Dozens of high profile players have quit poker over the years. Some of them disappeared into the ether, others continue to dabble in the occasional tournament.
Vanessa Selbst and Jason Mercier are two of the highest-profile players to quit poker recently. Both were fully-fledged members of the Team PokerStars Pro stable. Both have returned to poker since their retirement, Mercier taking down a huge tournament to mark his brief comeback.
German legend Fedor Holz is another player who quit poker only to frequent the tables regularly. Holz came from nowhere to amassing $32,556,377 in live tournament winnings in only a few years. He also won several million from online poker. Holz semi-retired from poker but is still seen during major online and live festivals.
The three players mentioned above quit poker relatively recently. How many of the following former professional poker players have you heard of or you remember?
Jason “Strassa2” Strasser Quit Poker For a Career in Trading
Jason “Strassa2” Strasser was one of the first high profile players to quit poker. Strasser was a big winner in the online poker world and won around $700,000 from live MTTs in a short period of time.
Strasser’s peers always valued his opinion about poker strategy because he is very analytical. He quit poker to focus on a career in trading, first working for Morgan Stanley as a derivatives trader. He’s now the lead analyst at Trafelet & Company.
The online legend still has poker skills to fall back on as is evident by a 2018 victory. Strasser won the $1,675 NL Hold’em Main Event at WSOP Circuit Choctaw for $332,539. You can’t keep a good poker player down.
Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams Quit Poker To Focus on Family Life
You’ve been around the block if you remember the name Jeff “yellowsub86” Williams. Williams shocked the poker community when he announced his intention to quit poker. He won more than $1.2 million from online tournaments and has $2,228,800 in the live arena.
Williams’ first live MTT victory weighed in at €900,000 ($1,084,036). This was his reward for winning the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Williams went on to win more than $800,000 at the 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker. He disappeared from the online world and only plays the occasional live event these days. William now concentrates on business interests and his growing family since he quit poker.
Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza Completely Quit Poker
Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza is another player of yesteryear who quit poker; he quit for good. Garza has a controversial personality, one that either makes people love or hate him. You can’t take away the fact he was a superb poker player, whatever you thought of him.
Garza won almost $640,000 in live tournaments after delving into poker. He came from a Magic The Gathering background and used his skills there to win tons of cash from poker/
Garza claims to have won more than a million dollars from online cash games. His claims, however, can’t be verified as tracking websites weren’t around then.
Aurangzeb “Ozzy87” Sheikh Was One of the Original High Stakes Specialist
You’ll have never heard of Aurangzeb Sheikh, but what about his “Ozzy87” alias? Sheikh started playing $2/$4 No-Limit Hold’em cash games aged 18-years-old and blew through the stakes rapidly. Sheikh became a regular in $100/$200 and $200/$400 games!
Some compared Sheikh to a young Phil Ivey and said he had a bright future. He all but disappeared from the game without saying anything about plans to quit poker. “Ozzy87” last cashed in a live event in September 2018. Maybe he quit poker for good?
Aaron “aejones” Jones Won $5 Million From Fantasy Sports
Aaron Jones
Aaron “aejones” Jones quit poker in 2017 after accumulating millions from the game. Jones won his first million from poker aged only 21 and went on to become a feared and respected cash game player.
Jones bought a poker training site called LeggoPoker and sold it to Phil Ivey in 2013. His love of sports, particularly Daily Fantasy Sports, took Jones away from poker. All his hard work paid off in 2016 when he won the Draft Kings Fantasy Football World Championship. This impressive victory saw Jones pad his bankroll with a cool $5 million!
Dani “Ansky” Stern of Two Months Two Million Fame
Dani Stern quit poker in 2017 and hasn’t been seen playing since. He was once a high volume player who won millions of dollars through cash games and tournaments. You may remember him from the Two Months Two Million show. This followed Stern and three other grinders in their quest to win $2 million in two months. They failed by $1.4 million but it was still good viewing.
Stern quit after fining it difficult to win at the highest stakes. He still made a healthy living but wasn’t bringing in the funds he wanted. We’re unsure of what Stern does for work these days, but a lot of time is used bringing up his daughter, Chloe.
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Matthew Pitt
If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.