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Seat 4: Michael Dwyer, 61, Dublin, Ireland – 4,550,000
Ireland’s Michael Dwyer is one of poker’s most passionate fans. “Tournament poker to me is a thing of absolute beauty,” he told the Mario Rosenstock podcast last year. “It’s one of the most beautiful games ever invented.”
It’s why Dwyer continues to play more and more even as he enters his 60s.
Dwyer spent 15 years working in the food industry before he took his shot in 2000 and turned into a successful entrepreneur. He founded Pigsback.com, a discount deal and rewards platform, which certainly proved profitable for him. Nineteen years after setting it up, he sold Pigsback for about €25 million.
It was then that he decided to pursue glory in poker. He was no stranger to the game, having notched his first cash at the 2005 Irish Open. But after selling his business, Dwyer decided to “take on the young minds” and play against them at the highest stakes. He’s had a few coaches help him study game theory and has also added a mental coach in Andy Black.
In 2024, Dwyer celebrated a massive online score worth $1.3 million. Now he has a chance to top that result by winning the EPT Barcelona 2026 Main Event. Until this deep run, his best live score was €86,350 for fifth place in an EPT 2nd Chance event.
Dwyer and his brother John both cashed this tournament, with John earning €15,050 for 105th place. Michael has made it to Day 7, where he’ll aim to become the third Irish EPT champion.
Player bios courtesy of Jan Kores/Florence Mazet/PokerStars
Career statistics
The Hendon Mob Earnings: $723,623
EPT Main Event cashes: 0
Best result: n/a
Tournament progression
Day 1: 363,500 (1/193, 1A)
Day 2: 273,000 (82/205)
Day 3: 615,000 (38/67)
Day 4: 1,015,000 (21/28)
Day 5: 3,475,000 (6/13)
Day 6: 4,550,000 (5/6)
Key hands
Dwyer became the Day 1a chipleader by cracking Jakob Karlsson's kings with jack-ten when they got it in on a ten-high board, setting him up for continued success.
On Day 5, Dwyer repeated this trick. This time, he flopped a set of sixes against Matas Cimbolas' pocket kings. Cimbolas check-called a bet by Dwyer on the river, chipping up Dwyer to a stack of 60 big blinds.