O'Brien is fresh off his first WPT final table

There are a number of identifying elements that players use to identify an online poker pro in a field of live pros. Youth, aggressive play at the table, extensive use of acronyms and a colorful hoodie are just a few of the ways people determine whether or not their opponent is an internet whiz kid or not.

Dan O’Brien possesses most, if not all, of these qualities, but the 24 year-old poker pro is not your typical online grinder. Yes, he may have an aggressive style of play that has served him well on the live circuit, but he spends most of his time travelling to casinos around the world rather than logging into his laptop.  The live scene seems to be treating O’Brien pretty well these days, as he has $875,000 in career live cashes, including both appearances at both World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT) final tables.
Bluff caught up with O’Brien during his 3rd place run at last week’s World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star event to talk about how often he plays online, how he got into poker and how he plans to spend his time between now and the WSOP.

So Dan, would you consider yourself to be an online poker player?

I mean, I play on the internet once a week for tournaments. I’m not an internet grinder by any means. I’m not gonna hate on the internet, cause that is what got me started. That is how I started making money when I was in college because the college games I was playing in dried up. I came up playing small stakes No Limit cash games, but I was never really an online tournament player. I got into the tournament scene after I got third in a $2,000 WSOP event a few years ago. I tried playing online tournaments every day for a few months and I don’t know how people do it, it’s terrible.

You said you got started playing online in college. Where did you go to school and what were you studying?

I went to University of Maryland. I started playing cash games in my dorm and moved to games in other dorms that were playing for a little more money. I was building up some beer and food money and I was pretty happy about how easily it came. I started studying up on the game and playing better and, once those games started to dry up, I started playing online. I was totally excited making $1,500 in a semester my second semester. Then third semester I started making $500 a week and then $500 every two or three days and I had to keep rolling.

Did you finish school?

I did. I am one of the few people who picked up poker in college and finished school. I have a degree in finance and I even went and got a real job. I was going to get out of [school] and go and play cards, but I went to Wall Street and worked at a sell side trading desk called Abel Noser. I worked there for 51 weeks, couldn’t quite make it a full year, and then I headed West for greener pastures.

And that is how you ended up in Las Vegas?

Actually, I went to LA first. I stayed with my roommate who had some extra floor space. I lived on his floor for about seven months because my buddies who were supposed to come to Vegas with me bailed. I talked my other college roommate into coming out to Vegas and a kid I knew from high school into coming out to Vegas. So, I got a two-bedroom house with them and started playing more live.

You aren’t an online player, but your core group of friends seem to all be part of that online community. How did you meet your friends like Brent Hanks, Jason Mercier and Phil Collins?

I briefly met Jason at the cafeteria in the WSOP in 2007.

In the cafeteria? How do you meet someone in the cafeteria?

There was limited seating in there, so we ended up sitting at the same table. I had just had my 3rd place finish in the $2,000 event, so I thought I was hot shit. He seemed like he just had this bag of money, I think, and I was like, “Who are you?” and he said, “I’m Jason Mercier.” “What have you done?” “Ah, I just won San Remo.” “Ah well, good for you, way to go bro.” I hardly remember the interaction and then I met him again at Caesars through Brent Hanks, who is almost a neighbor of mine in Vegas.

You guys always seem to find fun ways to take advantage of your downtime in Las Vegas. What do you do when you’re not playing poker?

Well, I’ve been playing a lot of poker this year, but I’ve been playing some hockey this year. I’ve played a lot of racquetball lately. I do a lot of nothing, which is probably what I most enjoy. I play bags in my backyard, which is some of the most fun you can really have. Hang out with the roommates and Brent’s whole house. I’ve been on the road a ton lately though, so most of my time has been spent travelling and playing poker.

Do you ever worry about getting burnt out or think about taking a break?

You know, I would love to take a break right now, but you know, you gotta make money, gotta make that dough flow. There are things coming up that I just can’t miss. Me and my buddy Steve are going to EPT Snowfest in like a week, plus there is the Wynn $5K in my backyard. I would take a break in early April, but there is NAPT Mohegan Sun and San Remo and Monte Carlo. They’re great tournaments and I already booked my flights, so I’ve got to go.

So it sounds like you’ll have no down time between now and the WSOP?

Well, in May I plan on getting this golf membership for a month and going every day with Brent and Phil and Steve, who lives with Brent. But there is the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) coming up in May too, so I don’t know. I think I’m just going to miss most of SCOOP to play some golf, but we’ll see.

When you aren’t playing poker, golfing or “doing nothing,” you also have a little business project on the side. Tell us what Juicebox is.

Juicebox Clothing is a clothing line that a couple of friends from back home and I dreamt up. We’re mostly t-shirts right now, but we have a lot of things in the works. It’s a lot of fun and I like designing.

Are you the one designing the clothes?

I don’t personally design them, but I have some say. I have someone who is more creative than me and a better artist than me who do the designing.

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