American poker pro Jason "JCarver" Somerville has become the first high profile male player to publicly come out and declare that he is gay.

Somerville used his personal blog space at www.jcarver.badbeatscrew.com to make his declarations, describing how literally no other poker player has openly declared to be homosexual.

Somerville notes that the poker community is normally remarkably tolerant and welcoming towards players from all strands of life, but still almost no one has publicly come out as being gay.

"Of all the diversity and variety that the poker world contains, though, there is a noticeable lack of openly gay poker professionals. Vanessa Selbst is a top tier player, a brilliant woman and an amazing person, but other than her, I’ve never met a single gay professional poker player, nevermind a high profile one," Somerville writes.

The WSOP bracelet winner further goes on to tells how it took him years to finally come out, including to his parents in what he describes as "the hardest thing I've ever done."

At 24, Somerville now feels closer to his real self, he writes, adding that he is thankful for having "amazing people" as close friends, who were instrumental in helping him with the anxiety and insecurity that came along with coming out.

Somerville's declarations have already received massive encouragement and support from fans and fellow players, most notably in a thread on TwoPlusTwo.

On the felt, Somerville is also a remarkably accomplished poker player despite his young age, having banked winnings for more than $1.7 million already.

His latest and largest cash came in a $1,000 NLHE event at the WSOP last summer, where he took home his first golden bracelet and a $493,091 first prize.