Meet Mario Mosbock, the footballer who retired at 21 to make over £1 million as a professional poker player

Former footballer Mario Mosbock retired at the age of just 21 and ended up making over £1 million.

Austrian Mosbock spent four years playing for SKN St. Polten’s reserve and first team between 2014 and 2017.

After making 20 appearances for Polten, Mosbock decided to move to Wiener Neustadter Sportclub in 2017, where he played only twice.

On the back of that, Mosbock decided to retire from football to become a professional poker player at the age of just 21.

According to The Sun, Mosbock has gone on to make over £1 million from online poker since hanging up his football boots.

In a recent tournament, the Austrian reportedly pocketed a whopping £220,000.

It is believed that Mosbock has played poker since he was 12 years old and had already made £23,000 by the time he was 14.

Speaking to Poker Code, the now 27-year-old explained his decision to ditch football for poker.

He said: “I stopped enjoying daily training and no longer felt that football is what I want to do. I increasingly asked myself: 'Is this exactly what you want to devote the next 15 years to?'

“I could extend the contract with the Austrian Bundesliga club, there was also the option to try my hand at a stronger league.”

Instagram/@mariomosboeck

Mosbock added: “But I doubted that even this would bring back my love for football. To sort out my feelings I decided to give up football altogether for a while and see how much I would miss it.

“Since then, I have not regretted my decision for a second and even now I am sure that I did everything right.”

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