Seat 5: Peter J?rgne, 51, Sweden (2,400,000)
Some people retire early and dedicate the rest of their lives to relaxing. But not Sweden’s Peter J?rgne. The 51-year-old Stockholm native has been an entrepreneur his whole life and sold his financial technology business – which automated currency trading for banks – in 2018. He then moved to Marbella, Spain to enjoy his retirement, but after a few years of sun and sea on the Costa del Sol, he decided to give poker a proper try.
For years, J?rgne had played poker at home games with friends and in Stockholm cardrooms. “It was just for fun,” he says, “I really knew nothing about it.” But two years ago, a conversation with his friend – fellow Swedish poker player Peter Kvisthammer – changed everything. “He told me that if I really want to be good at this, I had to take it seriously,” says J?rgne. So with Kvisthammer and another Swedish player, Michael Bartov, as his coaches, the three got to work.
They started at EPT Barcelona in August 2022, and J?rgne managed to cash in two events. “We’re like a team,” J?rgne says. “I was only going to do this for one year and the goal was to reach a final table in either an EPT or a WSOP event.” Just ten months later and on his third attempt, J?rgne did it, finishing runner-up at the inaugural EPT Paris for €780,100. He’s travelled the EPT circuit ever since and has enjoyed a few cashes here and there - but nothing quite like this second final table appearance.
By reaching the final eight, J?rgne becomes only the eighth player in EPT history to make back-to-back final tables in the same Main Event. Now let’s see if he can go one better than last year and take home the trophy.