Smart money on Swedes in European Showdown

Poker pro Erik Friberg says he's convinced Swedes are the best poker players in Europe; Absolute Poker says let's prove it. Not to him, necessarily, but to the rest of the continent, as they've announced a free online poker tournament to settle the debate once and for all.

It's dubbed the "European FreeRoll Showdown," and by March 24, one of 20 countries will be able to profess to having Europe's best poker players.

This is how it works: Players register for a free online tournament amongst their countrymen. The top five players in each country-specific Texas Hold'em tournament then win a spot in the final European FreeRoll Showdown event.

Winner of the final Texas Hold'em tournament then stakes their country's claim to "Best in Europe" and a piece of the $1,000 prize pool.

"There's a very distinct competitive spirit among European countries when it comes to poker," says David Clainer, senior vice president for Absolute Poker.

"Each European country thinks they're better than all the others. With the European FreeRoll Showdown, we're going to find out who's really on top."

Here's the schedule for the country-specific events:

• Feb. 24 - Turkey, Germany, Finland, Norway, Russia
• March 3 - France, U.K., Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland
• March 10 - Greece, Cyprus, Austria, Switzerland, Poland
• March 17 - Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Italy
• March 24 - Finals

For more details, visit Absolute Poker.

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