You don’t have to be a world-class athlete to pick-up bracelets in the World Series of Poker, but apparently a little prior experience in the major leagues can’t hurt.  Three of the distinguished players who lead the Danish Invasion of big-time poker boast distinguished careers in other sports—as if pre-eminence in football and table-tennis were simply warm-ups for their dominance of the poker tables.    Maybe it’s the work ethic, acceptance of relentless practice as one of the game’s basic requirements.  Poker experts insist, “Texas Hold em is an easy game to learn, just difficult to master. The ‘mastering’ part is the costly part… Thankfully, you can practice all you want for free in online poker rooms.”  Like his Danish counterpart Jan Molby, Jan Vang Sorensen ruled the soccer pitch before he dominated the card room; and, like Molby, Sorensen credits his athletic experience with cultivating the focus, discipline, and concentration high-stakes poker requires.

During his football career, Jan Sørensen, born in May, 1955, played for championship teams throughout Europe, distinguishing himself as one of the game’s finest strikers.  His career took him from his native Denmark to Belgium and ultimately to Portugal.  In 1978, Sorenson and his Club Brugge teammates reached the European Cup final, where they lost a heartbreaker to Britain’s Club Liverpool.  Hanging-up his cleats, Sorensonh remained in the game as a coach and manager until 1998, when poker became his game of choice.
Like other athetes-turned-cardsharks, Soreneson learned seven-card stud while his football team was on the road, and seven-card stud remains Soreneson’s specialty.   On the World Poker Tour (WPT), Sorenson has finished in-the-money twice, and he has played in the finals once.  Finishing in the money for the very first time at the 1995 World Series of Poker, Sorenson also won the Dortmund seven-card stud tournament in 1998. Building on his early successes, Sorenson collected his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2002, defeating Brent Carter and pocketing a tidy $185,000 for his efforts.  Soreneson also battled to a bracelet-winning finish in 2005, knocking out Keith Sexton and collecting more than a quarter-million dollars.

Although somewhat reluctant about speaking with the press for fear of disclosing information that his opponents might use to their advantage, Sorenson has pointed out that his play as a striker influences what the hold’em players call “Table Image.”  Experts agree that, because wagering plays a decisive role in the game, a player’s table image is essential to his success.  The pokerati maintain, “in Holdem you need to be unpredictable,” they stress. Let your opponents have a tough time figuring out what kind of a player you are.”  Sorenson sees a clear analogy with playing striker, where remaining elusive and unpredictable also is essential to success.  In the same way that a striker would bob and weave through defenders moving the ball deftly and deceptively, a skilled hold’em player must bob and weave through the series of turns and wagers, keeping his opponents off-guard and off-balance.  “The minute it becomes predictable, you’re done,” Sorenson has suggested.

Probably his most impressive win, the 2008 Master Classics of Poker paid Sorenson a handsome $801,000, pushing his lifetime earnings past $2,000,000.  And, in what he considers one of his proudest gaming-table appearances, Sorenson represented Denmark on the Poker Nations Cup.