Last Laugh For The O'Dea's

The Man With The Bag
A couple of days into this years WSOP, I was hanging about on the rail talking to two former final tableists Andy Black and Scott Gray. We were keeping the conversation pretty simple so we didn’t lose Andy. We got to wondering wtf these yanks were carrying around in these big backpacks.

In Ireland you need one pocket for the bankroll and the other for the beer money and that’s about it. An Irish player with a backpack is presumed to be homeless, at least temporarily. Scott was of the opinion that the bag was obviously for carrying cash just in case a man hit a ridiculous roll.

Then a guy with the biggest bag of all sat down in front of us. Andy couldn’t help himself and asked what he was carrying around. He politely gave us a list of stuff that we’d never have thought of as vital in a million years. Turned out Scott was right though. His name was Ben Lamb, a man who was to go on one of the most amazing runs in WSOP history.

Last Laugh For The O’Dea’s
I’m still on American time and its Eoghan O’Dea’s fault. Like the rest of Ireland I’ve been glued to the net following his magnificent march towards immortality. Every now and again I got a fit of the giggles and its not JUST because I’m an idiot.

I kept thinking back to an Irish Open in the Merrion Club years ago.

I was playing in a cash game with Don O’Dea who had brought his teenage son with him. Eoghan was sitting behind the Don watching everything. Loads of guys (I was one of them) were telling Eoghan that any fool can pass and that he’d learn far more sitting behind a real player. Dublin’s a tough town. I guess we’ve got our answer.