Matt Jarvis Enjoying Life Off the Felt with New Ownership Pursuit

Many believe that the life of a poker professional is one non-stop party after another. The different casinos in such glittering cities as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Australia or (as is currently underway) the Bahamas leads many to think that it would be the epitome of living. For former “November Niner” Matt Jarvis, however, the exact opposite may be true.

Jarvis, who was at the final table for the 2010 World Series of Poker’s “November Nine” battle for poker’s World Championship, had never been in that position leading up to that moment. His largest cash prior to the WSOP Championship Event was a deep run at the 2009 British Columbia Poker Championships Main Event, where he finished eleventh for a good five-figure score. Despite coming into the 2010 WSOP final table in the middle of the pack in chips, Jarvis would be eliminated early in what was thought to be the most exciting hand of that WSOP and arguably in WSOP history.

Over the next few years, Jarvis chased the poker dream around the world. He would achieve the goal of many a poker player – a WSOP bracelet – in 2011 and would rack up over $2 million in earnings by the summer of 2016 (including four cashes at the 2016 WSOP). But, as with most when they get older, the times were changing for the Canadian poker player. It set Jarvis off to find something that, while not as exciting as the thrill of the chase in poker, was more concrete for him and his life.

A business opportunity came to Jarvis that, after he studied the situation, looked to be just what he was looking for. Called Shack Shine, the business is a home “detailing” operation that offers full service (indoors and out) window cleaning, gutter cleaning/leaf removal and house and property power washing. The low investment price (under $100,000) for a franchise outlet – not to mention the potential future solid business life – seemed to attract Jarvis to getting in a different game.

“I wanted to find a job that would keep me closer to home so I could be with my wife,” Jarvis said in an interview with O2Ebrands.com. “At some point, we’ll start a family, so it’s important to be around for that. Some of my friends and family told me about Shack Shine. They said it was the next 1-800-GOT-JUNK?. Once I looked into it, I thought the system was amazing. I liked the people who were involved, and it seemed like a good way to learn how to run a business from the ground up.”

Since he took up the franchise in October, Jarvis has documented his journey with his new work outlet and his enjoyment of overseeing his destiny. His Facebook page highlights his actions from signing the initial contract to gradually building up his services. But in doing this Jarvis is also making sure that he might have some time to play poker for a living.

“I’m not leaving poker for good,” Jarvis told this writer when discussing the franchise and his future. “I would rather be the whale in the poker games that the sharks try to go after, however!”

Jarvis’ move isn’t out of the ordinary in the poker world. Many players have either moved completely away from the game – David ‘The Maven’ Chitcotsky has exchanged poker chips for a successful move to making high-end real estate deals – while others look to reduce the amount of time they play. Just last year Fedor Holz, who reigned atop the major Player of the Year races for much of 2016, indicated he would prefer not to have as busy a schedule in the coming years (as has the man who eclipsed him for the POY, David Peters, in an interview with PokerNews.com).

Having a solid “fall back” position is something that many who consider themselves “professional” talk about but rarely actually put into practice. For Jarvis to take this step – looking out for himself, his and his family’s future well-being and solidify his life around something outside of a game – is impressive. We can only hope that Jarvis’ new business ownership is something that he is successful at and that it does afford him some time to step back to poker on occasion.