It’s never easy to walk away from a longtime gig. But sometimes, a change of scenery and a new challenge are just what the doctor ordered. Take Sebastian ‘Seba29072’ Saffari, for example. The English player just hit $4 million in career online tournament winnings, but is putting poker to the side and focusing on the family business.

“I turned 30 last July and made the decision to put poker to the side and pursue a career elsewhere,” Saffari said. “I had planned many years ago to make a change at this age, as I really couldn’t see myself grinding into my later years. Things haven’t worked out quite how I planned, but I’ve stuck to this plan at least.”

It’s not like Saffari has been a flop at poker. He was ranked in the top 10 on PocketFives in 2013, has multiple PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker bracelets, and has taken down the Sunday Supersonic and Sunday $109 Rebuy, just to name a few. But, his dad’s company beckons, and that’s where he’s focusing much of his attention nowadays. Call it a “new normal.”

“I’ve been working for my dad’s company,” the Brit said, “something I did when I was starting out in poker and something he’s been encouraging me to get back into as he retired. It’s an interior design company based in Fulham that specializes in high-end kitchen furniture. It’s only four days a week and I don’t start until Noon, so I still have enough room to grind poker right now.”

Saffari oversees marketing, the website, and online sales for his dad’s company. “It’s a pretty good gig,” he said of his internet-focused interests. “There’s no hard sell and it’s low-volume but expensive appliances. It’s not my dream job, but it is business-based and provides for my whole family, so I care a lot about its future and its progression.”

“Working in the company is enjoyable,” he added. “It’s a good way of life. Working with family is interesting. I’ve grown up with it all my life. I have my stepmom and sister’s boyfriend in the showroom and my mother running things up north. A lot of people can’t believe they still work together, but I guess my dad has a knack of turning a wife into an employee as well.”

As if all that weren’t enough for the top-ranked poker player from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Saffari has other hobbies, interests, and a part-time gig in the sports betting industry taking up his time. So, it remains to be seen how much he’ll continue to make poker a priority.

“It has been a huge change to how my life was for the past five years, but it’s honestly been a fantastic one,” Saffari said. “Life during my 20s was all about getting to bed at 4am, waking after midday, and not really doing too much apart from preparing myself to play poker, which in my later years wasn’t as often since the online tournament scene got a lot poorer in terms of prize pools and profitability.”

Now that he’s 30, instead of going to bed a few hours before the sun wakes up, his schedule is much more traditional. When the sun sleeps, he sleeps. And with a regulated schedule and a newfound passion for his father’s business, he’s more revved up than ever before.

“Despite being constantly busy, I somehow have a lot more energy than before,” the Brit said. “It’s the strangest thing. As most poker players will relate to, it’s a huge effort just to do your laundry, despite having all day to do it. In my case at least, poker made me lazy and not very functional.”

He has also developed a passion for and career in horse racing. It’s an offshoot of his love for poker, albeit in a very different online gaming vertical. “I really love it,” he said of the ponies. “It’s a great way to start the day. It’s a little like poker was in the early days.”

Outside of his $4 million in career online tournament winnings, Saffari has a live career that’s earned him $365,000 according to the Hendon Mob. About one-third of that came via a runner-up finish in a Ten-Game Mix event during the 2013 World Series of Poker.

As such, he’s been able to translate at least a few of his success factors in poker to his other business endeavors. “Any bluffing ability is always good when you’re trying to convince someone that seven-grand isn’t a lot for a fridge,” he joked. “It also helps not to be results-orientated when you’ve put in a lot of time into a deal that goes dead. It’s easy to think ‘Why bother,’ but you need to have the mindset that you’ll show a profit in the long-run.”

Despite less of a focus on poker, Saffari relayed that his volume hasn’t taken a dramatic hit, at least not yet. In fact he took second in thePokerStars Big $215 under the user name ‘bassysaffari‘ and put back $20,000, his largest score of the year earlier this month.