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Considering the size of Finland and the fact that the local casino and poker room scene is virtually non-existent, the fact that Finland is home to some of the most respected (and feared) poker players on the planet, says a great deal about the character and perhaps even the fierce competitiveness of Finns.

 

Poker history is filled with breakout players dating back to the early 1970’s, except in the case of Finnish players. The internet poker boom in the early part of the 2000’s gave birth to the Finnish pro. Universally the Finnish players brought a wildly aggressive style to the table. For some time, the other internet players referred to them as “fish” a poker term for weak, exploitable players. They also had a tendency to lump them all into the “Scandinavian” category. Those players soon learned (usually as they saw their chips being pushed to “fish”) that their read was totally incorrect and that the Finns, while technically Scandinavian, were in a category of their own.

 

Determining who the top players in the poker world are is a somewhat tricky problem. The only reliable and verifiable method is to rank players based on their tournament results. Tournament poker, however, is only a part of many players’ poker career. Finnish players have excelled in both.

 

Juha Helppi

Like many poker players, Helppi got his start in gambling as a dealer; unlike many of those professional players, Helppi was a croupier, not a poker dealer, in Helsinki. Prior to be introduced to poker by some friends, he was a champion paintball player. Like many other poker players around the world, he was also an avid Magic: The Gathering Player.

 

Many poker fans and players got their first introduction to Finnish players by Juha’s appearance on one of the first World Poker Tour broadcasts from Aruba. After winning his seat in the Aruba tournament, he bested a field of amateur players in Aruba, which earned him a seat in a single table tournament where he faced five professional players. His aggressive style earned Helppi his first major victory after he defeated poker pro Phil Gordon in heads-up competition.

 

His victory convinced him to try poker professionally, which has turned out to be a very good career decision. His tournament earnings are approaching $5.5 million.

 

Patrik Antonious

Patrik Antonious’ is arguably the best-known Finnish poker player in the world. He came to poker after a career in professional tennis and, not surprisingly, modeling. While Antonius has tournament winnings which near $7 million, he is better known for his skill and aggression at the cash tables. He excels at both Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. He holds the title for winning the largest single pot in online poker history ($1.35 million). He plays in some of the largest cash games in the world in Macau. The combination of his skills, aggression, and good looks has also made his a regular on televised poker broadcasts around the world.

 

Ilari Sahamies

Like many Finnish players Ilari Sahamies, who is better known as “Ziigmund” in the poker world, was introduced to poker by playing at a friend’s house. In his case that friend was Patrik Antonious who he met while playing billiards. While Sahamies tournament earnings are “only” in the $1.5 million range, his has earned that amount many times playing cash games and he is considered on the best high stakes Pot Limit Omaha players in the world. Like Helppi and Antonious, Sahamies is an active online player, where he has over $4 million in online cash game winnings. Ziigmund is one of Finland’s more colorful players. In addition to his aggression, on both the virtual and real world, tables he is one of the most talkative players at the table and takes particular delight in verbally taunting his opponents.

Ziigmund is in many ways the more typical Finnish player, as most are cash game specialists. Players like Jani Sointula, Ville Wahlbeck, Sami Kelopuro, and Jens Kyllonen pop up on the tournament circuit from time to time but do not have as high of a profile with poker fans as the others on the list. However all are respected by the players at the cash games both online and in casino poker rooms.

Gambling is a major part of Finnish life. The ubiquitous slot machines are everywhere and the low minimum age for playing means that Finns learn to gamble at an early age.

One recent incident may be an indication that there is more to the success of Finnish players at casino games than just availability.

Earlier this year, former Miss Finland Sara Chafak participated in Shark Cage, a broadcasted poker tournament powered by PokerStars. The Shark Cage pits professional and amateur players against one another for a $1 million top prize. In one of the first hands of the tournament Chafak made major bets on every betting while heads up against a seasoned pro will on a total bluff. While most of the table, even her opponent to a degree, wanted to have the beautiful Chafak at the table as long as possible, a million dollars is a lot of money and the pro eventually folded the best hand to Chafak’s aggression. The hand instantly became an internet sensation as poker players worldwide watched the amateur make a play that would be commonplace for Antonious and Sahamies but almost unheard of from an amateur.

