It is no secret that poker is a game that can and will grind just about anyone down. There are few areas in life where you can do everything right and still fall short. It doesn’t take many frustrating poker sessions for some players to call it quits. For others, it is a matter of realizing that there is life at the end of the tunnel. Poker can be a ton of fun when you are winning, and it even gives you a sort of high, but few things can be more frustrating than losing in poker.
When some players get to this point, they challenge themselves to push through and make the best of it. For other players, though, this is when it’s time to call it quits. Calling it quits is not as lazy as it might sound. In poker, quitting the game might be an infinitely better choice than pushing through the tough times. It can be hard to explain this to someone who hasn’t really experienced the ups and downs that come with the game, but it is a harsh reality.
For these three poker players, poker is a mere thing of the past. When they say they are quitting the game, however, it should not be interpreted quite so literally. For most people, quitting means never doing something again. But as the saying goes, you don’t quit poker, poker quits you. This is the point where these players are now. McDonald and Benefield have hardly wrapped up their careers completely, but Eastgate appears set on a graceful departure from the game that made him a celebrity and a millionaire.
One of the most curious things about this lot of players is their age. None of them have been around the game for more than a few years, and yet they have already decided that it is not their true calling. This is something that takes a lot of people 20 years to realize, whether it be in regards to poker or another career path.
Another interesting note about these players is that only Benefield has proven an ability to beat high stakes cash games with consistency. If you can effectively beat cash games, there will always be money flowing in. With multi-table tournaments, as was the case with Eastgate and McDonald, you will be stuck without hitting the right hands. Nonetheless, credit needs to be given to these players for stepping forward and admitting that poker isn’t for them, and that they really want to move on with their lives.
Mike McDonald
Mike McDonald is perhaps the least-known player on this list. He won an EPT event in 2008 for over 1 million dollars, but has kept a relatively low profile. He is best known as Timex on the Two Plus Two forums, and can often be found chiming in on any random thread. His exit from poker was not exactly quiet or subtle, in fact, it was quite the opposite After making a blog post about how he wanted to move onto new things, the poker community quickly labeled McDonald as an emo kid who was just on a downswing.
This doesn’t appear to be the actual case, however, as he has maintained that he will in fact be dropping the game. He admits that he will be playing a handful of events, but also notes that these were planned prior to his decision to quit poker. McDonald is still very young, and although he says he is done, there is always a shot that he is back on the poker scene within a short amount of time.
Peter Eastgate
We know that Peter Eastgate was serious about his departure from poker because even his sponsor, PokerStars, made an official release on their website. Although PokerStars touted Eastgate’s plans as a minor break, it has become apparent that Eastgate simply wants out of the poker world. It can be quite a daunting task to live up to expectations when you become the youngest Main Event winner in World Series of Poker history.
Even if this feat has since been topped by Joe Cada, Eastgate remains one of the younger well-known players in the game. He is striving to live a more laid back life and wants to abandon the high-stress lifestyle that poker brings, but who can blame him? Sometimes fame and fortune make life a lot more difficult than could have possibly been anticipated.
David Benefield
David Benefield, commonly referred to as Raptor, is a popular high stakes poker player. He is perhaps best known by his association to Tom Dwan (durrrr) and the Ship It Holla Ballas. If you don’t remember that crew of poker players, you probably arrived on the poker scene just a few years too late. With that said, Benefield and his crew were the absolute kings of online poker when the high stakes action was in its prime.
You will still find the likes of Tom Dwan in the nosebleed games, but most of the other Ship It Holla Ballas have faded off into relative obscurity. Benefield opted to go back to school, as he thought it would be a challenge and that he would enjoy the overall change of pace. There is little doubt that he has a well-padded bankroll from his poker days, so Benefield’s future looks about as bright as any other former high stakes poker pro. That is, of course, unless you enjoy devastating hundred thousand dollar swings on a daily basis. Obviously that’s not what Benefield is into, though.
Related Posts
- 2008 WSOP Champ Peter Eastgate Quits Poker - July 8, 2010
- “Friend or Foe” – Most Heated Disputes Between Poker Players - July 22, 2010
- The Five Biggest Winners at the 2010 WSOP - August 24, 2010
Written by Jonathan Wanchalk on August 28th, 2010