Steve "gboro780" Gross Post Poker Apocalypse

Its been a year since the US poker apocalypse hit online players in the US, forcing many to move abroad or play more live poker in order to continue their careers.
One of the many pros affected was Steve “gboro780” Gross who, prior to April 15th, 2011, was considered amongst the best online players in the world. The Las Vegas based pro’s accolades include  $5,938,671 in cashes online since June, 2006 as well as earning the CardPlayer Online Player of the Year (OPOY) award in 2009, and finishing 2nd in the same competition in 2008 and 2010.
The daily routine of Steve “gboro780” Gross would involve grinding tournaments six days a week from 11 a.m. but Black-Friday turned his career upside down and brought him to a crossroads in his life. However, after much deliberation Gross decided to take a break from poker while adopting a wait and see approach to legislation. As he explained to ESPN:
“For so many years, I was a slave to the poker schedule and let it dictate my life..At the time [of Black Friday], I was so focused that I did not realize it, but I could have started to be burned out. It all seemed normal since the money was still coming in and I was doing well, but I was getting tired of the daily grind.”
Fortunately, Steve Gross always kept meticulous accounts, paid his taxes and importantly never became involved in actively staking players which, he said, caused many of his friends big headaches as well as losses. Consequently, Gross continues to be financially comfortable and now enjoys a well balanced leisurely lifestyle living with his girlfriend and two dogs in Las Vegas, whilst enjoying more free time to spend with friends and family.
Steve Gross is also able to dabble in poker whenever he chooses and over the last year has entered a few live tournaments, notching-up $70,397 along the way taking his live earnings to $724,280. He also travelled to Canada in order to enter the PokerStars WCOOP, and took down WCOOP-39: $320 HORSE for $33,332, and in WCOOP-26: $320 Mixed Hold’em [6-Max], finished 4th for $17,661. In March, he also won the PartyPoker $530 High Roller for $39,910, which are all nice winnings for a very occasional part-timer.
Despite enjoying a better lot than many ex-online players in the US, Steve “gboro780” Gross says he has still got the itch to continue playing the game he loves so well and will always remain a poker player at heart.