Norwegian Player Beats Politician at Poker Challenge

Ola Amundsgard says Erlen Wiborg posed no threat in poker challenge.

Ola “Odd_Oddsen” Amundsgard managed to prove that poker is not simply a game of luck, but one that requires special skills and intelligence. According to him, this is one of the reasons why Norwegian gambling laws should allow poker, instead of labeling it a game of sheer luck and forbidding it.

After challenging representative of the Norwegian parliament to play a Heads-Up freeroll of 10,000 hands and offering a prize of one million Norwegian kroner, Amundsgard went head to head against Erlen Wiborg, a representative of the Progress Party who believes Norwegian poker rooms should be legal.

Poker with a politician

The politician says he stood no chance in front of the professional poker player. “Ola was simply too tough. His superior skills clearly showed, and I didn’t have a chance. No million for me, but we clearly demonstrated the core principle here, namely that poker is a skill game,” he commented in an official statement.

Spectators gathered at the Felix Konferansesenter in Oslo to watch the poker battle, which lasted for approximately seven hours. At the end of the poker match, Amundsgard told reporters: “I was in total control throughout the match, and I feel I accomplished what I wanted today; showing that poker is a game of skill. Erlend never had a chance to win today, and my million was never threatened.”

It took him only 1,056 hands to dispatch his opponent.