 5 EPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Loutraki €1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Rebuy | 1st | €18,500 |
| 2011 | London £5,000 Main Event | 2nd | £465,000 |
| 2011 | Loutraki €400 Turbo Bounty | 2nd | €5,580 |
| 2012 | Campione €10,000 No-Limit Hold'em / 8 Max | 2nd | €74,000 |
| 2012 | Barcelona €5,000 No-Limit Hold'em / 6 Max Turbo | 3rd | €39,090 |
Other Achievements
In July, 2011 O'Dwyer won the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event at the Bellagio Cup VII in Las Vegas collecting $259,452. Just one month later he took down the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Pro-Am Event at the Epic Poker League Event 1 in Las Vegas for $43,810. Then in October, 2012 O'Dwyer final tabled the €50,000 Majestic Roller / Re-Entry non-bracelet event at the WSOP Europe in Cannes, France. He placed seventh in that tournament for €130,000.
Did you know?
- O'Dwyer cashed in his first live tournament at the age of 25.
- Black Friday hit O'Dwyer so hard that he had to sleep on Scott Seiver's floor throughout the entire 2011 WSOP and had to borrow money to buy food.
