Making his first-ever World Series of Poker cash, Justin Landis was faced with a tough decision: play poker or play golf, and it wouldn’t be the first time he had to pick between golf and another one of his favorite things to do.

Landis had advanced to Day 3 of the record-breaking Big 50 at the 2019 WSOP. He played Flight B and was on to Day 3 with 740,000 in chips. He bagged that stack on Saturday and didn’t have to return to play until Wednesday, when he came in a little below the average chip stack of 888,000 but was well into the money. With a few days off, Landis headed back home to Hanford, California, but he didn’t know if he’d be back.

Landis had an opportunity that was one of those things that many would consider once in a lifetime. As a scratch golfer who has been playing the game his entire life, Landis had an opportunity to play at the famed Pebble Beach golf course. It’s the home of the 2019 U.S. Open and a course that Landis has never played. Being such an avid golfer, it was an opportunity he didn’t know if he wanted to pass up, even for a chance at more than $1 million and a gold bracelet.

“I could’ve gone to Carmel and played golf in a golf tournament and then played Pebble Beach the next day,” Landis said.

Landis knew going into the start of the Big 50 that this could be a possible conflict. But Landis has been around a poker table or two and knows what it takes to get deep. You have to play well and the cards have to go your way. He decided to take the shot at playing and then deal with the conflict if it came up. Well, it did.

“I drove home to Hanford and decided to come back,” Landis said. “If I did make it, I was going to make my decision on my drive home, and I made the decision to come back.”

“Not really,” Landis said of the decision being a difficult one. “Once I got to driving home, I thought of what [WSOP tournament director Charlie Ciresi] said. He said, ‘the Big 50 is a bucket list item,’ and I said, ‘You’re exactly right.’ That made me come back.”

Many would say playing at Pebble Beach is also a bucket list item, and it certainly is for golfers around the world, but Landis pointed out that Pebble Beach will always be there and he’ll likely get the chance to play it again at some point.

“It’s always there, so I’ll have my chance,” Landis said.

The Big 50 might not return, being a part of the 50th annual WSOP and all. Even if it does, the opportunity to have a healthy stack heading into Day 3 might not come with it.

“Absolutely golf,” Landis said when asked what’s more important to him, golf or poker.

Landis’ run ended in 931st place, good for a payout of $2,202. He had finished in the top 4% of the 28,371-entry field. As mentioned, it was his first WSOP cash, but it wasn’t the first time Landis had to make a tough decision at a crossroads.

Landis’ father is Bill Landis, a former Major League Baseball player from 1963 to 1969 for the Kansas City Athletics and Boston Red Sox. As you might expect, Justin was a bit of a baseball player himself then and said that he had to make a decision when he was younger to pick between baseball and golf. He may have picked golf that time, but this time around he went with poker.

On his final hand in the 2019 WSOP Big 50, Landis got the money in on a nine-high flop with two tens in the hole. His opponent had flopped top two pair with nine-six and held.

When asked if he would return to play more events this summer, Landis said he doesn’t have plans to come back. He was thinking about playing in the WSOP Main Event, but with it being the 15th anniversary for him and his wife, he’s going to pass this year.

“I’m as happy as can be,” Landis said.