The start of 2018 has seen a strange phenomenon hit the professional poker circuit. At the start of the year – New Year’s Eve, to be exact – the winningest woman in the history of poker, Vanessa Selbst, chose to announce the severing of her ties with PokerStars and the end of her active career as a poker player. Although she wouldn’t name one exact reason for her leaving the game, there were several little things that she noted made up her mind.
For Selbst, traveling to different tournament stops around the world wasn’t as appealing as it used to be. In her announcement, Selbst also wrote, “I don’t feel good about promoting poker as an ambassador anymore (I can’t tell amateurs they should come play online and it’s beatable for them when I don’t feel like it’s true).” Finally, Selbst noted that poker wasn’t as much fun as it used to be – it was beginning to become more “work” to keep the skills sharp.
Hot on the heels of Selbst’s announcement that she would be departing the game (departing may be a bit much – she will not be an active professional anymore), another top Team PokerStars Pro decided to cut back on his schedule. As the 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure kicked off in the Bahamas, PokerStars released a letter from Jason Mercier regarding his situation with the #1 online poker site in the world. “I knew I would eventually write a piece like this,” Mercier started. “The question in my mind was always when.”
After telling his fans of he and his wife, the former Natasha Barbour, taking their three-month old son to the doctor for a head cold, Mercier did what most men did on a Sunday – he sat around and watched sports until he sat down to pen what would be his resignation letter from Team PokerStars Pro. “This is my first time missing the PCA since I started traveling to play live poker,” he wrote. “Up until this year, I had gone ten years in a row…My choice to skip the PCA was hard, however all the choices that eventually led me to that decision were quite easy.”
Mercier is man enough to admit that, when he proposed to Barbour, he knew that his lifestyle was due for a radical change. His contract with PokerStars was set to expire and, as Natasha became pregnant and had their son, Marco, earlier this year, Mercier had to answer key questions such as how much did he want to travel, how much did poker mean to him, and other pertinent thoughts that come with newfound territory such as his.
“As I thought more and more over the days and weeks, the answer seemed simple. This was probably going to be the end of my relationship with PokerStars and the end of my full-time travel schedule.” While Mercier didn’t say directly he was stepping away from the game permanently (major Florida tournaments and this year’s World Series of Poker are on his schedule), he said that the “most important concern now, and my priority, is being a full-time father and husband.”
So why are players with obvious skills in the game – as stated previously, Selbst is already the winningest female player in the history of the game and, just two years ago, Mercier went first-second-first in a four-day span during the WSOP – choosing this point to remove themselves from the game?
First off, neither of them are going to be hard up for money. Selbst graduated law school several years ago and has passed the bar. Along with the more than $12 million she made over her career – and let’s be honest, she hasn’t pissed through all that money), to say Selbst is set pretty good isn’t a bad statement. And even though he may have been a bit more of a “betting man” (AKA not a stranger to prop bets), Mercier’s $18 million in lifetime earnings are going to keep him in decent shape too. If it isn’t the money, what could it be.
Both Selbst and Mercier have made major changes in their lives of late, with Selbst looking to start a family with her significant other and the birth of Mercier’s first child. Having a stable home relationship and children is something that most people, when they get further into adulthood, desire. Once they have that, then they find it is the most fulfilling thing in their lives, even above their professions.
It could also be the fact that poker, for the most part, is a young person’s game. Yes, Doyle Brunson is still treading the halls of the Bellagio, but he is a rarity. If we are to be honest, the game of poker – and especially the world of tournament poker – has seemingly gone to the younger generation. There are several reasons for this phenomenon.
Younger players have more time to dedicate to the study, training and actual play that even a 34 or 35-year old might have, especially if that thirtysomething has a spouse and a child. Younger players have fewer “ties” that keep them in a home or apartment and allow them to roam the world without a care (trust me, when your son or wife isn’t feeling well, your mind is always drifting off wondering how they are). And younger players also have a carefree attitude that allows them to be fearless – older players may be a bit worried about making that mortgage payment at the end of the month or some other “domestic” situation.
It is an astute statement that “youth is wasted on the young.” But it is a fact of life that, even in the world of poker, the older you are (and the more responsibilities you have), you’re not going to be as willing to take the risks to play the game (arguably at its apex). Thus, once you’ve achieved the things that Selbst and Mercier have done (both are WSOP bracelet winners and are at the peak of their games) and made the money that they have, other things become more important.
Now neither Selbst or Mercier stated that they were gone for good (but they will be the best recreational players in the world!). But they have made the decision to walk away from the game and do other things, which might take more guts than facing a river bet from Fedor Holz. While we wish them the best in their future endeavors, it does leave one wondering who might be next on the list.
