 Name: Erick Lindgren Date of Birth: unknown Place of Birth: California Profile
Imagine a small bedroom with three computers and a cramped bed, seven online poker games going simultaneously. Erick Lindgren plays online poker just like the competitive athlete he was in high school—an All-League quarterback and MVP basketball player. The image of the blond All-American guy, Lindgren has parlayed his online poker skills into a $1 million victory in the World Poker Tour’s PartyPoker.com Million III. But those aren’t his only wins in the past three years. Fast becoming one of the rising stars on the World Poker Tour, he has now won two tournaments in season two for a total of $1.5 million in prize money, added to a December 2002 victory in a Bellagio tourney for another $225,000.“I feel totally blessed,” says the 27-year-old Lindgren. “I’m just a really competitive guy and poker satisfies my competitive nature.”Raised in a home with two boys in the remote town of Burney, CA (pop. 3,000) in the Sierra Nevada range, near Mt. Shasta, competition was the norm. Betting on himself was an easy step to take. Lindgren remembers betting his friends that he could make half court shots on the basketball court, and other similar boyhood gambles.Going off to junior college in Chico, CA, to play basketball, Lindgren got sidetracked. After playing recreationally at a local Indian casino, he secured a job as a blackjack dealer at the age of 19. Hanging around the facility, he soon picked some up pretty handy poker skills, which he began to apply in earnest. By 20, he was playing poker full time and by 21, he was working as a “prop” –to keep the games lively—at a casino in San Pablo, CA. Before long, he didn’t even need that opportunity…he was off and running as an up-and-coming poker pro, beginning to play tournament poker regularly and particularly the World Poker Tour events.Simultaneously, Lindgren was perfecting his online technique. Five years ago, he began to play online, saying: “It’s just like video games. If you work at it, you get better and better. Poker is often a lazy man’s game. I just work harder than most.” He entered and won a $162 satellite tournament on PartyPoker.com, which earned him a spot on the cruise. He made the final table on the last day of the tourney, battling four other top pros and a very successful amateur who also came into the event from a satellite. At the end of day, it was Lindgren who took home the million-dollar prize.He credits his success to: “my extreme patience, the understanding of what people are thinking and what they are likely to do, and some pretty good math skills.”And what does he do for fun away from poker? Compete of course! In basketball and golf.
| |
Make us your Homepage
Bookmark this Page
Tell a Friend about us
Free Newsletter