After four years as a Team PKR Pro Sofia Lovgren announced this week that she is leaving PKR for the ‘next big adventure’ with one of the major poker sites. Lovgren was picked to join the PKR team at age 20, after showing great potential at the low to mid-stakes full ring cash tables on the site. The fact that she was a homegrown player, with a very marketable look from the untapped market of Sweden made her a very attractive candidate for Team PKR.
Since then, her game has come on leaps and bounds to where she is now playing high stakes cash online and is a regular on the EPT. Lovgren’s best result there was a 16th place finish in the EPT London High Roller. While not having as many poker accolades as some of her PKR stablemates early on – including Vladimir ‘Beyne’ Geskenbein and Andrew Teng – Lovgren soon overtook them to the point where it was clear she was the lead pro on the site.
In addition to her poker skills, she’s the perfect ambassador off the table too – although we may be a little biased as she works for the best poker magazine in the world, PokerPlayer! Lovgren writes a regular blog for us and also hosts a popular column in the magazine.
So, with Lovgren’s next sponsorship deal under wraps for a few more weeks the question now becomes what is next for the super Swede? Here are some of the major candidates that she could potentially move to…
PokerStars
The obvious answer, and one that would seem a perfect fit for both. If promoted correctly, Lovgren could potentially become the Scandinavian answer to Liv Boeree, who has represented PokerStars superbly and opened doors to mainstream media that all male team pros have struggled to open. Whether it’s as part of Team PokerStars or PokerStars Team Online, Lovgren would be an excellent addition.
PokerPlayer odds: EVENS
Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt’s pros, known as ‘The Professionals’, now only have two members in the club – Viktor Blom and Gus Hansen – after the departure of Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan in late 2013. The addition of a female pro would certainly be welcome but I don’t feel that Lovgren is an ideal fit for Full Tilt. First, both Blom and Hansen already represent the Scandinavian market so Lovgren would not be adding anything unique in that sense. Secondly, both are well known for million dollar swings in the online game’s highest stakes possible. While Lovgren has a solid pedigree as an online winner, it’s fair to say she hasn’t reached their nosebleed level yet.
Unless Full Tilt is looking to change the image of their pro team to appeal to a wider audience – and not just the high-class, aspirational model they currently have – I can’t see Lovgren fitting in well here.
PokerPlayer odds: 7/1
Everest Poker
Until recently, Everest Poker weren’t a familiar name to many in the UK market but, with the recent capture of UK superstar Sam Trickett in a mega-bucks deal, they are the new name on everybody’s lips. That Trickett signing is both the catalyst and negative for why they may or may not be interested in Lovgren.
Signing Trickett showed a great deal of ambition on Everest’s part and they are putting their full promotional might behind him including this tremendous promotion where players can win 10% of Trickett’s WSOP earnings this summer. A top female pro on the site would certainly be welcomed to go alongside Trickett. However, do Everest really want to spread their focus on anyone else right now? Signing Trickett was such a big deal that promoting Lovgren alongside him may just serve to dilute the attention they are getting. This could be the sleeper pick.
PokerPlayer odds: 4/1
Rest assured that PokerPlayer.co.uk will have the first exclusive interview with Sofia Lovgren once her new destination is announced. Wherever it is, we have no doubt that Lovgren will be a valuable addition to any company and only bright things are in her future.
PokerPlayer has exclusive interviews with the biggest and best players every month. Subscribe here for just over £1 an issue!