 

So perhaps, there is something in the basic Finnish DNA or the cultural makeup of the country that leads to players who are not only aggressive but also incredibly successful. Taking into account that the history of professional poker in Finland is only slightly more than a decade, poker players may well be advised to protect their bankroll and avoid taking a seat at the table if they are facing a Finn now or in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

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Finnish people love gambling. That is a fact. You can see slot machines in every supermarket and the casinos are always full of people. For many young Finnish people, playing onlinevhas become their number 1 hobby or even their most steady source of economical income. It is notorious the cool temperament of Finnish in their everyday life, not easy for a foreign person to read their thoughts. That behavior extrapolated to gambling makes them really ferocious opponents that mix an attitude cold as ice together with a determination hot as a sauna.

Among those players, there are some professional poker players ranked among the best in the world. Probably the top Finnish player is Patrick “Pate” Antonius who resides nowadays in Monaco and has earn more than 5 million dollars during his career, having won among other titles the European Poker Tour.

It is also common for some players to alternate playing both live and online tournaments. That is the case of Juha Helppi who started working as a dealer and combines online with real tournaments, being the only Finn who has won the WTP.

One video that has gone viral lately is the one showing ex Miss Finland Sara Chafak during her participation in the Shark Cage poker TV show held in Barcelona that features celebrities and professional poker players battling for a price of 1 million dollars. Following the tradition of aggressiveness that Finnish poker players tend to show, she was able to win with an amazing bluff to pro player Ronnie Bardah while the other players and the audience got astonished by the performance of the beautiful lady.

Every Saturday night hundreds of thousands Finns gather around their TV sets for the national Lottery draw. The lottery is organized by the national betting company Veikkaus and it’s quite simply called “Lotto”. Lotto has been played since the end of 1970 and it has created around 1 500 millionaires along the years (large share of those naturally during the time before euro). Nowadays there’s also the Viking Lotto, drawn on Wednesdays and played also in other Nordic countries and the in Baltic states. Another popular newcomer is the Eurojackpot, played in altogether 16 European countries. The largest jackpot in the history of Eurojackpot was won by a Finnish player based in Espoo, in September 2014 – 61.1 million euros!

Of course there are other ways for Finns to chase their millionaire dream. Finland really offers only one true land-based casino, based in Helsinki. Taking this into account, it’s no wonder that Finnish casino players direct their interest to the Internet when looking for gaming options. And that naturally multiplies the available options. Problem is that it’s hard to know which online casino are not only reliable but which offer services tailored specially for the Finnish market. There’s a number of so called netticasino sites offering useful information to those who want to try their luck, like for example www.netticasinosuomi.info. There are plenty of different types of lottery games online, too, if lottery really is the way to get your fix of excitement.

And although Finland is pretty restrictive country when it comes down to gambling, the Finnish authorities have at least so far taken pretty relaxed or at least passive stand for playing on foreign-based sites. Finland is ranked pretty much on top positions when talking about press freedom, freedom of speech and related topics. Blocking access for legally operating websites wouldn’t really fit into that image, and that’s one reason such drastic measures haven’t been taken in regards to accessing online casinos from Finland.

There’s a modern Finnish proverb: “On lottovoitto syntyä Suomeen” which roughly translates as “Being born into Finland is like winning in the lottery”. Whether that now might be true or not depends on your perspective. But one thing is certain: Finns love their lotteries.

Jari Litmanen, the son of two footballers, carried on the family tradition in style. Litmanen’s father, Olavi played for Reipas and as a Finnish international player. His mother also played for Reipas at the highest level in women’s soccer in Finland.

In 1987, at the age of 16, Litmanen played for Reipas for the first time in what was the top division in Finland at the time, Mestaruusarja. Litmanen’s international football career began in 1989 and only ended in 2010. Between 1996 and 2008, he was the captain of choice for the Finnish national football team. In November 2003, while he was still playing professionally, the Football Association of Finland picked Litmanen as the best Finnish footballer of the previous 50 years.

Over the years, Litmanen has represented a number of clubs both in Finland and abroad. In Finland, he played with Reipas, MyPa, Lahti and HJK. Abroad, he played with Barcelona, Ajax, Hansa Rostrock, Malmö, and Liverpool.

In the 1993 – 94 season, Litmanen scored 26 goals, the top-scoring player in the league. In 1995, the midfielder made his name on an international level when he was playing with the Amsterdam team, Ajax, and won the Champions League.

Having started his international career in 1989, and playing into 2010 when he played with Finland against South Korea on 19 January 2010. Litmanen, also known as “Kuningas” or “The King” had earned the distinction of playing professional football in four different decades.

The King was voted as the Finnish Footballer of the Year in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000. He was voted as the Dutch Footballer of the Year in 1993, and as the Finnish Sports Personality of the Year in 1995.

