Norwegian Poker Pro Challenges Politicians to Heads-Up Match

Ola “Odd Oddsen” Amundsgaard, the high-stakes poker pro, does not like the way poker is viewed and taxed in his home country of Norway. As a result he made a public challenge to all of the country’s politicians.

Amundsgaard offered 10,000 hands of heads-up pot-limit Omaha with $170,000 of his own money on the line. He is hoping that the match will help prove to lawmakers that poker is a game of skill rather than luck.

A single lawmaker, Eriend Wiborg, has accepted the challenge and the two are arranging the final details of the game. While it is not clear what will come from the match Amundsgaard sees it as an important step.
Wiborg said in a recent interview that he occasionally plays online poker but Amundsgaard thinks that he will “get some coaching before our challenge. I don’t think he would have accepted this challenge without any experience.”

Wiborg has already expressed that he believes poker to be a game of skill and he will be aiding Amundsgaard push the issue regardless of who wins the game.