Betting on the future
A year ago, a Yorkton man quit his job to play poker. This week, he takes a seat at a major tourney, Mark Melnychuk writes.
Travis Nesbitt doesn’t think luck had anything to do with it.
Last January, the 28-year-old Yorkton man quit his job at a grain elevator.
Driven by a new-found passion for mindfulness and personal development, Nesbitt decided he’d give himself a year to make it in the world of professional poker.
It took only two months. Nesbitt won an online tournament that earned him a seat at the Pokerstars No Limit Hold’em Players Championship, which will be held in the Bahamas Jan. 6-10.
The buy-in for the tournament is $25,000, which is included in the platinum pass Nesbitt won. The minimum prize pool for the tournament will be $8 million, with a bonus $1 million going to the winner. The tournament will be streamed online at Pokerstars TV.
Nesbitt won the pass by coming in first out of 20,000 players. The tournament was a shootout, where every player was pushed into going all-in on every hand. Nesbitt won 16 hands in a row over the course of 20 minutes.
“When I sat down I felt the energy, and I was going to win this free roll. I just knew I was going to win it. It was really weird,” said Nesbitt in a recent interview.
When speaking about how he plays cards, Nesbitt sounds more
like a monk than a poker player.
Concepts like intuition, the power of will and lucid dreams flow from him as he describes how he’s adopted the right mindset to play on the world stage.
“I’m changing my inner self to become what I want on the outer reality,” said Nesbitt.
Nesbitt is fond of the number three. He’s the third-born son in his family, and it has always been the number on his jersey when playing hockey or baseball. The online tournament he won took place on March 3 at 3 p.m.
Nesbitt believes his success wasn’t a coincidence. It’s the result of the work he’s been putting into his poker game, and himself.
Nesbitt grew up on a cattle farm in Willowbrook, located about 25 kilometres west of Yorkton.
He did the traditional farming chores, including cutting twine, helping pull calves and hauling wood.
“You didn’t have to really ask Travis twice,” said his mother, Debbie. “He just wanted to get the chores done so they could get down to the rink or get down to the ball diamond.”
Nesbitt had what could be considered a traditional Saskatchewan upbringing, but his aspirations are anything but.
He became more interested in poker in the past five years. Active in competitive sports, Nesbitt wanted to get into something new.
He also began learning about personal development, and became encouraged to follow his passion rather than keep going to a job he didn’t enjoy.
Where he grew up, people are encouraged to settle down, raise a family and buy a house.
“That wasn’t for me. I kind of just wanted to go my own path and my own direction, and just show that you can actually do what you want to do in life if you work hard and put your mind to something,” he said.
His decision to quit his job to pursue his dream of being a poker player got the kind of reaction one would expect from friends and family.
“They actually thought I was crazy,” said Nesbitt.
If you can be the most relaxed person in the room, it’s going to be so hard for someone to read you because you’re not making any tells.
Debbie was at first concerned when she heard Nesbitt had quit his job. What would he do about finances?
At the same time, she knew her son wasn’t happy where he was, and needed a change.
“Travis I would say most recently has sort of looked inside himself just to figure out who he is and what he wants to do,” said Debbie.
Nesbitt believes the skepticism some have shown for his pursuit lies in under-estimating the complexity of poker. He says it’s about so much more than the cards.
He’s now fully devoted himself to mental preparation for the tournament. He goes to the gym daily, then does meditation and visualization to build up his confidence. Reading an opponent is key in poker, and Nesbitt takes it seriously.
The usual indicators, or tells, lie in small physical motions such as someone’s eyes or their hands, but Nesbitt takes it into the metaphysical. He describes how everyone projects energy in the air around them, and picking up on that vibe can help tell him if that person is on their game.
“It’s like you can get into their subconscious mind a little bit in a way,” said Nesbitt.
At the same time, Nesbitt has to keep his guard up so he doesn’t get read. The pressure of playing for such high stakes can’t show on his face. He swims regularly at a Yorkton pool, which has a view of the Painted Hand Casino, to later help him visualize and mimic the stillness of water.
“If you can be the most relaxed person in the room, it’s going to be so hard for someone to read you because you’re not making any tells. You’re not fidgeting. You’re not moving,” said Nesbitt.
If he wins some serious money, Nesbitt would like to put some of it back into the community.
He’s pledged five per cent of his winnings to the Humboldt Strong Foundation, and would like to also help Yorkton get a new community facility to help people stay physically active.
Debbie is excited for the opportunity Nesbitt has been given.
She doesn’t have his understanding of poker, but has learned a great deal from his journey of self-discovery.
“He’s inspired me about mindfulness, the energy perception, not being so narrow-minded. He’s really sort of dug deep inside himself and is finding himself as far as a person” said Debbie.
Even if he doesn’t win big, Nesbitt believes the experiences and memories from his trip will have value, and he still plans on pursuing his dream.
“I could come home with nothing,” said Nesbitt, “and then I’m still going to be happy.”