With all these football achievements under his belt, Litmanen is also the face associated with the Betsson sports betting site at this time. Finland has also erected a statue of Litmanen in October 2010. He is the first team sport player in Finland to receive a statue. The statue stands at the place where Litmanen’s career began in the 1970s, at Kisapuisto (Lahti).

Related articles:

http://www.freemagazine.fi/the-hand-of-god-maradona-by-kusturica/
http://www.freemagazine.fi/euro-champions/

If you are a new visitor in the Finnish capital or just basically if you live in Helsinki, it is almost impossible that you spend many days without your steps guiding you around the Railway Station Square or “Rautatientori” as it is called in Finnish. I still remember the first time I stepped there and I was naively surprised to find many of the street signals written in both Finnish and Swedish languages.

Rautatientori is the spot where most of the foreign people get the real first contact with Helsinki, as trains from St. Petersburg arrive there as well as buses from Vantaa airport. Added to that, it is also the main point where all the local trains connect to destinations in Helsinki and nearby cities Espoo and Vantaa, as well as the most transited metro station and also the departing point of many bus lines on both sides of the Station building and also the trams that allow you more slowly and pleasantly to have a great view of the city.

Although relatively a new building, opening its doors in 1982, the Helsinki Railway station is also one of the most recognizable architectural work in Finland due to the unmistakeable two pair of statues holding spherical lamps that decorate the facade outside and that are widespread used in commercials and parodies, giving the station a unique “Gotham City alike” touch.

But not only the station itself is worthy to mention in the square. The visitor can pretty much find anything interesting to do in every corner of the station square. Around in a few meters the walker can see and visit the National Finnish Theatre and the Ateneum Museum if you are into arts and culture. For those who like tempting the luck live apart from gambling online in sites like casino.com, the Casino Helsinki is also located in the Railway Square surrounded by many interesting bars and restaurants to enjoy good food and relaxing drinks. And on winter there is also the possibility to practice ice skating in the ice rink located there.

Shopping is also pretty much just something that you can do walking a few meters away from the station, as you can find shopping malls just in front of the station and a few meters away like the infamous Sokos, Forum or Stockmann. The station has also a lot of R Kioski where travelers can load their travel cards and buy snacks and drinks apart from different fast food chain restaurants to have a tasty quick bite before continuing the journey. The main office of Helsinki Transportation Office is located also in Rautatientori, downstairs near the Metro entrance, and if you are a permanent resident of Helsinki you can get a transport card that can make your live much more easier to move around the city.

As you see, Rautatientori has just condensed almost everything that a visitor needs for enjoying the stay in Helsinki. Although we advise you just to visit as many areas as possible, do not waste your chance to investigate all the adventures that the emblematic Railway Station and its square have awaiting for you!

Gambling holidays are incredibly popular, with people traveling far and wide to splash some cash and feel the thrill and adrenaline that comes with the roulette wheel. While the option to stay at home and use sites like Gaming Club is there, it doesn’t have the same feel as being there in person.

Rather than just list all the American gambling locations, the list is as international as possible, to offer a whole range of gambling hotspots, some might even surprise you!

5. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

It’s impossible to think about a gambling holiday without considering Las Vegas; it’s the most famous gambling location in the world. If you’ve never been it’s worth going, with iconic casino’s, miniature world landmarks, 24 hour gambling action, Elvis Presley impersonators, and all the shows you could ever want to see – it really is a testament to human entertainment. It’s not number one on the list because that’s too obvious, I wanted to show what the rest of the world has to offer, rather than just America.

4. Aruba, Caribbean

While you might be looking for a gambling holiday, you’ll still want other things to do between trips to the casino, and what better way to spend a day than lounging in the Caribbean sun, on one of the finest beaches in the world, with a rum based cocktail in hand? After a day of relaxing you’ll enjoy the adrenalin rush of the casino even more. With some spectacular casinos like Allegro Aruba Beach and Crystal Casino, you’ll never spend long looking for somewhere to spend the night and earn some chips.

3.Sun City, South Africa

South Africa is becoming more and more popular, and while it might not be an obvious choice for a gambling vacation, casinos are quickly spreading throughout South Africa, with Sun City being the number one place for gambling. Luxury hotels and fine restaurants back up the casinos of Sun City, they even have shows that match up to what Vegas has to offer! In some respects Sun City top Vegas, since it is placed next to Pilanesberg Game Reserve, so during the day you can go on safari and see the spectacular wild life and scenery of Africa!

