Yet another title for Sweden? Anton Suarez likes his chances at EPT Barcelona
According to the most recent official figures, the population of Sweden is just short of 10.6 million. But in the 20-year history of the European Poker Tour, Swedes have won no fewer than 13 Main Events. At one title per every 814,000 people, Sweden has the densest concentration of EPT champions in the world.
To corrupt (and slightly fictionalise) a famous adage: It seems that in Sweden, you’re never more than six feet away from an elite poker pro.
This weekend in Barcelona, the concentration might well get even more potent. Heading into Day 6 of the EPT Main Event, the dominant chip leader is one Anton Suarez, a 35-year-old pro from, you guessed it, Sweden.
And not just any part of Sweden. He’s from Stockholm, and specifically an area that already boasts one EPT Barcelona champion.
“Simon Brandstrom is my neighbour,” Suarez says, referring to the 2019 champion. “He lives about 50 metres away.”
THE ABSOLUTE BEST RAIL IN THE WORLD
Naturally Brandstrom is on hand to offer Suarez any tips he needs as he aims to join him in on the EPT honours board, but he already has what you might call a surfeit of experience on his rail. Suarez revealed that his two best friends in poker are two fellow Swedes named Niklas and (another) Simon. That’s Niklas Astedt and Simon Mattsson — sometimes better known as “Lena900” and “C. Darwin2”, aka arguably the best two online tournament pros in the world.
“I like my spot,” Suarez said. “I like my chances.”
Anton Suarez comes from the best poker bloodstock in the world
It’s not even that he really needs the help. Suarez is the last player remaining in the EPT Barcelona field with a $1 million score to his name, earned in Nottingham, UK, in 2020. He has also shown his chops in PokerStars sponsored events, finishing runner up in a massive Eureka Main Event in Prague in 2022, where second place from a 4,017-entry field earned him more than €300K.
For all that, he says he considers PLO to be his main game, both cash and tournaments, live and online. But it seems that hold’em holds no fears for a player oozing the calm confidence characteristic of his peers.
Back home, he is being cheered on by his girlfriend and one-and-a-half-year-old son. Suarez says the youngster doesn’t quite understand exactly what’s going on just yet as he peers at his dad on the live stream.
But we’ve long suspected they teach hold’em and PLO in Swedish nursery schools, so no doubt the lessons will begin very soon…
TOP PERFORMING COUNTRIES PER CAPITA IN EPT MAIN EVENTS
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