Snooker's world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan has confirmed he intends to carve out a second career in America playing pool.
The 29-year-old will still take part in the four major snooker tournaments but will choose pool over any others that clash with dates in the US.
And his reason for deciding to spend months abroad was simple - there was not enough top-quality snooker available to keep him happy.
O'Sullivan said: 'I'm a snooker player and that is all I have done all my life. I love playing snooker but I have found I'm not playing enough.
"We used to play in 14 or 15 events and there are now six. That makes it tough for everyone involved in snooker.
"So I have decided rather that sit and wait for things to happen I'm going to take the bull by the horns and go elsewhere.
"Going to America doesn't interfere with the events I want to play in on the snooker calendar but obviously there could be a clash if they put on events later on in the year and I have already committed myself to these American pool tournaments.
"If I say I am going to do something then I do it and that is my decision because it will enable me to play 12 months of the year instead of seven weeks.
"I know pool is a different game but it is a great opportunity for me to go out there and have a go."
O'Sullivan, who turned professional when he was just 16, had revealed he felt disenchanted with snooker following his World Championship exit at the quarter-final stage in April.
He had hinted he might turn his back on the game completely for a while but is convinced trying his luck in America, plus a new management deal he has signed with the 110sport company, could bring back the enjoyment into his game.
He admitted: "To be honest I get more of a buzz out of pool at the moment as I find with snooker, if things are not going too well, I'm not really that interested and if things are going really well it becomes quite boring because it is too easy.
"Whereas at pool, whether things are going well or not, I know there are things I need to learn. It is a new challenge and it has rejuvenated me. I am looking forward to my snooker as well now.
"I want to be entertaining and if I have to go to America to be that then fine. I will play in someone's back yard if there is a crowd there."
There was one drawback as far as the pool playing was concerned however - O'Sullivan confidently expected to be thrashed at first.
He said: "I'm an awful pool player. It is completely different from snooker and although it looks simple it isn't unless you know how to work the system.
"That's why snooker players get thrashed by American pool players. There is an art to it and a lot more tactics to the game of pool, which I need to learn. But I have got the time to do that - I have a lot of time.
"It's a commitment but I'm not afraid of that. I know I will have to learn but that's what I did as kid, learn from people who are better than me."