2. Macau Region, China

Macau is separate from Mainland China and has an economy heavily dependent on tourism and because of that casinos became big business in Macau and it is quickly becoming the new hotspot for gambling in the world. Casino owners from Las Vegas have even started opening casinos here, which says a lot about the future of Macau. The largest casino in the world, The Venetian Macau, is in Macau, one of the casinos opened by owners from Las Vegas. So this seems like the new gambling vacation destination!

1. Monte Carlo, Monaco

While Las Vegas has the bright lights, Monte Carlo has the elegance. One of the most beautiful places in the world, its likely that while at a casino here you’ll end up competing against celebrities, royalty, and billionaires. It’s certainly no cheap holiday that’s for sure, but after visiting all the other destinations you should have enough winnings to go and rub shoulders with the elite.

Pekka Huhtaniemi, the Finnish Ambassador to the UK, has been nominated for the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Awards for his efforts to export Finnish theatre to the UK. Ambassador Huhtaniemi helped to set up the From-Start-to-Finnish campaign in April 2012. The campaign enables Finnish theatre to gain more exposure to British audiences.

The Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Awards will be celebrating the achievements of politicians, like Pekka Huhtaniemi, who have made a positive impact on society. Grassroot Diplomat, a diplomatic consultancy, aims to bridge the gap between diplomats, politicians and the public. By enabling civil society better communications with high-profile diplomats and politicians, Grassroot Diplomat ensures that an effective and engaging relationship between society, politicians and diplomats is maintained.

From-Start-to-Finnish is a theatrical exchange programme between the UK based Pleasance Theatre and ACE production in Finland. From-Start-to-Finnish aims to expose UK audiences to Finnish theatre and export British theatre to Finnish audiences. Ambassador Huhtaniemi has stated that the purpose of the From-Start-to-Finnish campaign is to build stronger ties between Finnish and British theatre, and to create a lasting union between Finnish and British theatre.

The campaign has so far been successful in spreading Finnish theatre in the UK. In April 2012 the Ryhmäteatteri independent theatre group performed their adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s The Overcoat. In August 2012 the Edinburgh Fringe Festival also held a showcase of Finnish theatre; another showcase of Finnish theatre will be performed during the 2013 Festival. Nominated under the Social Driver category for the awards, Ambassador Huhtaniemi shows that he is passionate about forging new relationships between the two nations.

Over 50 high-level government officials have been nominated for the Initiative Awards. Join Pekka Huhtaniemi and other government nominees at the Vincent Rooms, Westminster with an evening performance led by Euro-Vision Song Contest artist, Imaani. For ticket information, please visit: www.grassrootdiplomat.org/awards. Early Bird Ticket sale ends November 2012.

In spite of the announced departure of Qatar Airways from the Cargolux capital, Qatar continues to invest in Luxembourg. Investors from the emirates are currently having discussions to buy the Luxembourgish real estate website www.immotop.lu and to evolve it towards a European platform www.immotop.eu

IMMOTOP.LU launched in early October the european real estate website IMMOTOP.EU – All-in-One solution for the real estate agencies and companies across Europe. Qatari investors have seen this interface as a real opportunity to access the European market of real estate. According to Benjamin de Seille, consultant of GBN who worked on the conclusion of the deal, this aspect will allow buyers to have more pieces of information at disposal for the investments in the real estate of the Old Continent.

A large family from Qatar, who is not related to the royal family but known locally, expressed interest in the project of European expansion of Immotop. The family of investors, who do not wish to disclose their name at the moment, is specialized in industry, real estate and IT (information technology). They said they were also ready to inject capital for the promotion of the website www.immotop.eu

“The group found in IMMOTOP.EU the possibility of having access to the European market of real estate, combining aspects of IT operations and real estate,” says Benjamin de Seille.

This acquisition would also allow the company not only to strengthen its position in regards to its competitor, the Luxembourgish atHome (REA group), but also would provide more opportunities to develop its services throughout Europe.

www.immotop.eu

Real Estate Media Sàrl
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Article written by Sasha Raduntceva

“The perfect woman’s task is to be a mother, and a lover, and a warrior. Then we can say that a Princess became a Queen” – Bernard Werber wrote in his book “The Empire of the Angels.” And it is hard to disagree with it. Especially when we have the obvious case – the life of legendary women.

First of all, probably the best-known Finn-woman of all the times is Tove Jansson, the creator of the cutest creatures – The Moomins. The world fame has come to Tove after the publishing of the first part of Moomin’s epopee. She has drawn also the pictures and has adopted the novels into the theatre plays. But the fact is that Tove herself has always told that first of all she is an artist, and hasn’t taken her literary activity seriously. Among the works of Jansson as an artist best known are: The canteen at the Strömberg factory at Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, The Aurora Children’s Hospital in Helsinki, The Kaupunginkellari restaurant of Helsinki Town Hall and so on. Also she has made the absolutely adorable comics about Moomin for American newspaper “Evening News” published by powerful Associated Press. Originally Jansson has personally drawn each page of comics, but soon she got bored with this job and she gave it to her brother, Lars.

