Steve O’Dwyer: EPT Grand Final Champion and High-Roller Standout
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2014
Steve O’Dwyer is an American-born professional poker player based in Dublin, Ireland, and one of the most successful live tournament players of his generation. His résumé is built around an extensive record in European Poker Tour events, international high rollers and some of the largest buy-in tournaments in poker.
O’Dwyer won the 2013 European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event in Monte Carlo and later added major high-roller victories in Macau, the Bahamas, Prague and other international destinations. He has also produced seven-figure results on the World Poker Tour Alpha8 and Triton Poker circuits.
As of September 5, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists O’Dwyer with $47,031,134 in live tournament earnings, a career-best cash of $2,157,000 and a place among the top 20 players on its all-time live tournament money list.
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Who Is Steve O’Dwyer?
Steve O’Dwyer was born April 6, 1982, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He later attended East Carolina University, where he earned a communications degree, and worked briefly in broadcasting before pursuing poker professionally.
According to PokerNews, O’Dwyer became interested in poker after watching Chris Moneymaker win the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event. His recorded live tournament results date to 2007.
O’Dwyer eventually established himself primarily in no-limit hold’em tournaments, particularly high rollers and super high rollers. Rather than building his reputation around WSOP bracelets, his biggest successes have come on international tours with large buy-ins and elite fields.
The Hendon Mob lists his nationality as the United States and his residence as Dublin, Ireland. His career has taken him to major tournaments throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean and the United States.
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Steve O’Dwyer’s 2013 EPT Grand Final Victory
The defining breakthrough of O’Dwyer’s career came at the 2013 European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo.
O’Dwyer won the €10,600 EPT Grand Final Main Event for €1,224,000. PokerStars records the event as one of the signature victories in EPT history and has highlighted O’Dwyer as one of the players who helped define the tour.
The final table was especially notable for the players O’Dwyer had to overcome. It included established champions such as Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Jake Cody, Johnny Lodden and Noah Schwartz.
PokerStars’ history of EPT Monte Carlo lists O’Dwyer as the 2013 champion and credits him with the €1.224 million first prize.
The victory was O’Dwyer’s first seven-figure live tournament score and established him as a major international tournament player. His results accelerated dramatically over the following years.
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Major High-Roller Victories
O’Dwyer’s career after Monte Carlo became closely associated with high-stakes tournament poker.
Among his most significant victories are:
2013 European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event — €1,224,000
2014 APPT Macau Super High Roller — approximately $1.81 million
2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller — $1,872,580
2015 EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller — €746,543
2023 WPT Alpha8 for One Drop Korea — $1,009,520
His 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller victory remains one of the largest tournament wins of his career. The $1,872,580 first-place prize was his biggest recorded cash until 2024.
O’Dwyer also won the €50,000 Super High Roller at EPT Prague in December 2015. He defeated a 56-entry field and earned €746,543.
The geographic range of those victories is part of what distinguishes his record. O’Dwyer has been successful across different tours and poker markets rather than depending on one annual series or one casino for the majority of his career earnings.
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Career-Best $2.157 Million Triton Score
O’Dwyer recorded the largest live tournament cash of his career in May 2024 at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro.
He finished third in a $200,000 no-limit hold’em event and earned $2,157,000.
The result surpassed the $1,872,580 he collected for winning the 2015 PCA Super High Roller and became his first recorded live score above $2 million.
Although the Triton result was not a tournament victory, it demonstrated O’Dwyer’s continued ability to compete successfully against high-level fields more than a decade after his EPT Grand Final breakthrough.
His high-stakes results continued in 2025. At Triton Jeju in March, O’Dwyer finished fourth in a $50,000 seven-handed no-limit hold’em event for $854,000.
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Steve O’Dwyer’s Live Tournament Earnings
As of September 5, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Steve O’Dwyer with $47,031,134 in live tournament earnings.
That total places him 16th on the database’s all-time live tournament money list at the time of this profile update. Hendon Mob also lists him 10th among United States players by live tournament earnings and first among players associated with Colorado.
His career-best live cash is $2,157,000.
O’Dwyer’s earnings total has been built through a combination of major victories, repeated high-roller final tables and deep finishes in some of poker’s largest buy-in events. The size of his career earnings is particularly notable because his résumé is not centered on the World Series of Poker.
Tournament earnings databases can change whenever new results are added or corrected, so these figures should be treated as a dated snapshot rather than a permanent career total.
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Steve O’Dwyer’s WSOP Record
O’Dwyer has never won a World Series of Poker bracelet.
As of September 2026, the official WSOP player database lists him with:
0 WSOP bracelets
0 WSOP Circuit rings
69 recorded cashes
15 final tables
$6,268,756 in earnings across events tracked on his WSOP player profile
O’Dwyer has recorded WSOP results dating back to 2007, when he cashed in the Main Event and several preliminary events.
His lack of a bracelet is unusual when compared with the scale of his overall tournament record, but his career has followed a different path from players who build their schedules primarily around the summer WSOP in Las Vegas.
PokerNews has reported that O’Dwyer has often chosen not to make the WSOP the centerpiece of his annual tournament schedule. His biggest accomplishments instead came on the EPT and international high-roller circuit.
