Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Godsmack ‘s planned year-long break in the schedule is not only giving frontman Sully Erna a chance to pursue his solo career, but he’s also taking the time to revive one of his other passions — poker. The musician tells ESPN that after stepping away from the card game for a few years, he’s gotten the itch to compete in poker tournaments again. In 2006 and 2007, Erna took part in the World Series of Poker competitions, winning $17,730 his first year and banking another $45,422 the following year. Then he took home $307,325 in the 2007 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic. But Erna says that his mindset wasn’t right to keep it up. He explains, “I was finding that I was very impatient and playing crappy hands. I was losing patience every time I was playing. I had to take a break. [But] I’m making a comeback! I’ve studied the game. I’m getting the itch to play poker again. In fact, I’m in Los Angeles today and I’ll be playing tonight. I need to shake the rust off. I’m ready to go deep and win a lot of money!” Erna says he felt the timing was right to pick up poker again. “I’ve been bouncing around testing out my game,” says the vocalist. “That’s why many of my venues for the solo shows are in casinos. I love that environment. It works to my advantage, also it’s a transient audience. I can’t wait.” Sully has booked a solo tour later this spring, promoting both his ‘Avalon’ solo disc and the works of Godsmack. Check out the tour dates here . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/favorite-godsmack-song-readers-poll/” title=”Next: Favorite Godsmack Song – Readers Poll” align=”center”]