Dara O'Kearney

Dublin

Poker pro/coach/author/commentator ♦️ Unibet Ambassador 🌍 Host @thechiprace 🎤 GPI award winner author 7 #1 seller strat books 🏃‍♂️international ultrarunner

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Articles

Dara O’Kearney: Sexism and Ageism in Poker

1 week ago | vegasslotsonline.com | Dara O'Kearney

Of all the things I do as part of my poker career, playing online has always been my favourite. However, coaching these days is a very close second, as my students are all a lot of fun, and I get almost as much of a buzz from their successes as I do from my own. One of the most fun students I currently coach is a female gamer who makes her living from streaming and pay-for-access content.
The Rise and Rise of the Irish Poker Open Winner Simon Wilson

1 month ago | vegasslotsonline.com | Dara O'Kearney

Thursday, September 29, 2022. I’m in Malta for the first Unibet Open after the pandemic. I press the button for the elevator and get in when it comes. It stops before my floor and someone else gets in. I’m looking at my phone (as I so often am) but I glance up to see a young guy smiling awkwardly and moving from foot to foot. When I make eye contact he says:“You…..you’re Dara O’Kearney, right?” After I confirm my identity he continues. “I’m Linus Lomu on Unibet”I smile. “I know that name.
“The Chip Race’s” Unibet Sponsorship Comes to an End

1 month ago | vegasslotsonline.com | Dara O'Kearney

My first Unibet Open was in Citywest in Dublin in 2011. Looking back years later, my abiding memory was that it was the first time I played in a tournament where I felt like a foreigner in my own country. Exactly how much the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and subsequent austerity affected the Irish poker economy was made clear that there was a tournament in Ireland that got less than a dozen locals to buy in. Nevertheless, it was a very fun weekend.
Steve O’Dwyer Lashes Out at Daniel Smiljkovic in Late Reg Rant

1 month ago | vegasslotsonline.com | Dara O'Kearney |David K Lappin |Dan Katz |Owain Flanders

American poker pro Steve O’Dwyer is not happy with players who abuse the late registration system for tournaments. He took to X on Thursday to make his feelings clear, stating that “tournament organisers and directors need to start being extremely strict” about not allowing players to register once a late reg period has closed. Within the rant, he called out Daniel Smiljkovic specifically. He is a German player with around $92,000 in live earnings.
How to Build a Deep Run in a Poker Tournament

2 months ago | legaluspokersites.com | Dara O'Kearney

How to Build a Deep Run in a Poker Tournament Phil Hellmuth was in the news recently when he announced he doesn’t intend to play the WSOP Main Event this year, citing it as too arduous for players his age.
Memories From Ten Years of the Chip Race: Part Two

2 months ago | vegasslotsonline.com | Dara O'Kearney

In my last piece, I reminisced over five moments from the early days of the Chip Race podcast. Continuing from that, here’s five more memories from the poker podcast, hosted by myself and fellow VegasSlotsOnline News man David Lappin. I’m not going to lie: after a bright start to the second season, things went downhill fast. We struggled to get guests that meant much to our audience, and the listener numbers reflected that, dropping from episode to episode.
The Best Memories From Ten Years of The Chip Race: Part One

2 months ago | vegasslotsonline.com | Dara O'Kearney

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Chip Race podcast, I’ve delved into my memory to recall ten significant moments in the early evolution of the show. It’s March 2015, and after a few meetings with an Irish company that makes podcasts aimed at different niches (they have ones already for rugby, cricket, and horse racing), they pitch the idea that we do one on Irish poker. David and I agree to do it.
What to do when you are the worst player at the table

2 months ago | pokerstrategy.com | Dara O'Kearney

We are all the fish in some games but Dara O'Kearney has a few tips on how to reduce your disadvantage. One of the proudest achievements in my career has been all the people who have gotten to play in large "bucket list" tournaments thanks to my satellite book. This often means, however, that those players are going to be minus EV in the tournament itself. Nothing wrong with that, they might get lucky, use it as a springboard to learn or at least have an amazing experience.
The importance of population tendencies

2 months ago | pokerstrategy.com | Dara O'Kearney

Dara O'Kearney lays out a strategy for making reads on large groups of players (and when to avoid doing so). Population tendencies refer to the common leaks that are reliably present in a large group of players. It may be that NL100 players and under do not check/raise enough, or that PokerStars players are too aggressive, or American live players are too sticky. Perhaps the most important consideration regarding population tendencies is that they do change over time.
Post flop PKOs in 2 minutes

Mar 8, 2025 | pokerstrategy.com | Dara O'Kearney

Dara O'Kearney has the cheat sheet for how to play after the flop when you can win a bounty. Despite being early birds with PKO, ICM and post flop ICM content, Barry and I have only never really done much on the topic of post flop PKO strategy. Here is the two-minute elevator pitch for how to play post flop pots when you can win a bounty. The big surprise is that your post flop continue range does not widen considerably. You continue with the same holdings that continue in a non-PKO hand.