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Team With A Vision

The Norsemen separate themselves from other poker teams by a scientific & synergetic approach

By Rolf “Ace” Slotboom

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 where the qualities & abilities of individual players help making the team as a whole much stronger – most of all, by creating synergy effects. Team manager Rolf Woods (42) explains.

“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 of them with a rather specific set of skills & personality. We picked one player because he is a known expert in mathematics, one who excels in heads up and short games, one who has a clear edge because of his psychological and sociological approach, etc. By putting these players all together in 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 where for instance the mathematically focused player would help the “feel” player, and where 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 this talking, all this analysis that we do, and this “being part of a team rather that perform as an individual” approach that we think so highly of. There is just one stipulation: If someone wants to leave us that’s fine, he just cannot join any other poker team within a period of five years. This way, the players in our team know that the secrets about their own play that they will share in our discussions, cannot be used to the benefit of any other team. And of course, no one in our team can ever get banned because of bad results. The only reason for eviction would be bad behavior. This because we want to be exemplary to the poker world, and play a clean and honest game – with players that 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 an old “strong”, “fighting”, yes even “sexy”, “Viking” type of connotation to it. This is especially true in the US, 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 Norway. But quite clearly, it is the players that deserve to get all the credit for this – I just happened to put them together.”

The players

OK, so who are these players actually? What follows is a short introduction of their names, age, results, strengths and views. In successive order, I will highlight Anders Berg, Torstein Iversen, Edgar Skjervold, Sverre Sundbo and Frode Fagerli.

Anders Berg (37)

The “Poker Professor” of the Norsemen. Looks at poker in a mathematical and analytical way. Anders is an expert in game theory, a theory that 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. Used to play chess at a pretty high level, and now regularly plays in limit hold’em 6-max., limits between $100-200 and $300-600. Biggest tournament win: €30,000 for winning the €400 no-limit hold’em side event at the Irish Winter Festival of Poker 2005 in Dublin.

Torstein Iversen (34)

A highly unpredictable player who is known for playing any hand, and who excels in heads up and shorthanded games. Is known for making moves based upon his read on others rather than on the actual cards that he holds. Some of his favorite plays: The small blind reraise, the “Norwegian Bluff” (that is neither a real bluff nor a semi-bluff – but what it is I still haven’t figured 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. Winner of the £2,000 buy-in European No-Limit Hold’em Championship 2003 for a £149,984 first prize, and finalist at both the 2005 EPT Baden and the 2005 Master Classics in Amsterdam.

Edgar Skjervold (31)

The “Crazy Maniac” in 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 feel my opponent has even less. This is both my strength and my weakness, because if often leads to situations where I either win huge pots or bust out. So, that’s what I am probably known for: As a chance-taker, but also as 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 EPT Copenhagen 2006, the tournament that was won by Mads Andersen. Edgar started the final as a short stack, but fought back very well. I noticed he made a lot of well-timed strategic raises, and he was especially prone to make what I call “delayed raises” on the turn – flatcalling the flop, only to try and take the pot after having seen 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 in a big televised event, he is also the winner of the $2,500 Main Event at the 2004 World Championship Of Online Poker for a first prize of no less than $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 honest yes even naïve at times – and he has been able to use this to his advantage especially on the beginning of his career. He finished second to Tony G. at the £5,000 no-limit hold’em Main Even at the 2005 European Poker Championships for a £121,175 payday. Sverre defines his style of play as “Social Psychological”, where he tries to be well-liked outside of the table, yet actively searches to make his opponents feel uncomfortable at the green felt. Likes to talk a lot, and varies his play according to players, position and table feel. With his open face and his 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. Focuses a lot of the social approach and tries to gain an edge by taking advantage of a pleasant atmosphere that he has helped creating. Admits that this is a bit harder to pull off for him on the European tournament trail than in his home country. Is the one who has helped poker grow huge in Norway by setting up the major information sites there: www.wsop.no and 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 less than 200,000 people play the game regularly. Frode says: “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 just a – yes, very welcome – bonus for us, simply because the foundation of our team was so good.” Team manager Rolf Woods: “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 represent just one country, but I expect that many more will follow.” Edgar: “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 where 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 8 hours sessions at least once a week, where we discuss the following 6 points: Play, Analysis, Statistics, Position, Tells and Other Players. So, we are not just very eager to improve our own games, no we also actively – and collectively – search for ways to counter our opponents’ strategies. I guess it is this what separates us from other teams, and what has ultimately led to us being so successful.” Frode: “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 semi-official Norwegian poker team, sponsored by Swedish poker site Expekt. With Rolf Woods as team manager, a poker enthusiast and owner of many telecommunication companies, they have created a revolutionary team concept. This concept is based on synergy effects, where the total power of the team should account to more than just the sum of the power of all individual players. Members of the team include Edgar Skjervold, Torstein Iversen, Frode Fagerli, Anders Berg and Sverre Sundbo, plus occasionally some online qualifiers & Norwegian guest players.

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