Biography of Erick Lindgren

Erick Lindgren is an extremely talented poker player,
especially when it comes to Texas Hold’em. He has received two
World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles.
On top of winning a plethora of other tournaments and cash
games, he has managed to bring in millions of dollars in
revenue.

However, despite the constant cash flow from his proceeds,
Lindgren and his family are forced to live paycheck to paycheck
to compensate for his gambling addiction. The majority of his
winnings go to repay his past gambling debts. He regularly goes
to rehab for his condition and has certainly made significant
improvements over the past couple of years.

Early Years

Erick A. Lindgren was born August 11th, 1976 in Burney,
California. Lindgren was very athletic in high school, as he
was the captain of both the football and basketball teams. After
he graduated, Lindgren became a blackjack dealer at Casino San
Pablo.

Lindgren was asked to fill in as a prop poker player at the
table to help keep the action rolling. He enjoyed it so much
that he eventually left his position at the casino to play poker
professionally. His first major tournament win was while playing
a $3,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament at the Bellagio Hotel in
2002.

Poker Accomplishments

Fans started noticing Lindgren’s talent after he won WPT
Ultimate Poker Classic tournament in 2002, cashing in at
$500,000. Later that same year, he won his second WPT event
after taking first place in the PartyPoker Millions cruise. He
was named one of WPT’s Young Guns of Poker and Player of the
Year for his accomplishments, and was asked to become a member
of Team Full Tilt.

Lindgren was later invited to play at the 2006 Poker
Superstars Invitational tournament and impressed everyone by
taking third place in the finals. Just a couple weeks later, he
impressed everyone again by winning the Full Tilt Poker online
Pro Showdown, winning $600,000.

Lindgren entered the 2007 Aussie Millions tournament in
Melbourne, Australia, which is a very prestigious event to be a
part of. Lindgren swept the floor with the other competitors and
managed to take first place in the No-Limit Hold’em speed-poker
championship.

When the 2008 World Series of Poker came around, Lindgren had
enough confidence to win his first gold bracelet in the $5,000
Mixed Hold’em event. He later went on to win the $5,000 No Limit
Hold’em 6 Handed event in 2013, bringing home his second WSOP
gold bracelet and another $600,000 in prize money.

Lindgren can never turn down a bet. One of his friends, Gavin
Smith bet him $100,000 that he couldn’t play four rounds of golf
under 100 in one day at Bear’s Best Golf Course, the most
challenging course in Las Vegas. Other professionals, like Phil
Ivey, added their own wagers and by the end the stake was up to
$340,000. Lindgren had to carry his own bag, walk from hole to
hole, and shoot from the pro’s tees. After 14 hours of playing
golf in 100 degree weather, Lindgren came out victorious!

Rehab and Recovery

Lindgren became addicted to gambling, and it really caught up
to him in March, 2012 when he couldn’t pay all of his fantasy
football bets at the end of the season. He also owed millions of
dollars to Full Tilt Poker, who he had taken out loans from so
that he could have a bigger bankroll to gamble with. Recognizing
that he had a serious problem, Lindgren checked in to
Morningside Recovery to get professional help with his gambling
addiction.

His experiences in Rehab made him realize how much control
gambling had over his life and how irresponsible he had been in
the past with his money. Through this process, the doctors there
were able to teach him how to separate his gambling profession
from his personal life, which helped him realize that it’s okay
to walk away from a bet.

It was suggested that he stop gambling all together, but he
wants to be able pay back all of the people he wronged and
playing poker is the only way he can accomplish that. He
released this statement to the media, “I don’t want to stop my
profession. I just want to get better at it. I want to stay in
full control, which means not gambling wildly, not going beyond
my bankroll and gambling with other people’s money. I want to
gamble the right way and do my profession as well as I can.”

Lindgren has the support of his wife, Erica, and their five
year old son, Jake who motivate him to work harder to overcome
his addiction.