Poker podcasts are a dime a dozen these days with choices all over the media map. Ten years ago, however, there were a lot fewer options when The Chip Race emerged from a Dublin studio for the first time.
Despite being such early adopters of the audio broadcast format, hosts and Unibet ambassadors David Lappin and Dara O’Kearney were committed to putting out a top-notch product. From the start, their dedication to quality showed through with some of the most honest and direct commentary and interviews in the game, combined with technical skill.
Ten years, and more than 300 episodes later, the duo from Unibet has some of the best poker interview content around with guests from every corner of the poker industry. The main thing that distinguishes Lappin & O’Kearney’s podcast from the field is the raw honesty — the pair can be brutally honest and they never pull punches or shy away from controversial topics or opinions.
That doesn’t always win them friends, but it does result in a podcast that is necessary in the industry. While the podcast has stepped on more than a few industry toes, it has been recognized as the reigning GPI champion for best podcast.
10th Anniversary Episode
Now, the show is celebrating its 10th birthday with a blowout episode. Irish veteran Annette O’Carroll, nose-bleed guru Scott Seiver, and GPI-winning photographer Danny Maxwell are joined by PokerStars executive David Curtis and Tom Hall for the 10th Anniversary edition.
The episode will drop on the weekend of March 15, 2025 with topics ranging from bots in poker through parental responsibilities when playing a game like poker for a living, and poker.pro got a sneak peek. As hard-hitting as any previous episode, the celebration episode adds in a touch of humanity.
Irish poker veteran Annette O’Carroll gives perhaps the most interesting interview of the episode with a mix of reminiscing about the golden old days of the game and pithy comments on the modern game. Among the highlights is a discussion between O’Carroll and O’Kearney about how to handle children who want to join the game.
While poker can be a great hobby or profession for the right kind of person, no one should kid themselves about the dangers and pitfalls of the lifestyle. Both players, who are also parents, share very raw commentary on their feelings towards their children becoming poker players.
Scott Seiver closes out the episode with the sort of deep discussions we’ve come to expect from him. To start the interview, he dishes out some great poker strategy discussions regarding various high-stakes hands he’s been involved in recently, but more than that, the topic moves into the mental game and personal life of high-stakes professionals with Seiver offering his usual deep insight into both his own psyche and others.
The episode kicks off with the Head of Legal Operations and Business Affairs at Flutter, David Curtis with the conversation mostly focusing on game integrity and security while Tom Hall does a great strategy session about a hand where he seriously considered folding pocket kings.
That led to an interesting discussion about the dynamics of TV/live stream tables and how it might change a player’s strategy to know their cards will be televised. Hall pointed out that, while he ultimately called in the specific spot described, had he not been on a TV table he’d have been more inclined to find a fold. Hall’s rationale was that, on a regular table, he could make the fold with no one ultimately knowing what his hand was, and if he’s “wrong,” only he knows it was the wrong choice. In contrast, on the TV table, the “social media cost” of the wrong fold with pocket kings is potentially quite high.
Finally, the show rounds out with the 2025 GPI award-winning photographer, Danny Maxwell. Maxwell won the award for his iconic shot of Barny Boatman’s emotional reaction to his first EPT win, and he gives a great interview about his rise in the media end of the business and his views on the art of poker photography and videography.
The show is a fitting celebration of 10 years as one of the top podcasts in the game. Congratulations to the whole team at The Chip Race, and here’s to 10 more years of award-winning audio content.
(For full disclosure, I was a guest on The Chip Race a couple of years ago to discuss diversity and inclusion in poker)
