The first time I met Erick Lindgren we were on the Cruise Ship ms Oosterdam, in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Mexico. It was 2005, PartyPoker was sponsoring a big limit Hold’em tournament on the boat, and the World Poker Tour had its cameras in place.

Plenty of big-name pros were on board, the food and booze flowed prodigiously, and, all in all, it was an upbeat event. Nevertheless, by every indication, Lindgren seemed about ready to jump ship.

Never mind that in the previous year he won this very tournament (he has the giant cheque to prove it).