[egj]

Mostly reiterating what others have said:

1) Pay off all debt if you have any (sounds like you don't).
2) Max out retirement accounts if possible (IRA, 401k)
3) Invest remainder

For (3), I would tend to invest the majority in stocks; more specifically, mutual funds from Vanguard. Stocks are more volatile than bonds or money market funds, but, at your age, you should be investing for the long run. Plus, as a poker player, you should have the psychological fortitude to handle the ups and downs. But you can invest some in bond or money market funds too. You'll need some money liquid anyhow to pay for daily expenses, poker, etc.

Within stocks, you might want to diversify a bit. Some in domestic stocks, some in foreign; some in large caps; some in small; some in growth; some in value. That kind of thing.

A house could be OK too. It's not clear that anyone can predict the direction of the housing market, so it's difficult to say when homes are overpriced. But if you live in an expensive area, you might need a lot of your $200k just to make a down payment on a decent house, and then you're locking yourself into large payments. Could be putting too much of your eggs in one basket.

Best advice of all might be to educate yourself so you can make your own informed decisions.

Hope this helps.