Premier League Poker Player Profiles

Lining for this years's star-studded Premier League Poker are:

Andy Black | Victoria Coren | Ian Frazer | Tony G | Kirill Gerasimov | Phil Hellmuth | Juha Helppi | Kenna James | Liz Lieu | Eddie Scharf | Dave Ulliott | Roland de Wolfe

Juha Helppi

Juha Helppi, the "Finnish Flash", was the first internet player to win a major international poker tournament. When the 2002 tournament Ultimate Poker Classic was held on the sands of Aruba, he was the fearless amateur who took home the win and the prize money. Since then, Juha has developed a strong presence at the poker table finishing second in the 2004 Monte Carlo Millions and placing tenth in the Season Three WPT World Championship.

Before entering the Ultimate Poker Classic Juha's only experience was playing in online tournaments of various sizes. He picked up poker at the age of 21; he initially served as a casino dealer. A couple of good friends told him about playing online and from then on he was hooked. Known for his friendly demeanor, don't be fooled when you join him at the table, where he has no qualms about playing his opponents aggressively. This tactic earned him a trip to his third WPT final table this year at Paris.

Juha made a name for himself in the first World Poker Tour (WPT) event in Aruba, where he eliminated Kathy Liebert on the way to defeating professional player Phil "Tiltboy" Gordon in a heads-up challenge match. He has since made two other WPT final tables, with a fourth place finish in the Season 1 Battle of Champions and a second place finish to England's Roland De Wolfe in the Grand Prix de Paris 2005 event. In addition he had a tenth place finish in the Season 3 Championship event.

In November 2005, Helppi faced Phil "The Unabomber" Laak and "Cowboy" Kenna James in the first ever underwater poker tournament and was awarded the Caribbean Poker Classic Extreme Poker bracelet. As the winner of InterPoker's first extreme poker tournament, he earned the right to choose the next years location, he chose to play it in Kemi on the frozen Gulf of Bothnia. He finished second, losing to former WSOP champion Robert Varkonyi.

As of 2006, Juha's total live tournament winnings exceed $1,400,000.

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