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There’s no denying, or stopping, the greatness of Niklas “Lena900” Astedt.
The Swede tops online tournament poker’s all-time money list (as of July 2024). He’s also won millions of dollars in live poker, including recently reaching the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.
Here we take a detailed look at Niklas “Lena900” Astedt; the person, the player, and the defining achievements that make him one of the game’s most feared and revered players.
WHO IS NIKLAS “LENA900” ASTEDT?
Name: Niklas Mikael Astedt
D.O.B: October 21, 1990 (33 years old)
Birthplace: Partille, Sweden
Playing online since: November 2008
Number of tournament cashes: 11,804 (July 2024)
Online poker tournament earnings: $48,866,883 (July 2024)
Live poker tournament earnings: $7,031,190 (July 2024)
Niklas Astedt has been playing online poker since 2008 and is now considered one of the greatest — if not the greatest — tournament players of all time.
It’s not hard to see why. Astedt stands alone at the top of online tournament poker’s mountain with an astounding ~$49 million in career earnings, according to PokerStake (formerly known as PocketFives). To put that in perspective, his closest rival — fellow Swede and good friend Simon “C.Darwin2” Mattsson — has $35.3 million.
What makes that amount so staggering is that Astedt has never had a seven-figure online cash.
He also plays all of the games, not just no limit hold’em, making him a force when it comes to big online series.
And speaking of big series, Astedt made headlines in July 2024 when he reached the final table of the $10,000 WSOP Main Event, ultimately finishing third for $4 million, his largest live score to date.
Astedt has ranked number one in the world in online tournaments countless times throughout his storied career — including 44 consecutive weeks between May 2018 and March 2019. He’s currently sixth and number one in Sweden.
As one of the top players in the world, Astedt naturally plays poker on other platforms outside of PokerStars. Here are his known usernames:
Niklas Astedt Usernames:
Lena900 (PokerStars)
qwertya09 (PokerStars.Fr)
Niklas Astedt (GG Poker)
Drulitooo (Bwin/PartyPoker)
PayandPlay (PartyPoker)
whoozz (Full Tilt)
tutten7 (888Poker)
KoksJuuice (PMU.fr)
ector (Winamax)
futt32 (William Hill)
LENA900’S BIGGEST ONLINE WINS
In this age of high rollers, you’d assume that Niklas Astedt’s $49 million in online winnings was bolstered by a couple of multi-million dollar scores. You’d be wrong.
Astedt has never enjoyed a seven-figure score online, but he has recorded a whopping 50 online cashes of $100,000 or more. His largest online score came in 2021 when he won a $525 buy-in event for $762,253.
His results show his consistent rise through the poker ranks. He might have impressive wins that date back to 2013-2014, but he’s earned his most lucrative cashes during the last few years. This is a player who is still very much at the peak of his game.
Niklas Astedt’s top PokerStars results come from major series like Stadium Series and SCOOP, as well as the High Roller Series. Outside of the major series, he’s a consistent winner in the High Roller Club. Here are Niklas Astedt’s top five PokerStars results.
LENA900 TOP RESULTS ON POKERSTARS:
WCOOP 98-H: $10,300 NLHE World Championship of NLHE / Main Event (2023)
$408,827 – 4th place
Stadium Series Heat 30-H: $10,300 NLHE (2020)
$230,435 – 1st place
SCOOP-58-H: $10,300 NLHE Main Event (2018)
$184,659 – 7th place
High Rollers 43: $10,300 NLHE 8-Max (2020)
$138,549 – 3rd place
EPT Online 12: $10,300 NLHE 8-Max, Sunday Super High Roller (2021)
$124,373 – 4th place
WCOOP titles: 7
SCOOP titles: 9
TCOOP/Turbo Series: 3
Winter Series/Blowout Series: 3
Stadium Series: 1
ONE OF THE GREATEST COOP PLAYERS
Astedt entered the 2024 Spring Championship of Online Poker with eight titles (having won two in 2023) and added one more in an NLHE Turbo PKO.
