Reidar Monsen (Team Norway)

Reidar Monsen is one of those guys that's hard to look at across the table. While genial and friendly off the table, Monsen has an assassin's stare at the felt. He claims to have never played live poker before today. The way he played, I'd almost call him a liar. Then again, most poker players are liars. And the way Monsen looks at his foes, I would be the last one to accuse him of anything.


Dietmar "Didi" Wegerer (Team Austria)

Dietmar Wegerer is much the same as his Norwegian opponent, except this Austrian admits haveing played a bit of live poker in Vienna's Concord Card Casino. His admission is evidently true because this guy can play some cards as well.

***

This was one of those matches where I called more of the action than I took notes on. Nonetheless, it was an important match. A Norwegian loss would put the team woefully behind and in a position where it had to win its next match to stay in the hunt for the finals.

It appeared as though Austria may take the match straight off. Wegerer took an earlry lead and held on to it for some time. Monsen's lack of live experience showed in the early rounds. The Austrian picked on Monsen for some time before relinguishing the lead and finding himself behind. Then Monsen ramped up his aggression and never let go of the lead. With his assassin's glare, he took down the second heat and gave his team significant breathing room.

Team Austria: 1, Team Norway: 1