So what if Erik Friberg is a little biased when he says Swedes are the best poker players in the world? By making the final table of the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event and winning almost $2 million, he may have proven his hypothesis.

The professional online poker player was born in April 1983 in Stockholm, Sweden, and learned to play poker as a teenager. His Hold'em talents quickly outpaced those of his friends, however, and Friberg was eventually shut out of high school games.

To find some action, he turned to the Internet and started competing at Paradise Poker. There, he earned enough confidence in his game to quit university in 2004 and try to make it as a professional online player. Friberg admits it didn't go well in the beginning, but after finding his groove in a couple of huge online tournaments, he had the money to start traveling the live tournament circuit.

He stayed on the continent to play live tournaments while picking up quick and easy cash in No-Limit Hold'em cash games online.

Friberg's first notable tournament came in 2004, at the European Poker Tour's Barcelona Open main event where he finished in 26th place. Undaunted, Friberg kept at the live tournaments and, in 2005, finished first in the Swedish Poker Challenge's No-Limit Hold'em event to earn $87,287.

But it wasn't until the 2006 World Series of Poker that Friberg's name was on the lips of the professional poker world. After winning a seat to the Main Event by playing online at PokerStars.com, the unknown player inched his way up the tournament ladder with his ultra-aggressive style. By the last day, Friberg's dominating play had earned him a sizable stack good for fourth place out of the final nine in the chip standings.

Unfortunately, Friberg went all-in against the big stack and eventual champion Jamie Gold, with pocket fish hooks to Gold's pair of ladies, and was sent packing when the board didn't deliver. Despite winning $1,979,189, a dejected Friberg gave a press conference after busting out in eighth place, saying he wanted to make it all the way. Living up to his nickname "LilarErik" ("Lirar" is Swedish slang for gambler), Friberg also said he planned to spend his WSOP winnings on gambling.

Like many young poker pros who have got their start playing online, Friberg has never held a "real" job but approaches poker as work, perfecting his skills on the Internet each day. And if his game has as much promise as his first WSOP indicates, it looks as though he won't have to start drafting a resume any time soon.