Niklas Astedt Kicks off 2022 with WSOP Circuit Win on GGPoker for $108,000

Swedish poker superstar Niklas Astedt, known as ‘Lena900’ online, has started the New Year as he means to go on with a stirring victory in the latest World Series of Poker Circuit Series event to take place on GGPoker.

Winning the top prize of $108,655, Astedt once again confirmed just how great his reputation deservedly is as he outlasted some of the best online poker players in the world on his way to more glory.

Making the Money

With 697 entrants, the $1,050-entry High Roller Sunday event saw just 98 players paid, as legends of the game such as controversial figure Alex Foxen, German crusher Ole Schemion and WSOP Main Event runner-up Dario Sammartino.

One very big name crashed out just before the final table as Chris Moorman, who has won over $16m in online poker earnings since his career cut short his education. ‘Moorman1’ bowed out just ahead of the final nine meeting at the final table.

Once they made it, it was Cypriot player Andreas Christoforou who was eliminated in ninth place for $12,753. Christoforou, who has won over $1.2 million in his poker career, including a career-high score of $565,000 that he received for taking down the 2019 Meri Poker Classic in his home country venue in Kyrenia, could go no further but will be a player to watch in 2022 after a run of four cashes in the Autumn of 2021.

Two Swedes Make Heads-Up

Leonard Maue of Austria came eight for $16,670 before Lachezar Petkov from Poland took home $21,789 in seventh place. It didn’t take long for two more players to join those luminaries on the rail as ‘77Storm77’ of Canada (6^th for $28,480) and Russian player Sergei Denisov (5^th for $37,225) both found their way from the felt.

The two Swedish players were dominating the final table as Simon Mattsson and the aforementioned Astedt seemed on a collision course to a heads-up battle. When ‘Kingmave9111’ from Malta crashed out in fourth place for a score worth $48,657, play was sent three-handed.

Hailing from the Netherlands, ‘callplx’ got their wish but couldn’t win their all-in hand when they busted in third place for $63,598, setting up an all-Sweden finale that saw two of 2021’s most successful players going head-to-head for the only six-figure score up for grabs.

Astedt Seals Victory, Joined by Haxton in New Year Honors List

Astedt simply knows how to close out a poker tournament – especially online – better than anyone in the world. It didn’t take long for him to push home his chip advantage and send Mattsson home with another runner-up result to his name. Mattsson’s second place was worth a great amount of $83,128, a superb return on his $1,050 investment.

The winner, however, was Astedt yet again as the amazing Swedish poker professional locked up another title to kick off the year how he ended the last. Winning the top prize of $108,655, Astedt also claimed a WSOPC victory. In live terms, the Swede’s $100,677 across 12 cashes in live WSOP events represents something of an anomaly. Astedt is yet to show his poker class in WSOP events, but 2022 could well be the year for it to happen; it is simply a matter of time if he keeps playing at this level.

Astedt wasn’t the only top pro winning big at the start of the year, with Isaac Haxton claiming not one but two titles on January 2^nd. Both came on GGPoker, with the $5,250 High Roller Deepstack event and $1,050-entry Sunday Kick-Off both going his way. Haxton, who recently left partypoker after a lengthy association with the ‘orange diamond’ brand as an ambassador, will be heartened by such a strong start to yet another year he hopes to play at the top of his game.