Paddy Power ambassador and The Chip Race co-host Dara O’Kearney’s story is less about winning big and more about knowing when to walk away.

He went from being unable to run a block to championing 24-hour ultramarathons, only to swap one kind of suffering for another at the poker table.

According to O’Kearney, the real lessons are about reading people when you have no idea what they’re thinking, learning to tolerate disappointment, and figuring out when it’s time to cut your losses.

“You can do everything right and still lose,” he says.

But the real trick is sticking around just long enough to survive, while the so-called best burn out. In the end, it’s not about the last hand, it’s about being the one who’s still there—unless your body tells you otherwise. Then maybe it’s time to quit.