HISTORY OF THE IRISH AT THE WSOP
Furlong way from home
In 1989 Noel Furlong won his second Irish Open title and later that year he finished 6th in the World Series of Poker main event.
In an interview with Card Player magazine Noel said, "I came to Las Vegas the first time with Terry in 1989 and got to the final table of the championship event, purely by luck. There might be a possibility that I know a little bit more about how to play poker now, but I definitely didn't know a lot about it then. I was chip leader at one point and should've done better but finished 6th place."
Noel's disappointment would presage Ireland's greatest triumph a decade later.
The Don marches on
In 1991 Donnacha O'Dea again reached the final table of the World Series of Poker main event. Of the 215 entrants he finished 9th, collecting $17,500.
1994 witnessed another high finish from O'Dea, this time 24th and in 1996 he finished 25th.
New kid in town
A young Belfast poker player by the name Andy Black fetched up in Vegas in 1997 and made the poker world sit up and take notice when he finished 14th in the World Series main event, only going out after fearlessly locking horns with unpredictable and gifted poker genius Stu Ungar.
The next year Andy Black returned to Las Vegas with a film crew in tow. The result, 'The Million dollar Deal' is still considered one of the best poker documentaries ever made. After getting knocked out of the event Andy walked away from poker for five years.
O'Dea made history, also in 1998, becoming the first Irish man to win a World Series bracelet beating Johnny Chan in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event.
The golden year
1999 could arguably be described as the high watermark for the Irish in Vegas.
Three Irishmen made the final 10 of the World Series main event.
George McKeever finished 7th, Padraig Parkinson finished 3rd ("one bluff away from winning") and Noel Furlong beat Alan Goehring heads up to win the $1 million first prize.
Noel said of his win in Poker Europa magazine, "I knew when I got there I had a great chance. The first day I sat down in a 40 player satellite up the road in the Plaza. I managed to win it and decided to go back the next day as well. Again I won so I know I was playing alright."
Noel turned his $300 into $1 million and in doing so made a dream come true for Terry Rogers. Sadly Terry died later that year but his legacy lives on and his name will never be forgotten as one of the most influential poker pioneers of a generation.
Gray and Black colour the game
In 2002 Irishman Scott Gray finished 4th in the World Series main event. The 'Iceman' collected a cool $281,480.
In 2005 Andy Black, who so dramatically walked away from highstakes poker after his defeat at the 1998 World Series of Poker, made an equally dramatic return to the top of the game with his fifth place finish in the main event of the World Series of Poker 2005.
In doing so he earned US$1.75 million and jumped straight to the top of the Irish all-time money winners list.
Irish poker bloggers Antes Up who reported on the event relayed the news back to Andy's fans in Ireland and around the world:
"Andy makes it 600k to play from early position. Steve reraises to make it 2 million to play, and Andy goes all in. Andy has TT versus AK.... So it comes down to a race. The flop is no help, the turn is a King and the river, despite the Irish roaring themselves hoarse, is a 9."
"The dream is over. Some sick beats robbed Andy Black of a championship, in my opinion, he deserved to win. What can we say, Andy took us on a ride, a journey and everyone here is both gutted with disappointment and cheering with pride."
"We're going to go talk to Andy and then decide if we will continue coverage 'cos right now I don't feel like reporting on these donkeys playing bingo for $7.5 million."
Dozens of Irish hopefuls traveled to Vegas for the main event, exhibiting both the camaraderie and skills reminiscent of the motley crews who traveled with Terry Rogers over 20 years ago.
