What happens when your passion becomes your profession?
Many don’t start off as professional poker players. In fact, most of us get our introduction to poker through casual games with friends or family, where it’s all about having fun. That’s how my journey began. But the road from playing for fun to competing at high stakes doesn’t happen overnight. It takes preparation, dedication, a love for the game, and a willingness to invest the time and energy needed to master it.
For me, a significant part of my early preparation involved spending long nights in New York City’s card rooms. I spent those hours learning the intricacies of the game, chatting strategy with friends, and crafting my own mental playbook. However, in many ways, the groundwork for that life had been laid long before I ever played a hand of poker.
That’s because, before I ever took a seat at a poker table, I was a passionate gamer.
Gamers and Competitors
My gaming background was built on strategy games, with Warcraft II being one of my favorites. I was deeply driven to compete at a high level, though I never made it to the top ranks. This was before the esports boom, but even back then, it was clear that competitive gaming shared a lot of similarities with poker.
Just like poker, you need to understand the intricacies of the game. You have to know your options, identify optimal strategies, and understand how your opponents might counter them—and how you can counter back. There’s also the psychological aspect—predicting what your opponent is thinking and trying to exploit any weaknesses or blind spots they might have.
Moreover, just like in poker, gaming teaches you how to deal with pressure and how to cope with losses. Learning to bounce back after losing is essential, whether you’re in a poker tournament or playing a competitive game.
An Eye-Opening Experience: The Trip with ElkY
My first real exposure to esports came in 2012 when I traveled to Seoul, Korea, with Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, a fellow PokerStars Team Pro at the time.
ElkY was famous in the poker world, but in Korea, he was a legend in the Starcraft community. He was one of the first non-Koreans to move to Korea and play Starcraft professionally, and to this day, many people recognize him more for his esports achievements than for his poker career.
During our trip, ElkY took me to a Starcraft event held in a massive stadium with roaring crowds watching the live games. It opened my eyes to the possibilities within esports, and from then on, I began noticing esports events growing exponentially, both in the US and around the world.
A Tough Question and a New Venture
Around the same time, I began to reflect on my future in poker. I asked myself a tough question: “Do I want to still be playing poker for a living when I’m 50 or 60?” The answer was clear to me: no.
I’d always dreamed of exploring the world of business, and after my contract with PokerStars ended in 2016, that’s exactly what I did. Together with my friend from the PokerStars Team Pro days, Luca Pagano, we launched our own esports team—Qlash.
Building Something Special
Our first focus was on Hearthstone, a strategic two-player card game that shared some similarities with poker. From there, we expanded into more traditional games like League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and mobile games to engage a wider range of players and fans.
Our aim was simple: build a strong community and organize our own events. We even created an app where fans could compete. To make our project even more exciting, we brought in famous poker names like Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Jeff Gross to invest in the team.
We also built the Qlash House, a training facility in Treviso, Italy, where players could train, compete, stream, and more.
Fostering Growth Beyond Gaming Skills
Luca and I weren’t able to help the team improve at their games—they were already far better than us in that regard—but we focused on creating an environment that fostered growth. We emphasized lessons we’d learned from poker, such as the importance of diet, exercise, and staying physically fit. We also shared insights into managing the emotional highs and lows that come with being a professional, where winning and losing are the only two outcomes.
The Common Threads Between Poker and Esports
I believe one reason poker became so popular is the perfect balance between luck and skill. Skill is crucial, but luck still plays a significant role, and that’s part of what makes poker so exciting.
In contrast, games like chess or Starcraft II rely far less on luck. If I played against the best in either game, I’d likely never win. While these high-level games are fascinating, they don’t have the same appeal for gambling as poker does.
There are certainly areas where poker and esports overlap, but they are also very different in many ways. However, there are two things they both share that anyone entering either field should understand:
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Both require a lot of hard work, despite their appearance as “just games.”
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Everyone—from your friends to your parents—will assume you’re just playing games all day, but it’s a job that demands dedication and discipline.
In the end, turning a hobby into a career doesn’t mean you have to lose the enjoyment that initially drew you to the game, but it does mean you’ll have to put in the effort. That’s what transforms it into a profession.
