It was Valentine's Day in Februrary this year when 25-year-old poker pro Jason Somerville revealed to the world, in a blog post, that he was homosexual. In a recent interview, Somerville talked about why he decided to make the announcement at that time.
"My boyfriend suddenly told me that he wanted to join me to PCA (PokerStars Carribean Adventure) in January. At first I was like "hmmm", and then thinking "but what am I going to do about it?" said Somerville and continued...
"So I went to the Bahamas with Vincent and we talked to Daniel Negreanu about it. I told him that I wanted to do it my way. He is very mediated and understanding, so it was him I wanted advice from."
Negreanu's advise to Jason Summerville was to write a very personal blog about it. Summerville prepared the blog post for a whole month before he finally decided to publish it on Valentine's Day.
"The response was overwhelming. I published it and expected a mild response, and only from the poker world. But instead I received a lot of positive feedback from the poker world as well as the gay world. Everyone was so kind and helpful. I received about 1000 messages within the first 48 hours. It was, without any doubt, the best days of my life"
One year ago he decided to make a big change in his life..
"Honestly, I was afraid to tell anyone about the feelings I had 6-8 months ago. Well, at least to the public. The past year has been a very important year for me. After last year's World Series of Poker I went home and told myself, 'You know what, now you're not going to focus on making money, you are going to focus on becoming happy.' For some time I felt miserable, I was unhappy. I was alone and upset. I buried myself in work, like many do when they have problems. I simply accepted that I was unhappy. About 1 year ago I decided to make a change. I told myself that I had had enough and that I was going to do what it takes to become happy."
The process of becoming happy
"I told more and more people about my secret. Just one year ago, it was probably only around 15 people who knew. One could say that it had been my biggest secret. Almost no one in the poker community knew anything about it. But when I told more people about it and started dating I gained more confidence and became happier. It was a fantastic processes."
Summerville, who has won about 3 million euros (online and live), hopes that he has helped other people as well..
"I took the decision because I thought it was the best thing to do for myself, but if my "come-out-of-the-closet process can help others I feel honored."
source: aftonbladet & pokerlistings
Look how Vanessa Selbts is doing and you'll see that gender/sexuality doesn't mean anything in poker. Poker is all about making logical decisions.
I would be happy enough after winning 3 millions playing poker 
