Former Professional Footballer Cleaning Up at High Stakes

19:31
11 Nov

A former professional footballer who gave up the game after admitting he’d lost his passion has found success on the high-stakes poker circuit.

Mario Mosbock, 27, from Austria, was sick of the daily training his football career required and decided to walk away from a life that many people would consider a dream. But then, only a few years later, he’s rubbing shoulders with the best that poker has to offer

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Mosbock spent four years playing for SKN St. Polten’s reserve and first team between 2014 and 2017, registering 20 appearances.

After a transfer to Wiener Neustadter Sportclub yielded only two more games, he had finally had enough.

“I stopped enjoying daily training and no longer felt that football is what I want to do.

"I increasingly asked myself: 'Is this exactly what you want to devote the next 15 years to?

“I could extend the contract with the Austrian Bundesliga club, there was also the option to try my hand at a stronger league.

"But I doubted that even this would bring back my love for football. To sort out my feelings I decided to give up football altogether for a while and see how much I would miss it.

“Since then, I have not regretted my decision for a second and even now I am sure that I did everything right.”

Smart Move

Mosbock’s introduction to poker came in 2008 at the age of only 12, but he was quickly taken in by the game.

Withdrawing around $30,000 as a 14-year-old surely gave him the confidence that he could compete at a high level if he ever focused squarely on the game.

Since hanging up his boots, Mosbock was proud to have registered online winning of more than $1,200,000, but recently everything has jumped up a gear and he’s been crushing at the Triton Super High Roller Series.

There’s no doubt that this is a guy who has what it takes.



Runner up to Dan Smith in Event #1 $200K NL Hold’em Triton Invitational is one hell of a result. Check out the replay above to see how unfazed the 27-year-old was fighting for the $3,870,000 first-place prize.

As it was, the $2,690,000 he scooped for runner-up would likely have been more than satisfactory.

But then only a week later he hit the jackpot with an incredible victory in Event #8 – $40,000 NLH – 7 Handed – Mystery Bounty for $718,000 (+$720K from 10 bounties).



That’s more than $4,000,000 from just two results.

Keep your eyes on this young man as he continues to climb the poker ladder towards the very top.