There are just a handful of poker players on the international circuit that knows that the excitement of fighting out for the largest cash pot in online poker history. Having helped set the record back in 2006, Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden is one of them.
The 24 year-old Norwegian poker pro said that it was pretty crazy but exciting at the same time. Lodden played under the screen name bad_ip at that time and found himself on the losing end of that $465,451 cash pot.
When Patrik Antonius and an unknown Swedish poker pro Isildur1 fought it out over $878,959 on November 16th, 2009, they set a new record online. The Nordic nosebleeders defeated Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Di "urindanger" Dang's record of $723,000 posted in October 2008 and less than a week later, they posted a new record for the biggest cash pot ever fought over online at $1,356,947.
Dwan and Dang's record setting cash pot came at the peak of a series of action on the poker tables of Full Tilt with John Juanda and Phil Ivey joining in to help break the cash pot record nightly. But before the action-packed fall of 2008, Lodden's record, which he shared with fellow Swedish poker pro Mohammad "Fast_Freddie" Kowsarrie, stood for more than two years.
The record was set on Prima Poker Network when Lodden got it all-in with his ace/nine against the ace/jack of Kowsarrie with a pair of aces on the table. Lodden said that they are aware that they are breaking new ground with every big cash pot back then because of the poker site's $200/$400 game were clearly the largest online. Just twenty-one years-old at that time, the only thing that Lodden was unaware at that time was the worth of money. Lodden said that it is different when you possess money online. He said that if he had a briefcase in front of him with $3 million it would be a different thing.
While he has sat at the virtual poker felt with the like of Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan and Ilari "ziigmund" Sahamies, Lodden has since stepped way from the high-stakes online circuit. But like any other poker player in the world, he has been playing attention to the poker action of the last month as Isildur1 continue to set the pace online and push his once record-setting cash pot farther from the top of the all-time list.
Lodden said on December 2nd, 2009 that he has seen a lot of similarities between the Swedish player and the player he was three years ago. He said that Isildur1 is a young player and he does not really understand the value of the money but he love Isildur1's No-Limit Hold'em game. Stating that online high-stakes regulars are just really good these days, Lodden said that he has no desire to face Isildur1 and get back to smashing online cash pot records.
These days, Lodden is more focused on the live poker tournament scene. But can a player who has played cash pots that would dwarf 2nd place money in most of the biggest live poker events in the world can stay motivated?
Lodden said that before it was really hard but not anymore. He said that he really want to do well in live poker tournaments because it is the thing that every poker player cares about. Lodden added that he love to play poker tournaments especially in the European Poker Tour and since he is not playing so high these days, he have to grind it out in these poker events.
12/27/2009 05:59 PM