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O’Dwyer and the European Poker Tour
The European Poker Tour has played a central role in O’Dwyer’s career.
His 2013 Monte Carlo Main Event championship remains his signature EPT victory, but his relationship with the tour extends far beyond that result. He has accumulated numerous high-roller wins, final tables and Main Event cashes at PokerStars festivals across Europe.
PokerStars has described O’Dwyer as one of the key players who shaped the history of the EPT and noted that he became the tour’s all-time earnings leader during its first two decades.
His EPT results include significant performances in Monte Carlo, Prague, Malta, Barcelona and other long-running tour stops.
O’Dwyer was still producing notable EPT results in 2025. At EPT Monte Carlo that May, he finished second in a €25,000 no-limit hold’em event for €142,600 and fifth in a €10,200 event for €63,100.
That longevity is an important part of his profile. His EPT Grand Final title came in 2013, yet he remained competitive in high buy-in events on the same tour more than a decade later.
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World Poker Tour and Alpha8 Success
O’Dwyer has also recorded significant World Poker Tour results.
The World Poker Tour player database lists three Main Tour final tables but no Main Tour championships.
His WPT-related résumé nevertheless includes a major seven-figure victory. In 2023, O’Dwyer won the WPT Alpha8 for One Drop event in South Korea for $1,009,520.
Alpha8 is tracked separately from the WPT Main Tour, which is why the official WPT database can show O’Dwyer with zero Main Tour titles while also recording his Alpha8 victory.
Earlier in his career, O’Dwyer reached major WPT final tables at Bellagio and finished runner-up in WPT Venice.
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What Makes Steve O’Dwyer’s Career Significant?
O’Dwyer’s career stands out because of his sustained success in tournaments where the buy-ins and average level of competition are exceptionally high.
Many tournament professionals build large career totals through hundreds of lower- and mid-buy-in events. O’Dwyer has accumulated a substantial portion of his earnings in high rollers and super high rollers, where fields are smaller but often contain many of the game’s strongest tournament players.
His résumé also spans several eras of modern poker.
He began recording live tournament results during the post-Moneymaker poker boom, became an EPT champion in 2013, emerged as a regular winner during the rapid expansion of the global high-roller circuit and continued producing major results during the Triton era.
His record is therefore broader than any one championship. The combination of longevity, international success and repeated high-stakes results explains why O’Dwyer has remained prominent even without a WSOP bracelet.
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Steve O’Dwyer’s Recent Poker Results
O’Dwyer continues to appear in live tournament results.
His 2025 season included several substantial scores. In addition to his $854,000 fourth-place finish at Triton Jeju, he reached multiple final tables at EPT Monte Carlo and continued playing major events in Europe and Asia.
In November 2025, he finished sixth in the Asian Poker Tour Championship Superstar Championship in Taipei for the equivalent of more than $108,000.
His recorded 2026 results include two cashes at the Irish Poker Open in Dublin.
O’Dwyer finished 57th in the €1,150 Luxon Mystery Bounty and then placed 16th in the €1,150 Irish Open Main Event. The Main Event finish paid €24,120, approximately $27,700 at the exchange rate reflected by The Hendon Mob.
As of September 5, 2026, the Irish Open Main Event finish is the most recent 2026 live result listed for O’Dwyer in The Hendon Mob database.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much has Steve O’Dwyer won in live poker tournaments?
As of September 5, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Steve O’Dwyer with $47,031,134 in live tournament earnings. That figure places him among the leading live tournament earners in poker history.
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What is Steve O’Dwyer ’s biggest poker cash?
Steve O’Dwyer’s largest recorded live tournament cash is $2,157,000. He earned it by finishing third in a $200,000 no-limit hold’em event at the 2024 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in Montenegro.
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Did Steve O’Dwyer win the EPT Grand Final?
Yes. Steve O’Dwyer won the 2013 European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event in Monte Carlo for €1,224,000. The victory became one of the defining results of his career.
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How many WSOP bracelets does Steve O’Dwyer have?
Steve O’Dwyer has zero WSOP bracelets. The official WSOP database lists him with no bracelet victories as of September 2026.
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Does Steve O’Dwyer have a WSOP Circuit ring?
No. The official WSOP player profile for Steve O’Dwyer lists zero WSOP Circuit rings as of September 2026.
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Has Steve O’Dwyer won a WPT title?
Steve O’Dwyer has not won a WPT Main Tour title. The WPT separately records his victory in the 2023 Alpha8 for One Drop Korea event, where he earned $1,009,520.
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Where is Steve O’Dwyer from?
Steve O’Dwyer was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Hendon Mob lists his nationality as the United States and his current residence as Dublin, Ireland.
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Is Steve O’Dwyer still active in poker?
Yes. O’Dwyer continues to record live tournament results. His 2026 cashes include a 16th-place finish in the Irish Open Main Event in Dublin, and he recorded several major high-roller results during 2025.
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Why is Steve O’Dwyer well known in poker?
Steve O’Dwyer is best known for winning the 2013 EPT Grand Final Main Event and for his long record of success in international high-roller tournaments. His career includes more than $47 million in recorded live earnings, multiple seven-figure scores and major victories across Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.