Dermot Blain is a professional poker player from Dublin, Ireland. Blain made a name for himself in August, 2009 by winning the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Main Event in Macau for more than half a million dollars.
Intro
Blain was born in Sligo, Ireland, but grew up in Killybegs in County Donegal. He started playing poker at local casinos in Derry, Northern Ireland where he moved after he finished college. It was in Derry where Blain won his first tournament for around ��2,000. He then realized that he could make more money playing poker than working as a sales manager. Blain quit his work and moved to Dublin seeking juicier poker games.
Background
Before he got into poker Blain studied sports and recreation in college for three years an then did a one-year course in business. During his time in school and college Blain was always doing sports, he played football, gaelic, and basketball. However, after he finished college, Blain decided to get into the business world and moved to Derry to work in sales.
Soon enough Blain discovered his poker talents by taking down the monthly tournament at a local casino and opted to move to Dublin in order to hit the capital's casinos together with his friends. The move soon gave its benefits as Blain made over �20,000 playing live cash games in just three weeks. It was the begging of 2009, and in just a couple of months Blain went on to win the biggest poker tournament of his career, the APPT Macau Main Event.
World Series of Poker
Blain first appeared in Vegas for the World Series in 2010 and cashed for just over $5,000 at the $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha event which he finished in 40th place. Then in 2011 Blain collected another cash in Vegas, however, he scored a much better result at the WSOP Europe Main Event. Blain final tabled the tournament and eventually placed fifth collecting �275,000 in prize money. He then scored another money finish at the 2012 WSOP for a total of four World Series cashes overall.
Dermot Blain's Top 4 WSOP Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | WSOPE �10,000 Main Event | 5th | �275,000 ($367,362) |
| 2012 | $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha / Six Handed | 28th | $13,509 |
| 2010 | $2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha | 40th | $5,243 |
| 2011 | $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed | 125th | $3,810 |
World Poker Tour
So far Blain has three World Poker Tour cashes on his record. His first one came in 2009 at the WPT Marrakech �500 No-Limit Hold'em event which he finished in 24th place and took home almost �1,000 in prize money. Then in 2011 Blain scored his best WPT result when he placed 11th in the Southern Poker Championship $9,700 Championship Event and collected almost $25,000. One year later Blain cashed in his own neighborhood at the WPT Dublin Main Event. Blain finished that tournament in 22nd place for more than �6,000.
Dermot Blain's Top 3 WPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Southern Poker Championship $9,700 Championship Event | 11th | $24,826 |
| 2012 | WPT Dublin �2,500 Main Event | 22nd | �6,300 ($8,192) |
| 2009 | WPT Marrakech �500 No-Limit Hold'em | 24th | �942 ($1,388) |
European Poker Tour
Despite the fact that the EPTs take place in his own continent, Blain still has to conquer Europe's major poker tour. His best EPT score so far was at the Season 8 EPT Deauville where he placed fifth in the �500 Pot-Limit Omaha event and took home �1,700 in cash. Blain's best Main Event result came in 2010 at the EPT Sanremo when he finished 15th for �35,000.
Dermot Blain's Top 5 EPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Deauville �500 Pot-Limit Omaha | 5th | �1,700 |
| 2010 | Sanremo �5,000 Main Event | 15th | �35,000 |
| 2012 | Berlin �1,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 23rd | �2,700 |
| 2010 | Prague �5,000 Main Event | 31st | �12,500 |
| 2011 | London ��5,000 Main Event | 48th | ��13,000 |
Other Achievements
So far Blain has won one major poker tournament, which was the APPT Macau HK$40,000 Main Event. In 2009 Blain outplayed the field of 428 runners including the American Mike Kim which Blain beat head-up for the title. He took home $541,100 for the win along with the APPT title. Blain later said in an interview that this win gave him the freedom to travel and play bigger events.
Did you know?
- Unlike many other young poker players, Blain prefers live games over the ones played online.
- Blain travels the live tournament circuit along with his friends including such notable Irish poker pros as John O��Shea and Dave Callaghan.
