Top Poker Pros Who Switched Careers: From Cards to Crypto and More

Professional poker players often find themselves at a crossroads, deciding whether to continue their poker careers or pursue other interests. Here are five notable poker pros who have made significant career shifts, trading their cards for new ventures.

Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospelier

Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospelier is a unique case in the poker world. He is a professional player in both poker and eSports. Grospelier became the first sponsored pro at both poker and eSports, managing to keep himself near the peak of both games despite the challenges of balancing his time.

Doug Polk

Doug Polk, known for his dominance in online heads-up No Limit Hold’em and his active presence on Twitter, retired from poker in 2018. He turned to his other love, cryptocurrency trading, having first bought Bitcoin back in 2013. Polk has gained quite a fan following on YouTube, with 166k subscribers to his DougPolkCrypto vlogs.

Annette Obrestad

Annette Obrestad, the Norwegian teen sensation, took the poker world by storm. She won £6.7million by the time she gave up the game. Obrestad quietly faded out of the poker scene and returned as a make-up guru, with 'Annette's Makeup Corner' on YouTube. She now shares mascara and eyeshadow videos with her 40,000+ YouTube subscribers and 15,000+ Instagram fans.

Vanessa Selbst

Vanessa Selbst, the all-time winningest female player in history, decided to retire from poker in 2017. She transitioned into hedge fund trading, finding the new career exhausting, exciting, and completely humbling every single day. Selbst appeared at the WSOP not long after her career change, showing that giving up her passion for cards hasn’t been easy.

Peter Eastgate

Peter Eastgate, the 2008 WSOP Main Event winner, retired from poker in 2010. Eastgate explained that his goal was to become financially independent and that he wanted to find out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He was last heard of living a quiet life in Denmark, spending every day like it’s a Sunday, hanging out with friends and going for long walks.