Poker Pro Challenges Norwegian Politicians to a Heads-up Match

Written by: Tight Poker Staff November 6, 2013 Affiliate Disclaimer

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Ola Amundsrud, a noted high-stakes professional poker player, has devised a unique way to change the poker laws of Norway, his home country. In a bid to change the way lawmakers view poker and the way the game is taxed, he has issued a public challenge to Norwegian politicians.

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The Norwegian politician who takes up this challenge will have to play a heads-up PL Omaha poker match with him for as many as 10,000 hands. If the politician wins, he will get a prize of $170,000 from the poker pro. By throwing such a challenge, Amundsrud hopes to prove that poker is a skill-based game, not a chance-based game and that, in order to win a game of poker, one has to use strategies.

A Norwegian lawmaker has already accepted this challenge, and the two are finalizing the plans for an online heads-up match at present. One cannot say for sure what the outcomes of this match are going to be, but Amundsrud is convinced that it will change things for poker in his country.

Answering Card Players’ queries, the professional poker player said: “I feel like I have the whole future of poker legalization on my shoulders right now. If I lose this game I will not only lose the money but also maybe all poker players in Norway will lose the hope for full legalization. So losing this match will be devastating for both me and the whole poker community in Norway.”

Speaking about his opponent Erlend Wiborg, he said that Wiborg is not just a lawmaker, but also a recreational poker player. He said that Wiborg had admitted to have played poker online every now and then. Amundsrud also guesses that Wiborg will take some poker coaching before facing the heads-up match against him.

The pro further said: “I don’t think he would have accepted this challenge without any experience … If he beats me over 10,000 hands of PLO, I think he should quit working for the government and start playing online PLO for a living … since he would be able to make ten times more money per year by playing poker than working for the government.”

Wiborg said that he feels that poker is a skill-based game, clearly indicating that he is interested in supporting Amundsrud in his struggle for poker legalization in Norway irrespective of what the results of the matter are going to be.