Erick Lindgren
- Nickname: E Dog
- Facebook: Erick-Lindgren-Poker-Pro
- Twitter: @EdogPoker
- Birthdate: 11th August 1976
- Birthplace: Burney, California
- Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada
- WSOP Bracelets: 2
- Biggest Win: $1,000,000
- Total Winnings: $8,529,612
- Sponsored by: Ex Full Tilt Poker
Erick grew up in the Northern Californian mountain town of Burney, population 3,000. He and his two brothers were driven, competitive and channeled their energies into sport. Erick especially excelled, in high school he was the team’s quarter back and most valuable player in the local basketball league. College followed high school and a short drive from there was the Colusa Indian Casino. He found work there as a blackjack dealer and described it as ‘the crappiest job’ he ever had though, outside of poker, it was the only job he ever had. However, he could watch and learn from the customers and before long he was using his acquired knowledge in small stakes games as poker took over from his college studies.
At 20, he made what he described as his ‘biggest bluff’ and pretended to his parents that he was still attending college when, in fact, he had dropped out to play poker full-time. Lindgren would play up to eight online games at once, sometimes running the three computers in his flat at the same time. Once it was legal for him to do so, he became a proposition player at the Californian San Pablo Casino. It is the proposition or ‘prop’ player’s job to try to discourage conservative play through playing loosely and to incite the punters into parting with their chips. It was at this time that he got the nickname ‘E-dog’ when a customer loudly exclaimed, ‘Eee, you dog’ after losing to Erick in a number of hands.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century Lindgren began to try his hand at tournament poker and, buoyed by his final table finishes in some small competitions, in 2002 he decided to move to Las Vegas where the big tournament action was. Not long after his move he entered the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic, took first prize and his first big payout, $228,192.
May 2003 saw the beginning of the second season of the World Poker Tour and cemented the friendship and friendly rivalry between Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu. Both players were performing consistently at WPT events and were regulars at the final table. In October, Lindgren won the WPT Ultimate Poker Classic but Negreanu had been further in more events. Near the end of the season the pair met heads-up in the Party Poker Million main event. Lindgren won the $1 million first prize and along with it was voted WPT Player of the Year, just ahead of Negreanu.
In the next couple of years Lindgren continued to fare well, taking home several six figure sums for numerous final table finishes that included two outright victories. A World Series of Poker bracelet continued to elude him however, he was disappointed to only come away in the runner-up spot of the WSOP No Limit Hold’em Short-Handed event in 2006.
A January trip to the Australian sun in 2007 cheered Erick up as he came first in the Crown Aussie Millions Championship and finally, in June of 2008, he was able to hold up a WSOP bracelet from the Mixed Hold’em Limit / No Limit event. This and his other good WSOP results earned him 2008’s WSOP Player of the Year award.
Away from the bricks and mortar casinos Erick was a Full Tilt Poker Pro. In June 2006, he won the Fulltiltpoker.net Poker Pro Showdown event making it past a glittering array of poker talent and finally beating Mike Matusow in heads-up play to bring in $600,000. As a Full Tilt pro, Lindgren hosted tournaments on the site and in February 2008, he became the first of the Full Tilt team to win their own event, outlasting over 5,600 entrants.
When he’s not playing poker Erick can found on the golf course, also the scene of one of his crazier wagers. He bet fellow pros Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith and Chris Bell that he could play four full rounds of golf, scoring under one hundred shots each time, in a single day. Carrying his own bags and in temperatures that reached 41 degrees centigrade, Lindgren pulled off the fourteen hour feat, losing twelve pounds in weight and gaining $350,000 in cash.
He continues to finish in the cash at big tournaments, In January 2011 he earned second place and $700,500 at the Five Star World Poker Classic playing No Limit Hold’em. On May 29th, 2011, Erick married fellow poker player Erica Schoenberg.
High Stakes Poker
Sometimes it is hard for friends to play each other because they know each other’s tendencies. Bluffs can turn into double bluffs or triple bluffs and it can get confusing. All that second-guessing can rise exponentially. When Erick Lindgren came up against his good friend Daniel Negreanu on GSN’s ‘High Stakes Poker’ it was a case in point. It was Lindgren’s first appearance on the show and when interviewed beforehand he commented that Negreanu, ‘probably expects me to try a bluff on him today’.
Lindgren and Negreanu were sitting next to each other at the table and Negreanu bet $2,000 with a 10♥ 9♥ in his hand. Lindgren called and they awaited the flop. The general table chat continued through the flop of Q♣ 8♥ J♦ and Negreanu casually threw $4,000 worth of chips into the pot having hit the nut straight draw. Lindgren quietly called and the turn card was an 8♦.
Confidently, Negreanu bet again adding $12,000 to the pot. Erick took a quick glance at his friend and played with his chips, obviously thinking hard before laying down enough chips to match Negreanu’s raise. The river card was an A♥ and Negreanu, after making a show of thinking things through, bet $25,000.
Lindgren took his time and then grabbing a large wad of cash announced, ‘All in,’ causing Negreanu to slap the table in annoyance, wondering what was going on. It was another $72,700 to call and Negreanu thought out loud saying, ‘he doesn’t have a king ten, I know that’. Negreanu continued to pontificate and at one point raised his eyebrows at Lindgren.
It drew no response though, as Lindgren just remained staring forwards, his chin resting on his linked hands. Eventually, out of frustration, Negreanu announced, ‘I don’t know what he has. I’m just going to call.’ Erick turned over 8♠ 8♥ and gave a shell-shocked Negreanu an apologetic smile. Without gloating, Lindgren solemnly collected up the $233,100 worth of chips.
Last updated May 2013