Mario Mosböck is proving to be one of the new stars of the live poker scene. His rise from professional football player to high-stakes tournament crusher has been nothing short of outstanding.
The 27-year-old Austrian seemingly appeared out of nowhere only a few years ago, and already he is mixing it with the best at the Triton Super High Roller Series, and with much success.
But when you see what kind of training and support he had, you will understand.
Mario Mosböck Gives Up on Football Dreams for Poker
There are countless young boys across the world today who would give anything to have a shot at the footballing pro ranks.
For most of them, it would be unthinkable to give up that opportunity when they have it in the palm of their hand.
And yet, that is exactly what 21-year-old Mario Mosböck did.
He played for four seasons in the Austrian football league at SKN Sankt Pölten and later SC Wiener Neustadt, and then decided he’d had enough.
That’s fair enough if the passion is no longer there, we think. And especially if another interest is starting to become his main focus in life.
“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.
“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.”
And so after around four thousand minutes across 70 professional appearances, Mario Mosböck was now diving deep into the world of poker, far farther than he’d ever been before.
Mario Mosböck Takes His Game to the Next Level in the Pokercode Grindhouse
Mario Mosböck took up the game of poker at the tender age of 12 and seems to have been a natural from the start.
Within a couple of years he was up around $30,000 but the allure of being a football star was still the stronger pull.
But Mosböck’s love of poker never went away and he was soon moving in circles that included none other than German superstar Fedor Holz.
A friendship beckoned and Holz gave Mosböck support while he decided which was the best direction for his career.
In 2021, it all started to come together. No doubt in no small part to taking part in the Pokercode Grindhouse.
He was absolutely crushing the online game by now and we knew he had finally arrived when he chalked up a career-defining win in the $1,050 SCOOP Main Event for $838,909.
After a couple more years of training with Fedor Holz and his team, it was time to move into the live arena and see how he stacked up against the superstars of the game.
The Triton Super High Roller Series is as tough as it gets. Not only in terms of technically great players but also with the insane pressure that comes with playing for that amount of money.
Seemingly, however, that wasn’t a hurdle this incredibly talented player found in his way.
Mario Mosböck Lines Up Against the Best at Triton
Only 12 months ago, the Triton crew headed over to Vietnam where Mosböck would make his debut.
He played five events with the smallest being a $15,000 NL hold’em tournament and the biggest the $100,000 Main Event.
Three cashes out of five tournaments played was a great start to life lining up against the likes of Phil Ivey and Jason Koon.
Moving on to Cyprus two months later, only a single cash was forthcoming out of four events.
And then all the players made the move to the glitz and glamour of Monte Carlo in October where Mario Mosböck would start to show us all just who he is.
He came ever so close to winning the $200,000 NL Hold’em Invitational, eventually settling for second place behind poker legend Dan Smith. That result brought him his career best cash of $2,690,000.
A run of four non-cashes followed on from that great result and then lightning struck in the $40,000 NL Hold’em Mystery Bounty.
In a field containing countless poker greats, Mario Mosböck won his first Triton Super High Roller Series title for $1,438,000.
Now he had fully arrived in the high-stakes tournament scene.
And in Jeju a couple of weeks ago, he did it again. After starting his series with four bustouts, he won the $25,000 NL Hold’em GGMillion$ for $1,191,196.
A couple more cashes to close out the series leave the young austrian with a Triton record of $6,267,996 in prize money and two titles. Very impressive!
In only two months, the poker world will train its focus over to Las Vegas where the 2024 World Series of Poker will be kicking off.
We expect great things from the former footballer who looks ready to climb to the pinnacle of the game.
- Get the best rakeback deals
- See the best poker promotions
- View the latest poker news
- Get the best No Deposit Poker Bonuses
- Benefit from the biggest poker bonus
- Watch more poker videos
- Calculate your rakeback with the rakeback calculator
- Watch the best Twitch Poker streamers
Terms and conditions apply. New customer offer and 18+ only. Should you require help regarding your betting pattern, please visit www.begambleaware.org.
