Johnny Lodden joins Team Pokerstars

OSLO, Norway -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- PokerStars, the world's largest online poker site, have announced the signing of top Norwegian poker pro Johnny Lodden. His first appearance as a Team PokerStars Pro player will be at the Norwegian Poker Championships this weekend, followed by the PokerStars EPT San Remo event in April and the PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Season Five Finale.

At the age of 18, Lodden was rated one of the best online poker players in the world. A few years later he broke into the live tournament scene winning his first big international live poker tournament – cashing $26,430 at the 2004 St Maarten Open. Since his first cash on the PokerStars EPT circuit in 2006, Lodden has cashed another seven times and taken home a combined total of more than $245,000, over the three years – making him one of the most recognisable and feared faces on the tour.

Last September he finished 11th place in the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event and in January 2009 he was awarded the title of Norway's best poker player.

Johnny joins the Team PokerStars Pro roster as the first Norwegian player "This signing is fantastic for PokerStars.com, Johnny Lodden and the Norwegian Poker community. Since his breakthrough in 2004 Johnny has played on a really high level, and deserves the title as the first Norwegian Team PokerStars Pro." says Thomas Udness, Marketing Manager for PokerStars.com in Norway.