NGK: The Journey from Poker to Manager.

By Martin Davis

Nicholas Gidley-King a young 22 year old, making a name for himself through his podcasts, YouTube videos, being up and coming hip-hop artist Jaycee’s Artist Manager and Poker. Nic’s journey has been one of success, Mental Health Issues, and being allowed to assist in making a name for one of his good friends.

His journey to success has been a long one starting in high school, where he was always being in an entrepreneurial mindset, from selling cans of soft drinks and throughout various other ways, the major step that has got him to where he is today, “halfway through year 11 I found the love of playing poker, just playing cards Texas Holdem and I fell in love with it… I really took poker on board and pretty much dropped all my ATAR courses” Nic was studying Business, Accounting and Economics, “I was aware to know that conforming to something that isn’t your true passion, the true path wasn’t the right thing for me, and I found what I loved and just went for it.”

As soon as Nic finished High school, he started to play poker professionally and took it all onboard playing it every day of the week and just went for it with one of his friends Jackson.

What drew Nic into Poker? It was his dad who has come home from the casino after winning a tournament, and handed him a $100 note one night when he was in year 9 Nic explained that the fact that you could win money from a game “that’s what spiraled my interest into the actual art and strategic understanding of the game of Texas Hold’m and Poker, from that moment on I, started to hosting home games, I started hosting home games a lot.” This wasn’t just turning out to be a bit of fun for Nic but turning into a love interest.

Being a game of chance, he has had many knockbacks, one of his biggest struggles with poker “peoples lack of understanding and their judgement towards the game… understandably Texas Holdem is considered gambling… it simply isn’t, it is completely mathematical it is complexly profitable… second is that it co-insides with money if you have a bad day at poker you had a bad day overall.” The amount of fun that he was having playing poker, but the moment he can’t pinpoint when he wanted to take it as seriously as he did, that he realized that he wanted to go “all in”, there wasn’t anything that happened for him to go for it, it just clicked.

If all good there comes the dark times, and in late 2016 Nic moved back to the Gold Coast where he says “I was in this rut in my life, was properly one of the lowest lows of life, addicted to nicotine, addicted to alcohol very negative mindset, I was in this dark place.” And then one night he got a phone call that could have changed his life forever it was from Jaycee, who he has been good mates with since High School at Ocean Reef.

“We had a big conversation and this conversation was so pure and so out of love that it just hit me hard and it was a man like I love you like I want to take my music to the next level like I'm ready to take this seriously I don't have much support over here I don't feel like I have anyone who believes in me and wants to take it to that next level, Would you like to come over move in with me and just go for it” so Nic asked Jaycee for one thing at that was a demo track and as much that he believed in his friend he just wanted proof, so Jaycee sent it and after three minutes of listening to it, Nic had booked his ticket back to Perth to start on a new journey, as an Artist Manager for Jaycee.

Within the space of 12 months, they have gone on National Tour, performed at GTM. “…everything we are doing right now has to be learnt on the spot running events running marketing running adverts booking of venues booking events all of these things that involve under the entire thing that a record label would do…” with the highlights coming as quick as the eye can see one of the biggest in Nic’s opinion was the National Jaycee tour at the start of the year “… it was that next level for us, we completely independently organised that, we sold approximately sold 50 tickets at each show. GTM was unbelievable… the people that came up to us after his show was amazing” being backstage with big names artists such as Hilltop Hoods.

“I would not be here in this perspective in this Headspace in this energy field that I am today if it wasn't for two specifics like strongly to specifically Jaycee and Jackie his mum Jackie is truly an incredible” these two people have helped get Nic to understand himself and why he was in the headspace that he was in.

Future aspirations Nic has many, but he is just taking one step at a time “obviously right now like my pure focus is the music industry and Jaycee and right now I'm not thinking anything further than how can I get Jaycee to be the biggest artist in the world and all my energy is going towards that…” as a whole is the main goal is to live the best life that he possibly can.

Listening to Nic’s story and being able to witness it from high school to see where he is now is inspirational, and he hopes that many others can see what he has gone through and the different ways that he has taken to end up where he is, and the key message is to live your best life.

To hear more from Nic go list to his episode of Chats with Marty here