And that wasn’t a great surprise – Tove and her brothers (Per Olov and Lars) grew up with dad-sculptor Viktor Jansson and mum-graphic designer Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. But Tove had a twofold sense for the fallen on her popularity. On the one hand, she irritated the excessive commercialization of her work, on the other hand, that was a huge income from all kinds of products with a Moomin theme allowed her to rent and then buy Klovharu-island in the Gulf of Finland, where she was able to hide from journalists and fans. All in all the copyrights for Tove’s novels belong now to Lars’s daughter Sofia, because unfortunately she had no children. When Tove died, that was a national mourning day, while her contribution to Finnish literature and art is truly inestimable.

On the other side of The Finnish National Theatre, in Kaisaniemi Park, there is a monument. That is an original abstract sculpture represented the Curtain. That is dedicated to another great example of, speaking like Beyonce, “single lady”, Finnish actress Ida Aalberg. When she was first 23 years old, Ida has already performed not only in native country, but also in Hungary, Germany and Russia, and a little bit later she has got her winner-ticket – the role of Nora in the good-known play “Doll House” by Henrik Johan Ibsen. Since then Ida was gradually strengthened over the status of the national treasure. A lot of actors say that the role of their dream is Hamlet. Well, Ida, in some respect, was one of the luckiest – she was Ophelia, the lover of Hamlet. After the death of her first husband, Ida married Alexander Johann Uexküll-Gyllenband and moved to Russian Empire. Had she fears to go to the foreign country? Maybe, but there Ida had anyway a good career. But in 1906, after the death of Kaarli Bergbom, she has taken the lead in the Finnish National Theatre. The art of Aalberg, one of the best Finnish actresses, distinguished by great dramatic force. She has created images of love and suffering, of a women with deep feelings, integrity and passion.

On June 17 1952 in Long Beach, California the first Miss Universe contest has taken place. There were thirty contestants participated and one of them – 17-old Armi Kuusela from Finland. And exactly she has taken a crown.

Of course that was incredible, deafening success. When she was back to home country, it was immediately decided to create a movie dedicated to Armi – Maailman kaunein tyttö (World’s most beautiful girl), where she played herself. Afterwards Armi has chosen the way of actress. She was starring also in musicals with her husband, Filipino businessman, Virgilio Hilario, whom she had met during her first journey round the world.

Of course nowadays is Armi one of the examples of “how to be a great Woman”, but that wouldn’t be full without knowing that she had 5 children. And no one of those daughters and sons live in the same country now: Arne Hilario (lives in Chile), Anna-Lisa De Gari (lives in Spain), Jussi Hilario (lives in Canada), Eva-Maria Hess (lives in United States) and Mikko Hilario (lives in the Philippines).

No matter that people say that politics isn’t ladies business, still there are instances of such women. For example, Finnish president Tarja Halonen. In her youth Tarja has radical leftist views, she took also part in the pacifist movement, was a fan of Che Guevara. Tarja has even left the Lutheran church after women were denied ordination. In 1980-1981 she was a chairman of SETA (Fin. Seksuaalinen Tasavertaisuus ry -”Sexual Equality”), an organization that protects the rights of sexual minorities.

Of course that’s possible to talk about this great woman never-ending, but still there was a specific US-joke – on of the American talk show hosts Conan O’Brien compares to Tarja a lot. After joking about this for several months, he travelled to Finland, where appeared on TV and met President herself.

And now let’s move to the hero of our days. It seems that a lot of people know exactly who Leena Peisa is. Well she is one of the member of freaky band “Lordi” that had won Eurovision song contest in 2006. Actually in “Lordi” she has a specific nickname – Awa that means “Be Aware”. Also she takes on the persona of an unearthly Vampire Countess in her “home band”. Of course there was a real hysteria around how all the members look in there normal life. But still no one knows (probably only the nearest and dearest). But anyway there was a precedent, when Daily Mail credited a photo of a woman (without make-up) as being Awa. But she disclaim that information.

Despite the small size of Finland, almost anyone can become a “dream woman” in this country. What is that – the legendary Nordic hardening or Protestant morality? Answer is difficult, but thanks to the Finnish emancipation (in the best sense of the word), ladies have taken the leading position in the world.