Niklas Astedt stood up from the final table and said his goodbyes. It was a close call,
but his first🧾 World Series of Poker bracelet would have to wait for another day.
And
that seems to be ok with him right🧾 now because, after all, he is Niklas Astedt, and if
history is any indicator – his time will come. For🧾 the uninitiated, Astedt, the
31-year-old savant from Sweden, is a generational talent when it comes to online poker.
He’s one🧾 of the most respected players in the game today, and for many who have
followed his successful online career –🧾 he’s perhaps the best ever.
It’s undeniable,
Astedt is in a category all by himself.
And his career results tell the story.🧾 A brief
recap of his extensive resume includes Astedt as the #1-ranked online player in the
world a record 10🧾 different times for a total of 97 weeks. He’s currently second on the
Online All-Time Money List and he’s won🧾 multiple titles in nearly every major online
tournament series, most using his famous screen name ‘Lena900’. His accomplishments
make it🧾 so the notoriously private pro finds himself constantly in poker headlines.
Now
he smiles as he sits down for a brief🧾 chat, well aware that another headline is right
around the corner. The missed chance at a bracelet fades away as🧾 it is likely just
another ending to a tournament in a string of thousands of tournaments. Besides, what
Astedt’s really🧾 excited about today isn’t a bracelet at all, it’s a Championship
Belt.
Astedt was the runaway winner of the PocketFives #1🧾 Number One contest this past
May. The contest asked the poker community to vote and declare who is the all-time
🧾 #1-ranked pro in online poker history. ‘Lena900’ topped the list that included the
titans of online poker. Names like Fedor🧾 Holz, Sami Kelopuro, and Chris Moorman all
fell as Astedt was named the winner. The prize, a one-of-a-kind #1NumberOne
Championship🧾 Belt. It’s a trophy Astedt seems excited for but also an honor bestowed by
his community that is not lost🧾 on him.
“Poker is tough because no one knows who’s the
best right?” Astedt said, discussing how it feels to be🧾 acknowledged as one of the
best. “The only thing you have is your peers telling you kind of that they’ve🧾 seen you
as a good player. That’s the only validation you get of being [good]…so, of course.
Yeah, definitely, I🧾 like hearing that, especially from my peers, playing the same kind
of stakes. That makes me feel good.”
The first impression🧾 of Astedt is that he’s both
soft-spoken and sincere. You may have to lean in a little to hear him.🧾 But his quiet
confidence has been earned after years of what is a legendary dedication to the online
grind. From🧾 his first time atop the Online Poker Rankings in 2024 to his meteoric rise
on the Online All-Time Money List🧾 beginning in 2024, to his four GGPoker Super MILLION$
titles, Astedt has been one of the most reliable, consistent winners🧾 at the highest
stakes online. Now, after years of grinding, he admits he may be pulling back from his
non-stop🧾 schedule in the near future.
“Up until maybe a year ago…or two years ago…I did
play a lot, a lot, a🧾 lot of poker. And I mean, where did the motivation come from? I
don’t know. I always wanted to be🧾 among the best and it takes a lot these days to do
that. Both studying and playing, but for me,🧾 now, I enjoy competing more than the
grind.
“My next three years are probably not going to be as grind-heavy as🧾 it’s been.
I’m going to pick and choose a little bit more. Also for me, the games aren’t as big
🧾 anymore. I can play Sundays and I can play the series. There is a lot of series, but
still, it’s🧾 not an everyday grind. I wouldn’t play a Tuesday anymore just because, I
don’t do that anymore.”
Astedt has been playing🧾 online poker for nearly half his life.
He got his start the way many young players have. During the mid-2000’s🧾 poker explosion
the vibrations were felt as far as Sweden where a teenage Astedt and his friends
started playing home🧾 game tournaments. It wasn’t long before Astedt found he had a
knack for the game and started to take it🧾 more seriously.
“I started out playing
freerolls,” he said. “Then I borrowed my mom’s credit card and I played on her🧾 account
when I was 17. I quit school two years earlier than I should have to graduate and I
just🧾 played poker.
“I moved out of my parent’s house when I was 20 so I would say that
for 11 years🧾 I’ve been supporting myself playing poker.”
Now known as a tournament pro,
when he first started out Astedt was playing mostly🧾 cash games. Poker’s learning curve
can be steep, and expensive, and Astedt was not immune to its swings.
“The first four
🧾 or five years I was playing a lot of cash and figuring it all out. I was playing the
highest🧾 cash games there were and then, a few months later, I was playing 10 stakes
lower than that. Then a🧾 few months later I was playing big stakes again. So I was up
and down a lot when I was🧾 playing cash games up until I was 24. I had very bad bankroll
management in general in my early twenties.”
During🧾 that time, it was the money that
attracted him. He said he found out early that he had an edge🧾 and that he could
continue to make a good living. But after all of his success over the years, for🧾 him,
now, he says playing poker is more about the competition than the payday.
“I’m
somewhere in my career, or whatever🧾 you want to say, where I don’t have to care that
much about more money kind of so I can🧾 pick and choose where I play and more about the
competition of it, than pure making money.
“I enjoy playing high🧾 stakes. I enjoy it
when I feel it. I never sell action. I always play on my own. If I🧾 can’t play a
tournament, I won’t but I like when I feel it. I play better when I feel it.”
One🧾 thing
Astedt hasn’t always cared for though is the notoriety that comes along with a career
such as his. There’s🧾 no real upside to being poker famous in Sweden and so over the
years, he’s had an aversion to cameras,🧾 interviews, and, at times, even having his real
name in connection to his screen name. It’s all been in the🧾 name of security and
privacy, not out of indifference or arrogance. But, he acknowledges, that time has
passed and anyone🧾 who wants to know who ‘Lena900’ is can now find out.
“Like now, when
I’m here [at the WSOP], I take🧾 10 photos a day with Brazilians and Asian [fans].
Apparently, they’re big fans of mine and that part…I don’t love🧾 it as much but I’ll do
it, you know? I’m quite easygoing.”
He does come off as having a laid-back, humble
🧾 nature. It’s one that doesn’t stifle his competitiveness nor prevent him from praising
the competition.
“It’s strange when it comes to🧾 poker, because maybe the top 20 guys, I
don’t play with that much. They usually play the live high rollers.🧾 But I think it’s a
big jump between mid-stakes or mid-high-stakes and the top, 40 guys that playR$5K+
online orR$100K🧾 live. They are damn good. They put a lot of work into it and that’s
what it’s about. And it🧾 is quite a big jump, I feel, between playing mid-high and
playing high stakes online and live.
“The landscape of poker🧾 has changed so much. Back
then [earlier in his career], it wasn’t that I didn’t play the highest stakes, it🧾 was
just that the highest stakes wasR$1,000. You know what I mean? Now the highest stakes
areR$25,000 online and you🧾 can play a schedule on a Sunday forR$100,000…$200,000
sometimes if you want to. It’s just so different from what is🧾 offered and how the games
look today. But I’ve always been in there, competing in the highest stakes there
was.
“I🧾 mean, this year has been crazy though,” he continued. “I’ve had four straight
great years, but this one has been🧾 particularly crazy with having oneR$10K every Sunday
and me final tabling it every second time. Winning it every third time🧾 or whatever…it’s
crazy.”
Astedt is a player who has essentially done and seen it all, and while he says
“I want🧾 a bracelet” what he’s really after is the competition. Where the serious
competition is, is where you’ll find him.
And when🧾 the World Series is done, he’ll take
the Championship Belt back home, put it away, and prepare for another year🧾 of battling
to beat the best. So he can remain the best.
