David Lappin and Dara O’Kearney’s chemistry and love for the game have driven The Chip Race podcast to three Global Poker Index awards as Best Podcast. Yet, despite the show's worldwide fan base and accolades, it almost vanished from the airwaves for good this past year.
Luckily for the industry, WPT Global came along to save the day.
“We're happy to be with WPT Global,” says Lappin. “It’s different than their ClubWPT Gold, which is quite a disruptor brand with fun marketing adventures and misadventures by the looks of things.
The WPT Global brand also employs a distinct marketing approach. Dara and I are encouraged to be as creative as possible and to perform some fun skits, which we incorporated into our mix. We’re really enjoying working with their Irish team; they’re very dynamic.”
Lappin would seem to be the Oscar to O’Kearney’s Felix in their odd couple bromance as partners in poker crime. “Dara can’t deny it’s a bromance. He always says I make it gay, but I don't care. We work so well together. Dara is a workhorse, and frankly, a workaholic.
“Dara puts in incredible amounts of hours, both into his own game and into other people's games, through his coaching, Simplified Poker books, and website. It’s an incredible resource for the community. I’m very fortunate that he carves out a little bit of time for me.”
David did take time out of his busy day from writing, recording, and occasionally playing poker (where he recently was challenged by PokerOrg’s TJ Reid) to fill PokerOrg in on the podcast’s new sponsor and future episodes of The Chip Race.
'The real him is not well known'
I’ve heard you say that the most recent episode of The Chip Race Podcast (Season 26, Episode 7) is close to becoming one of the most popular episodes you’ve ever done. Congrats.
At the time of recording this interview with you, it is the third most listened to episode of the show. However, given that we tend to receive 10 to 15 percent of our listens in the second week, it will likely become number one.
Why do you think it’s done so well?
I think it just speaks to how that particular episode resonated with poker fans. Obviously, we had a big name with Stephen Chidwick on the show. He's such an amazing guy and such an incredible player. He’s relatively underexposed and not very well-known, except for your recent interview with him, which I greatly respect.
David, Stephen is one of the top career money earners in the game. How can he be underexposed to fans worldwide?
Well, I mean, the real him is not well known. But it was great to have him on the Chip Race.
Obviously, you were on the show. Maybe that's the real reason it's the biggest ever. I think that makes much more sense. (laughs)
I think so too. (laughs)
Thanks for coming on to talk about your mental health series for PokerOrg. Dara and I are glad we could amplify such a phenomenal series.
I appreciate that, David. Who else was on the episode?
We also had a strategy segment with Andreas Mavomoustakis. We got a little insight into how his sort of weird, mad, wonderful brain computes a hand differently from most.
He’s not yet a household name. But mark my words, I think he will be a big online crusher. In the last couple of years, he’s been moving up the stakes quite meteorically. I have a feeling he's going to smash live poker, too. He just came third in a live event here at EPT Malta.
What was your main takeaway from the interview with Stephen?
I think the biggest takeaway is that someone as successful and rich as he is, and someone whose life seems great and quite enviable in many ways, is actually having some struggles.
Everybody is susceptible to these things, regardless of their walk of life or the success in what they're doing. Anxiety, depression, feeling blue, or feeling sad can manifest in anyone’s life.
He’s genuinely one of the best players ever to play the game. Knowing that someone at his level is having struggles is interesting. That's maybe one of the main reasons why he's been guarded or protective about his private life for so long.
It’s very difficult to share those things in public. It was a brave X post by Chidwick.
I agree. I think that may be part of the reason it's hard to talk about; there's a stigma attached to it. But also, maybe the idea that when you're doing so well, you don't want to do a kind of ‘Oh, poor me story.’ And people will be like, ‘fuck him, he's rich and successful. Why are we caring about his touch of sadness or whatever?’
It's always lovely to hear from somebody who's as articulate as Stephen is. It was a lovely interview. We're really grateful that he took the time to do our show.
'It's a very intentional move'
You have a new sponsor for the show: WPT Global. How is that going?
It’s been great. For the last few weeks, we've been quite preoccupied with these crazy, fun freerolls that they have.
We know that some people tried out the site around three or four years ago. Dara and I know it's so much better now, and we want people to come back and check it out.
Could you share more about your thoughts on the recent news of the WSOPE moving to Prague?
Sure. That's a big story. So obviously, WSOP Europe has been absolutely floundering for years in that one-horse and two-brothel town that is Rozvadov. Nobody really wants to go there.
The WSOP are not idiots. So, they're moving it to Prague, which is a superb idea and a phenomenal location.
But they put it bang smack on top of the Irish Open, which is actually kind of idiotic. I think when you look at what they did with Paradise, plunking it down on top of the WPT World Championship, it's a very intentional move to draw players away from the Irish Open, which is an absolutely beloved festival.
They've probably made a big mistake here. I can't imagine many people who have attended the Irish Open not choosing to return again next year.
I say go to the Irish Open and ignore becoming the 49,000th person to win a bracelet or whatever it is.
What can we expect in the next episode of The Chip Race?
Next episode is really fun; we’re keen to do something different. We've gone with a Hendon Mob theme. Roland Boothby stops by to talk about the Hendon Mob Championship, something that I've always held in very high esteem.
We have Joe Beevers, who has recently signed on as a PartyPoker Ambassador in the UK. And Barny Boatman, who's a bit of a regular on the show.
Barny is the man. He’s always been one of my favorite interviewees.
He’s such a legend. You guys over there have your Poker Hall of Fame. It's inexplicable to me that Barney wasn't in a long time ago. If we had a European Hall of Fame, he would be the first name voted in.
He’s genuinely a compassionate, loving, decent bloke who cares about the game. He’s a wonderful ambassador for poker. So, tune in for the next episode of The Chip Race and see what the founders of The Hendon Mob are up to.
