A man who memorized 2,808 playing cards after just one glance revealed his memory training method while visiting Ho Chi Minh City.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Dominic O'Brien, an eight-time world memory champion, shared his unique memory training techniques, emphasizing the role of imagination in learning and life.

Dominic O'Brien (68 years old, British), the only person to have won the World Memory Championship eight times, renowned for his extraordinary memory abilities, arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on the morning of December 12th. - Photo: TC

A reporter from Tuoi Tre Online met with Dominic O'Brien (68 years old, British), the only person to have won the World Memory Championship eight times, famous for his ability to memorize 2,808 shuffled playing cards after just one glance.

Appearing at the 34th World Memory Championships (WMC 2025), the British super memory champion shared many stories about memory training skills and the importance of a good memory.

Numbering and categorizing memories of home, trips, etc., is the beginning of a memory training journey.

Beginning his "career" as a super memory expert, Dominic O'Brien recounts two significant milestones in his life.

The first time, when he was 30 years old (in 1987), he saw Creighton Cavello (the British super memory expert who once held the record for memorizing the first 20,000 digits of pi) memorizing a 52-card deck in less than 3 minutes on a BBC television program, and he began to practice.

At age 30, it's no longer easy to improve your memory, but O'Brien says it only took him 2-3 weeks to demonstrate his memorization skills to others. After a year, he could memorize the random order of six decks of cards.

For the second time, in 2002, he again made it into the Guinness World Records by memorizing the random order of 52 decks of cards (equivalent to 2,808 shuffled cards) after only seeing the order once.

Speaking about the "secret" to having a super memory, O'Brien shared that he has his own "techniques" and there are no books that teach it.

"Very few books teach you how to train your memory, so I came up with my own method. I used my imagination; I thought about places I had been to."

"I coded, organized, numbered, and placed memories into locations, such as home, trips, and even golf courses. This method worked, and that's how I started my memory training journey," he revealed.

Dominic O'Brien (68 years old, British) shares his memory training method - Video : THAO THUONG

The first thing you need: imagination.

The British expert on super memory also shared that the first factor in improving memory is imagination; only then comes the ability to concentrate to develop memory.

Dominic O'Brien advises: "Go online and search. There's a lot of information about memory training. See what other people are doing, memory competitors; they give very helpful advice. And anyone can do it. All you need is imagination."

Having a good memory helps people learn and work effectively, and prevents many troublesome problems related to memory loss, which is why Vietnam has recently held many competitions centered around this topic.

"You are at the forefront of exploring the true potential of the brain. Vietnam has fantastic resources. I really appreciate that," O'Brien commented.

Banned from casinos around the world.

Speaking further with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. O'Brien said that he used to use his extraordinary memory and achieve many "wins" whenever he went to casinos. However, once his name became associated with records, all casinos in England, Las Vegas (USA), and almost everywhere in the world banned him.

Currently, he holds the position of Chairman of the UK and European Union Memory Organization, and also works as a writer, with published books including: "How to Develop a Perfect Memory," "The Power of Quantum Memory," "Learning to Memorize," and "How to Pass Exams"...

THAO THUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-thuoc-2-808-la-bai-chi-sau-mot-lan-nhin-tiet-lo-cach-luyen-tri-nho-khi-toi-tp-hcm-20251212135952317.htm