Suffering, Obsession, and Knowing When to Quit | Dara O'Kearney

Dara O'Kearney has been a professional poker player for nearly twenty years. Before that he was Ireland's 24-hour ultramarathon champion, having taken up running in his thirties because he was out of shape and couldn't manage 800 metres. We talked about what both of those things actually teach you — reading people, deciding without enough information, being willing to suffer, and why the best lesson poker gives you about life is knowing when to fold. He also tells the story of waking up in a hospital in Quebec with two doctors arguing over which organ was going to kill him. Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 01:15 The people you can't read are the best and the worst 06:27 Why life is more like poker than chess 09:49 You can do everything right and still lose 13:12 Getting the thing you wanted and feeling nothing 16:47 Deciding about someone on incomplete information 19:03 One table, then two, then thirty 24:35 Leaving a steady job at 42 27:40 The doubt didn't come from where he expected 31:05 Out of shape at 30 and couldn't run 800 metres 34:14 Everyone he assumed was a contender wasn't 39:17 Training yourself to keep going when you're already tired 44:51 The night it went too far 46:54 Why you have to be willing to suffer 48:38 A job where most days end in disappointment 53:46 The last hand doesn't matter. The next one does 57:06 Being the one who's still there 01:00:36 Why the best disappear and the eighth best survives 01:04:15 Competitiveness, and why nobody encourages it now 01:09:45 Giving yourself twelve minutes to be angry 01:12:59 Quitting is the most important skill of all Follow along or reach out: Instagram: harry.2me TikTok: harry.2me Spotify: The Search Podcast Email: info@thesearchpodcast.ie