Travis Nesbitt is all-in in terms of playing poker, and the decision to focus on the deal of the cards has led him to a major opportunity in January.
Nesbitt will travel to Nassau in the Bahamas Jan. 6-10, to play in the PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship where the winner will earn close to $5 million, the top-six will take home $1 million each, and 23 will grab $25,000.
“It’s a chance of a lifetime experience,” he said.
Even a $25,000 finish would provide Nesbitt with the cash to sit in at a number of smaller buy-in events to further hone his poker skills.
“You don’t always have to be going into $25,000 events,” he said with a smile.
The big event should provide an opportunity to learn from some of the pros, and that is important because to be good at Texas Hold’em poker requires skill, said Nesbitt.
“It’s a mind game a lot of it,” he said, adding he spends a lot of time working on things to focus his mind in order to be able to pick up on nuances of other players, and to stay calm to mask his own moves.
For example, Nesbitt is a fan of cold showers.
“They speed up the metabolism,” he said, which he added sharpens his senses.
Nesbitt also works out hard, sometimes two sessions a day.
“You can’t always be comfortable and expect to succeed,” he said. “It’s all about energy.”
Nesbitt also does a number of practises to relax and focus, from a mantra of success to staring at a candle.
“It’s teaching me to have a calm mind,” he said. “… I’ll be able to stay calm because I’m practicing that every day.”
Nesbitt said he was working a regular job for five years but noted “I wasn’t the happiest.”
So Nesbitt embarked on some ‘personal development’ which led him “to quit the job and do what I love to do.”
That meant giving being a poker player a shot.
Focusing on his poker has meant spending a lot of time playing online, which led him to take part in an ‘all-in shoot-out’. Each hand players were required to go all-in, winding their way through the competition.
“I got 16 heads-up wins,” said Nesbitt, which left him the event winner, collecting a $25,000 (US) buy-in to the event in the Bahamas, with all his expenses paid. The package included a spot to take a friend, but Nesbitt said both his brothers will go to provide support.
So how will Nesbitt approach the big money event?
“I’m going to be playing my own game,” he said. “… It’s going to be challenging but that’s the fun of it.”
Nesbitt reiterated that the trip will almost be a case of him going to school.
“It’s not all about winning … It’s meeting new people … learning from them,” he said,
