Team With a Vision

Team Norsemen (from left to right): Rolf Woods, Sverre Sundbo, Edgar Skjervold,

Anders Berg, Torstein Iversen, and Frode Fagerli

Lots of sponsored teams have found their way into European tournament poker. Some of them are successful simply because they have gotten lucky on a few occasions, while others are successful simply because they've got some extremely talented players. There is one team, though, that is successful because of something else: a special team concept. The "Norsemen," sponsored by Expekt, have created a team in which the qualities and abilities of individual players help make the team as a whole much stronger – most of all, by creating synergism. Team manager Rolf Woods (42) explained:



"Norway is a country with many good or even very good poker players. So, when we decided to create a poker team, the question was not just to select a couple of good players. The question was first to pick good players with different kinds of strengths and abilities, and then have them all work together so that they could make each other stronger. This would first and foremost benefit the team, but ultimately it would, of course, benefit them."


The Norsemen: More than just a group of good players

"It was at the 2005 World Series that we got together five players, each with a rather specific set of skills and personality. We picked one player because he is a known expert in mathematics, one who excels in heads-up and short games, and has a clear edge because of his psychological and sociological approach. By putting these players all together on one team, and by convincing them that it was also in their best interest to discuss, analyze, and criticize each other's game, we knew this would be the exact point where we could gain an edge over other teams. While there may be teams with better individual players than ours, they almost never put enough time and effort into making each other better. We knew that if we could get together a team in which, for instance, the mathematically focused player would help the 'feel' player, and in which the short-stack expert would help the crazy big-stack maniac, they could all lift their games to a higher level because of what we call 'synergy effects'. Of course, any player could quit the team at any time; for instance, if he just wasn't up to all of this talking, all of this analysis that we do, and this "being part of a team rather than perform as an individual" approach of which we think so highly. There is just one stipulation: If someone wants to leave us, that's fine, but he cannot join any other poker team within a period of five years. This way, the players on our team know that the secrets about their own play that they will share in our discussions cannot be used to benefit any other team. And, of course, no one on our team can ever get banned because of bad results. The only reason for eviction would be bad behavior. This is because we want to be exemplary to the poker world, and play a clean and honest game – with players who can serve as role models to the public."



The sponsor bites
"We took this entire concept to Expekt, a large site owned by Swedes but with its main office in Malta, and they were immediately very enthusiastic. We decided to call the team 'Norsemen' instead of the obvious 'Team Norway', simply because Norsemen has a 'strong,' 'fighting,' yes, even 'sexy,' 'Viking' type of connotation to it. This is especially true in the U.S., where the people just love the name of our team.



"Of course, now that we had our team, our concept, the name, the sponsor, and the willingness to perform, it was time for us to do just that: perform. And we have been fortunate enough that right from the beginning, things went very smoothly. The players booked some great results, and this quickly put our team on the map, gaining us lots of exposure in our home country of Norway. But quite clearly, it is the players who deserve to get all of the credit for this; I just happened to put them together."



The players

OK, so who are these players? What follows is a short introduction of each player: Anders Berg, Torstein Iversen, Edgar Skjervold, Sverre Sundbo, and Frode Fagerli.

Anders Berg (37) He's the "Poker Professor" of the Norsemen, as he looks at poker in a mathematical and analytical way. Anders is an expert in game theory, which is very helpful in trying to ascertain correctness of decisions. He is extremely calm, shows very few emotions, and is said to be one of the best short-stack players in Europe – at least that's what his fellow team members claim. He used to play chess at a pretty high level, and now regularly plays six-maximum $100-$200 and $300-$600 limit hold'em. His biggest tournament win was €30,000 for winning the €400 no-limit hold'em side event at the 2005 Irish Winter Festival of Poker in Dublin.

Torstein Iversen (34) He's a highly unpredictable player who is known for playing any hand, and he excels in heads-up and shorthanded games. He is known for making moves based upon his read on others rather than on the cards that he holds. Some of his favorite plays are the small-blind reraise, the "Norwegian Bluff" (which is neither a real bluff nor a semibluff, and I still haven't figured it out), and betting out small in fairly big pots. All in all, Torstein has a much different style of play than most other players, a style based upon mathematics and adjusting to opponents' tendencies. He was the winner of the €2,000 buy-in 2003 European No-Limit Hold'em Championship, for a €149,984 first prize, and a finalist at both the 2005 EPT Baden and the 2005 Master Classics in Amsterdam.

