Ronnie O'Sullivan claims he is content to 'never ever play again' after crashing out of the World Snooker Championship on Wednesday.
The 48-year-old exited at the quarter-final stage against Stuart Bingham and claimed afterwards he had to be persuaded to play the tournament.
O'Sullivan was aiming to win a record-breaking eighth title at the Crucible to become the outright most successful player in the event's history.
He cruised past Jackson Page in the first round and was relatively comfortable in beating Ryan Day in the second on Monday.
Ronnie O'Sullivan says he is content to not play again after exiting the World Snooker Championship
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Judd Trump's surprise exit to Jak Jones on Wednesday increased O'Sullivan's chances of winning again in Sheffield.
But 2015 champion Bingham was sure to give him a tougher task than his first two opponents and that proved to be the case.
The match was level at 8-8 heading into the final session and O'Sullivan ominously won the 17th frame with a fine century.
But he won just one more frame as Bingham stormed to victory to set up a semi-final with qualifier Jones.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, O'Sullivan shockingly revealed that he initially didn't plan to play in the tournament.
He claimed the introduction of a new sponsor twisted his arm and convinced him to enter.
O'Sullivan said: "I wasn’t actually going to be playing in this one until a new sponsor came along.
"I went, 'alright cool'. I wasn’t going to be playing [the Tour Championship in] Manchester or this because of how I was feeling about playing, but they twisted my arm."
O'Sullivan has previously welcomed the idea of a breakaway tour and has told tournament organisers to make him an offer if they want him to play.
But he claims he would be quite happy not to compete again if no satisfactory offers were to surface.
O'Sullivan added: "It’s first come first served. I’m already signed up for eight or nine events [next season].
"If I do really badly in them I suppose I might have to dip my toe in and play in a couple of tournaments over here, but otherwise probably not because I just want to be at home.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan will only play tournaments if organisers are 'prepared to pay' a 'tax'
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"There’s only so many days I allow myself to be away from home. You can’t do it all, really.
"I don’t just turn up willy-nilly to events. There’s a tax to be paid.
"If people are prepared to pay it then I’ll get me cue out my case, if they’re not I’m quite content to never ever play again and move on and do other stuff."
O'Sullivan was pleased with how he played at this year's World Championship after being critical of his performances earlier this season.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was happy with how he performed at the World Snooker Championship
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He told the BBC: "I'm actually really happy to be honest, it's just the way it goes sometimes.
"I feel like I'm actually getting through the ball, which is more important to me at this stage. It's been a worrying couple of years.
"Not the win I'd have liked to have had, but that's snooker. That's the way it goes. Good luck to Stuart."
