PKR's Sofia Lovgren: How to turn $1 into an Incredible Poker Career

At only 24 years old, Sofia 'welllbet' Lovgren has already achieved an incredible amount of success on and away from the poker tables. She did so well at PKR that they signed her to a sponsorship deal at the age of 20. The Gothenburg, Sweden native has since managed to make a fortune in online poker games, along with $128,015 in live tournament cashes. And do you want to know something interesting about all of this? Lovgren began her poker career with $1.

Actually, she didn't event start with that because her parents didn't want her playing online poker for real money. As explained by PokerFaceNews, she began playing freerolls and earned $1. She then turned this dollar into $5,000 through real money poker games. Thanks to her quick profits, Lovgren's parents got on board with the idea of playing poker for a career.

"At the same time they were strict and insisted we should first do our school work," she told PokerFaceNews. "I made the decision to take a break and try poker full time for some time before going to university. After showing them my hourly winnings and a plan for playing poker, they agreed it was worth trying."

Lovgren went on to explain that her "break has been going on for four years," and her parents now follow her poker career very closely. Not too long ago, they got to see her biggest live tournament cash yet, a £21,540 ($34,925) payout for taking 16th place in the UKIPT London High Roller.

But while Lovgren continues to play live events, her money-maker will always be online cash games. In fact, she's one of the biggest multi-tablers at her sponsor site. "When I'm in a grinding mood I sometimes play the 9 tables on PKR and add a few tables somewhere else," she said. "I have played 18 tables once but I think it could be more profitable with a better focus on a limited amount of tables."

As much as Lovgren plays, though, she still loves the amount of freedom that being a poker pro gives her. She told PokerFaceNews, "As a professional poker player I have close to endless free time to be honest. I’m my own boss and can spend my day just as I want."
The extra free time that Lovgren has gives her an opportunity to do some of her favorite activities such as downhill skiing and playing golf. It's nice to hear of a famous poker pro who can strike a good balance between her hobbies and career. And as the face of PKR, we can definitely expect to see plenty more of Lovgren in the future.