Only three players — Benny Glaser, Calvin Anderson and Andre Skvortsov — have more titles (he’s tied on nine with Ole Schemion, Matthew Ashton, and Simon Mattsson). Check out the greatest SCOOP players list here.
He plays all of the games excellently and you’d be a fool to bet against him from winning events in any series. Astedt also has seven WCOOP titles, making him one of the most successful COOP players ever.
NIKLAS “LENA900” ASTEDT’S 9 SCOOP TITLES
2024 — 38-H: $1 050 NLHE [Turbo Progressive KO Single Re-Entry] — $43,360
2023 — 73-H: $530 Sunday Kickoff PKO – $42,611*
2023 — 76-M: $215 NLO8 6-max PKO – $16,022*
2022 — $1,050 PLO 8 — $34,456
2021 — $1,050 NLHE 8-Max — $85,430
2019 — $1,050 Limit Omaha H/L — $27,707
2018 — $530+R NLHE — $102,115
2018 — $1,050 NLO8 [6-Max] — $50,392
2017 — $109 5-Card NLO8 [6-Max, Turbo, Zoom] — $22,457
OTHER MAJOR SERIES
Niklas Astedt’s record also includes three TCOOP/Turbo Series wins, each worth $27K a piece. He also won a Winter Series event in 2019 for $23K, the Bounty Builder Series 53: Thursday Thrill for $32,235, and the Blowout Series 39-H for $44K.
Astedt also pulled through with a huge victory in the Stadium Series in 2021, winning $230,435.
Astedt has also had dozens of significant wins on other sites.
WHAT ABOUT THE SUNDAY MILLION?
The Sunday Million is one of the biggest weekly tournaments on PokerStars, and indeed online, offering a $1 million guarantee on a weekly basis. Tens of thousands of players enter this tourney, so it’s not unusual for top pros to have missed out on first place.
Niklas Astedt has never won the Sunday Million, but he’s come as close as possible without doing so. He has made the final table on several occasions, including a fourth-place finish in 2014, a third-place finish in 2018, and a second-place finish in 2019, each worth a touch over $80K a piece.
NIKLAS ASTEDT – WSOP MAIN EVENT
$4,000,000 – WSOP Main Event 2024 – 3rd place
The entire poker world watched with awe as Astedt navigated his way through the record-breaking Main Event field with ease, seemingly avoiding massive confrontations and instead carefully picking apart his opponents and winning countless small but important pots.
Had he won, he would almost certainly be talked of as the most-skilled WSOP Main Event winner of all time. Unfortunately for Astedt, his event ended in third place after he turned top pair and a gutshot against eventual runner-up Jordan Griff’s set.
When asked about his tournament before the final table, Astedt said: “This is a piece of cake compared to SCOOP. People say this is a marathon. They should try 23 tables for 40 days during SCOOP. That’s what I say.”
For his efforts, Astedt earned a cool $4 million, by far the largest score of his career (his next best is a $762K win online in a $525 buy-in event). “I think I’m stronger online but it’s the same game in the end,” he told Kings Resort.
When speaking to Poker.org, Astedt said: “You have way more information when you’re sitting looking at the guy across the table than you do looking at a screen name and stats or whatever you’re using so pay attention and trust your gut.”
ASTEDT’S LIVE POKER RESULTS
Before the WSOP 2024, Astedt’s top live result came in the EPT High Roller in Barcelona in 2015 where he came fourth for $390,572.
Astedt also finished second in an EPT Paris 2024 €25K High Roller for €291,600, secured second place in the 2020 WSOP Online for $156,905, and won his first WSOP Circuit Ring in 2021 in the $10K Heads-up event.
Although $7 million is a fantastic live record by any standards, Niklas Astedt is much more renowned and successful in the world of online poker.
When asked what the most important skill to becoming one of the best online players was, Astedt replied: “Good question. Living in a Nordic country with dark, long winters!”
Take a look through Niklas Astedt’s full live poker results on Hendon Mob.
MORE ABOUT NIKLAS ASTEDT
PokerStake profile
Hendon Mob profile