/ Matthew Pitt / 26 September 2008 / Leave a comment

A large influencing factor in poker is a player's confidence. If a player gets into the mindset that he or she is down on their luck then they generally play poorly due to their negative state of mind. One man who will not have to worry about any negativity at the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe is Erick 'E-Dog' Lindgren.

Lindgren, who was born on August 11, 1976 in Burnley, California, has turned himself from a small-town quarterback and son of a tyre-shop owner into one of the most successful poker players on the planet.

He started playing poker as a prop player in his local card room in California but it was not long until his competitive streak kicked in and he wanted to play for real and with his own money.

Within a couple of years, Lindgren found himself on the world's biggest stage and before the end of season two of the World Poker Tour, he had made three final tables and won two events for more than $1,500,000.

Until this year's World Series of Poker, Lindgren had the unfortunate title of 'the best player not to have won a bracelet,' a title he would be free of after Event #4, the $5,000 Mixed Hold'em Event.

In Event #4, Lindgren found himself heads-up against Justin 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo, himself a formidable player. All the chips went in on a board reading Tc 5c 3d 4h with 'E-Dog' holding Ace-two for a straight and Bonomo five-four for two pair. The river was the eight of hearts and Lindgren won his first WSOP bracelet and $374,505 in prize money.

The bracelet win was the catalyst for his series and he went on to cash a total of five times, make three final tables, win $1,348,528 in prize money and was crowned '2008 WSOP Player of the Year.'

Lindgren will travel to London for the second annual World Series of Poker Europe, safe in the knowledge that he is in the richest form of his life. He will want to improve on last year's result where he finished 26th for £30,770 when his pair of Kings was no match for the Ace-five of Pat Scanlon.

At time of writing, Lindgren has over $7,300,000 in tournament winnings, I for one would not bet against him adding to this impressive figure during the upcoming WSOPE.