A player arrived at Sincil Bank on loan from Leyton Orient in Dec of 2002. He appeared five times, and did well enough to have an offer for a permanent deal offered to him; which he declined – thinking that Orient would finish ahead of Lincoln that year. Lincoln City played in the playoffs, and Orient were midtable. That player was Steve Watts.
While his playing career continued, with a lot of clubs in the lower divisions and league teams, the story ended when injury required him to stop. He sat at a poker table, and established himself as a professional, earning nearly $1million on the live tour.
He is a footnote to many fans of Lincoln City. And in the poker world he is known, having competed in all the top events.
A Football Career That Went All Over
Steve Watts grew up in Peckham, and came through the youth systems of Millwall, Charlton Athletic, and Tottenham Hotspur before entering non-league football. After a search for a striker contest ran by The Sun (in which he won) he entered Leyton Orient in 1998. Watts scored 22 goals in 102 league games for Leyton Orient, and was an every week starter. The loan to Lincoln City occurred in the 2002/2003 season. With 5 games at Sincil Bank, Lincoln City wanted to sign him permanently. Watts refused, because he believed that Leyton Orient had better prospects for that season. As it happened, Lincoln reached the playoffs, while Leyton Orient were midtable. Following Lincoln City, Watts continued his football career at Margate, Welling United, Dagenham & Redbridge, Shrewsbury Town, St Albans City, Bromley, Eastleigh, and eventually at Sutton United. His playing career came to a close when injuries at Leyton Orient left him unable to continue.
From Footballer to Poker Player
Steve Watts began to take a serious interest in poker around 2008. At first, it happened slowly — Watts continued to play against more experienced players, including well-known pros such as Praz Bansi; he picked up skills rapidly. After football ceased, poker helped fill the void. He traveled to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, where he discovered he could compete. By 2012, after finishing 5th at two major events (one at a World Poker Tour event, and another at the Irish Open), Watts realized he had developed serious potential. In 2013, he finished 59th in the WSOP Main Event, which is a $10,000 buy-in tournament. Watts earned $123,597 for his best finish at a major event at that time.
In 2014, Watts won a World Poker Tour title in Marbella. His victory placed his name in the international spotlight. As of September 2016, his lifetime winnings exceeded $777,000. Players who have successfully transitioned their profession, like Watts, often use online poker sites like Bovada Poker — a site offering an organized format for a competitor transitioning from a sport and understanding of calculated risks.
How Both Sports Are Mentally Similar
Watts has previously mentioned how both of these sports are mentally demanding. Professional footballers experience constant pressure while making tactical decisions based on limited information. Making a decision when a striker in the penalty area decides whether to shoot the ball or pass it back to a teammate involves calculating the risk of shooting versus passing. Similarly, a poker player deciding whether to call a large bet on the river is determining the same type of risk calculation but just takes longer to make it.
Both sports also involve variance — a concept that many football fans instinctively understand. An excellent team may be dominating for 90 minutes but ultimately loses due to a deflection. A top-notch performance does not ensure success, and a poor performance will not always be penalized. Over short samples, poker operates similarly. Competitors who have been involved in professional football tend to manage the type of short-term noise much better than competitors without prior experience.
Additionally, Watts possessed the right personality traits for poker — having played professionally for over 10 years and requiring an alternate outlet for competition once football ended. The poker table provided him an outlet for competition.
The Significance Of Watts’s Career For Football Supporters
While the path Steve Watts took through his professional career is unique but not as rare as one would think. There are several examples of ex-professionals who were successful in transitioning to poker — Teddy Sheringham is the most high-profile British example — but Watts is particularly notable because he transitioned at a legitimate level rather than merely participating as a celebrity.
Furthermore, Watts’s career story offers an additional layer of significance to supporters of Lincoln City FC. He played for them; he was talented enough to receive a professional contract; and he chose to pursue something else instead of continuing in football. Ultimately, he pursued an alternate career that few professional footballers ever even attempt to match in an entirely unrelated field.
This represents only one small part of Lincoln City’s history, yet it serves as an extension of one of Britain’s more intriguing post-football careers — a forward who successfully transitioned to a second career at the poker table.
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