Edgar Skjervold (31) Edgar is the "crazy maniac" on the team. He says about his own game: "Sometimes my plays are fearless, sometimes they are plain stupid. I tend to play extremely aggressively, and as a result, I experience lots of chip movement. And I often go by my read on someone, meaning I am not afraid to put my chips into the middle with very little if I think my opponent has even less. This is both my strength and my weakness, because it often leads to situations in which I either win huge pots or bust out. So, that's what I am probably known for: a chance-taker, but also a very competitive player. Having had a decent career as a soccer player, I am very competitive – meaning I always want to win, regardless of the game or the stakes." Just like Torstein, Edgar is a master in economics. I watched him closely at the 2006 EPT Copenhagen, the tournament that was won by Mads Andersen. Edgar started the final as a short stack, but fought back very well. I noticed that he made a lot of well-timed strategic raises, and he was especially prone to make what I call "delayed raises" on the turn: flat-calling the flop, only to try to take the pot after seeing one more card. In fact, my guess was that with his €228,000 second prize, Edgar may have gotten a bit too little. In addition to this second-place finish in a big televised event, he was also the winner of the $2,500 main event at the 2004 World Championship of Online Poker, which paid a handsome $424,945.

Sverre Sundbo (24) Another soccer aficionado, Sverre started focusing on poker when he suffered a serious injury. Being the young gun of the group, he looks very naïve at times – and has been able to use this to his advantage, especially at the beginning of his career. He finished second to Tony G. in the €5,000 no-limit hold'em main event at the 2005 European Poker Championships, for a €121,175 payday. Sverre defines his style of play as "social psychological," whereby he tries to be well-liked away from the table, yet actively tries to make his opponents feel uncomfortable at the green felt. He likes to talk a lot, and varies his play according to the players, position, and table feel. With his open face and good looks, he is the ideal media platform for the team – even more so because he's a TV host in Norway.

Frode Fagerli (35) Despite the fact that he has no major tournament results outside of Norway just yet, Frode is known as "Mr. Poker" in Norway. He focuses a lot on the social approach, and tries to gain an edge by taking advantage of the pleasant atmosphere that he has helped create. He admits that this is a bit harder to pull off for him on the European tournament trail than in his home country. He is the one who has helped poker grow in Norway by setting up the major information sites there: http://www.wsop.no/ and http://www.poker.no/.

Poker is booming in Norway – and the Norsemen play a leading role

Despite the fact that there is no brick-and-mortar poker in Norway, the game is booming. There are three TV channels that have poker shows, and out of a mere 4 million population, no fewer than 200,000 people play the game regularly.



Frode stated, "Because of the popularity of the game and the fact that we are rather well-known in our home country, we had the media lined up even before playing our very first hand as part of the team. So, in this respect, our sponsor, Expekt, was nothing more than very welcome bonus for us, simply because the foundation of our team was so good."



Team manager Woods said, "The media see us more or less as the Norwegian 'National Team,' and emphasize the impact that we have, representing our home country. We may be one of the first teams that specifically represents just one country, but I expect that many more will follow."



Edgar commented, "We have two clear edges. First of all, we have a competitiveness that is simply second to none. But perhaps even more importantly, we have a willingness to share, and a genuine interest in making each other better. In contrast to what many teams do, we have long sessions in which we analyze the strength of the opposition. By using our own strengths and weaknesses, we try to come up with the best way to negate our opponents' strengths and take advantage of our own. We do this in eight-hour sessions at least once a week, in which we discuss the following six points: play, analysis, statistics, position, tells and other players. So, we are not just very eager to improve our own games, but are also actively and collectively searching for ways to counter our opponents' strategies. I guess it is this that separates us from other teams, and what has ultimately led to our being so successful."



Frode concluded, "Yes, the fact that we are truly a team is probably what makes us different. We do whatever we can to support each other, even though at the tables we do play hard. Right now, the good thing is that we are all performing pretty well. The only threat that I can see for the success of our team is if individual players start becoming either too successful or not successful enough. But for now, we will simply continue to work hard in order to reach our ultimate goal: becoming the best poker team in the world."



The "Norsemen" are the semiofficial Norwegian poker team, sponsored by Swedish poker site Expekt. With Rolf Woods, a poker enthusiast and owner of many telecommunications companies, as the team manager, they have created a revolutionary team concept. In addition to the players mentioned, the team also includes occasional online qualifiers and Norwegian guest players.