Erick Lindgren

Despite his Nordic sounding name, Erick Lindgren was born and raised in sunny Burney, California. “E Dog” has always enjoyed the thrill of competition, with sports playing a big part in his life as he grew up in the 3,000 population town. He played as a quarter back in All-League and an MVP basketball shooting guard. He had dreams of playing in either the NFL or NBA but, as is the case for so many youngsters, these aspirations died when he enrolled in college.

He travelled the short distance to learn at Butte Junior College and funded his studies with a job as a blackjack dealer in a local casino. Being able to observe card players on such a regular basis, Lindgren soon learned tips from some top players and put them into his own game.

A casino in San Pablo hired him as a propositional player and he soon made the transition and withdrew from college to become a professional cards player, aged 21.

He plays with an aggressive style and follows his motto “Play to win, not to survive” to the letter. Lindgren won his major tournament in December of 2002 at the Bellagio playing No Limit Hold ‘em. Ten months later he won his first of two World Poker Tour championships and he soon won the Poker Million III title with a grand prize of $1,000,000. These two wins led to him being named the first World Poker Tour Player of the Year and firmly established Lindgren as one of the best up and coming players in the world.

2005 was almost as good for Lindgren as he blitzed the first two months with three No Limit Hold ‘em final tables, including one win, almost $1,000,000 in prize money.

With almost $5,000,000 in winnings as of the start of 2007, Lindgren lives a lavish lifestyle. His bachelor pad in Las Vegas is fitted with six plasma screens and a 65-inch television, which are mainly used to keep up with global sports. He is known to celebrate his poker wins in style with his friends and picks up bar tabs in excess of $10,000. This may be one of the main reasons Knob Creek Bourbon saw him as a good associate with their drink! Lindgren and Howard Lederer signed year-long sponsorship agreements in 2005 - the partnerships were the first commercial endorsement of professional poker players.

As well as playing poker, Lindgren has recently written the second of a series of WPT books, WPT: Making The Final Table. In the book he details his experience at the table and gives advice to others on how to improve their game.