Poker Pro To Go All In On Reaching Wimbledon, But Admits Tennis Career Could Be 'Delusional'

Prominent Australian poker pro James Obst is stepping away from cards to pursue a possible professional tennis career.

According to a post on his personal Twitter page, Obst, a 2017 World Series of Poker bracelet winner, will drastically scale back his poker play in order to pursue a goal to compete at Wimbledon, one of the tennis world’s most prestigious annual tournaments.

“My dream has always been to be a professional tennis player and to play at Wimbledon,” the 27-year-old wrote in the aftermath of his 46th-place finish in the main event earlier this month.

“Despite a wretched history of health problems since 16, I always believed I’d make it eventually, just as I wholeheartedly believe it today. Now that I’ve finally gotten on top of most of the issues, it’s time to commit properly. I’m still an incredibly long way away physically, but the dream can’t coexist with playing much poker anymore.”

“The most powerful part of my transformation though, is that if I’m ultimately proven to be delusional and never get close, I’m OK with people seeing that,” added Obst, who became a millionaire playing online poker as a teenager.

Obst admitted in a later Tweet that he has a lot of “ground work” to do before he’s ready for “regular competition” on the tennis court.

His post was met with a lot of support from the poker community, but also some skepticism thanks to the uphill battle he will face to make money from playing tennis.

Thanks ✌️ pic.twitter.com/0OiNm2IudC

— James Obst (@JamesObst) July 11, 2018

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