Interview with a Gunman
Gary Clarke, 18/06/09 | Print this article
He’s loud, he’s talented, he’s young and he has exploded onto the Irish Poker scene in recent times. With a community of poker friends that would rival any Hit Squad or Hendon Mob alike, he is part of a group of Irish players that will surely hit the poker headlines for some time to come. Both domestically and internationally this group of young players are a big part of Ireland’s future in poker.
With many Irish expected to travel over for the 2009 installment of the WSOP, this could be our best year yet. It may be difficult to predict who our best chance of a bracelet this year is but last year’s WSOP $2500 No Limit hold’em 5th place John O Shea would have to be on many shortlist. Having recently won two legs of the ECOOP on the ipoker site, he is bang in form too. Having set up camp in Vegas early this year, I caught up with one of Ireland’s front runners heading into the 2009 WSOP.
Firstly I was eager to gauge what O Shea wanted from this year’s trip. For many it’s all about the bracelets, for others its simply about the hard cash. For O Shea it was all about profit.
“Another final table would be great and a braclet would be out of this world. However I am a young guy and there will hopefully be a lot more WSOP’s for me. So my goal is to come back from Vegas having improved my game and make some profit: however small it is.”
On recent form however O Shea must be one of Ireland’s leading hopes. He has made a lot of money online this year and the stage looks set to transfer this form onto the live arena. Having traveled out early to the Series he could possibly be our number one contender. I quizzed O Shea about rising pressure and the possibility of playing number one.
“Number one contender I probably am not. With Andy Black’s theory of even a broke clock tells the right time twice a day, he has to be number one. I am only playing 6 events. However the events I have chosen bar the main event will all be 200/400 fields. These events are Pot limit Omaha and P.LO. Hi-Lo with a lot of the entrants being clueless. So not number one but certainly a leading light. I don’t really feel pressure. At the end of the day poker is an individual’s game. The only person I owe anything to is myself.”
O Shea has been extra lucky in that some of his best friends also happen to be some of the finest poker players in the country. This has helped his development as a player no end and I was interested to see just how much he believes the community around him has helped with what he has achieved to date. O Shea enlightens me about group dynamics and their regular big money scores.
“Oh there is zero doubt that my success as a player or our success as a group results largely from us having our own little community as such and the synergy that exists within. We all point out each others weaknesses and share our strengths. We pass on notes on players and give advise on where good games are. We are cooperative but also highly competitive. We all want to be the best within the group. With so many goods players and big scores now a regular occurrence (it’s rare there isn’t a 30k+ score a month) morale is always high as we share in each others success.”
O Shea has come an extremely long way over the past number of years. Having dropped a steady job in KPMG to become a poker pro, this decision has proved especially fruitful. His success has proved that even when giving up such a respected job as an accountant, playing poker full time can still be a wise decision. I wanted to understand how O Shea rated poker as a career choice both for him and the general poker playing public.
“I have certainly been able to bring my game to another level since I have become full time. I reckon anyone who is beating the games for as much as I was and over a similar period of time as I had been should certainly give full time poker a go but I don’t think there is many people in this position”
This year O Shea took perhaps his most important step. His affiliation with Boylepoker has opened the door for even more success. Now guaranteed to be playing some of the biggest poker tournaments the world has to offer, O Shea can use this sponsorship deal as a springboard to achieve the goals he has always longed for. Finally I asked about long term goals and what sponsorship means to to him.
“I would love to win a braclet. That’s my number one goal. If I achieve that I will die a happy man. I would also like to be respected to as a top class cash player. However, I have a lot of work to do to achieve either. Being a pro with Boylepoker gives me a much better chance of achieving these goals.”
An extrovert at heart, many people will know John O Shea for his outspoken nature and flamboyant appearance. Having caused many a stir in poker clubs around the country, his tomfoolery has been quite the disguise to what is anything but a foolish poker game. His results both live and especially on the Internet show that he is no mug when it comes to cards and he is expected to make a tidy living for some time to come. With the 2009 WSOP shining closely on the horizon, do not be surprised should the name O Shea turn up on the winning lists. His Manchester United name-sake would even be jealous at the potential earnings this man could win.
Gary Clarke can be contacted at gary.clarke@pokerireland.ie
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