Last February 24 year  professional poker player Jason Somerville came out to the world via a post on a poker website where he bared his soul  about being gay and hiding in the closet in the professional world of gambling and in his own personal life.

“I always knew I wasn’t straight, but I never spoke a word of it for twenty  two years, and nobody really ever knew otherwise. I dated women exclusively  through my teens and early 20s, doing my best to convince myself that it wasn’t  something I had to pursue, that maybe I’d grow out of it, that I’d be happier  with women anyway, that I just should focus on other things.

After a lot of struggling and a lot of anxiety, I eventually came out to one  of my close friends when I was 22. That same year, the second and third people I  came out to were my parents (probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done), from  which I basically received the not-exactly-what-I-needed reaction of ‘keep it to  yourself, don’t tell anyone.’ I told very few people from then until I was 24  (by the way, my parents are way better now).”

Now in a follow-up at PokerListings.com Jason talks about his journey since coming out and how he’s putting honesty and happiness first—and that it’s a gamble that really paid off.

Truly inspirational.