Josh Arieh has managed to carve out a name for himself in the poker world with a number of impressive tournament results. He won WSOP gold bracelets in 1999 and 2005, and finished third in the 2004 WSOP Main Event - thus netting himself $2.5 million in the process. But even with his impressive resume, Arieh is no longer happy with the game of poker and has decided to quit.

Tough Game

As for the reason why Josh Arieh wants to get out of poker, it all revolves around how good grinders have become today. He explained this by saying, "Poker is really tough. Kids got so good. Instead of pool room hustlers and gamblers, it turned into freaking geniuses. Kids that are making 1600 on the SATs."

Arieh's comments accurately reflect what a growing number of pre-2003 pro players think these days since new rounders are putting so much work into their games.

Possibility of a Return?

The Rochester, New York native seems kind of set on leaving the poker tables since he said, "I’m the action junkie, everyone knows that I love being in action and I’m a complete degenerate. I’m willing to take any bet that I don’t play another tournament after this until the $10k PLO at the WSOP next year." So technically he's not completely leaving poker - just anything outside of the major WSOP tournaments. 

Furthermore, Arieh did leave open the possibility of a return as he told the media, "If poker gets legalized in the U.S. there will be another boom. It would be great again. That would make it worth what we go through.” Arieh is no doubt another in a long line of players who are desperately hoping that the US legalizes online poker soon; this would go a long way towards bringing more recreational players into the fold.