Arnaud Mattern
Many students are faced with the dilemma of finishing college or earning big bucks. Many prefer to finish their degree while others go for the other way. This was the case for French poker player Arnaud Mattern. He attended a university studying languages and 
excelled in Russian, Spanish and English. He sure had a promising future ahead of him but the lure of backgammon was his degree’s competitor. He left the university and decided to be a full time Backgammon player. So how did he end up playing poker? Mattern was enticed to crossover to poker because of the attractive prize prize pools that it offered. Even after bring crowned the French backgammon champ in 2006, he made the bold move to poker.
Coming from a game characterized by skill and numbers, it was not hard for Mattern to learn poker. He started playing online poker, learning as much as he could from Limit and No Limit variations. In December of 2007, he won the the European Poker Tournament Prague beating 554 player and walking away with a cash prize of $1,038,010. He also won 5th in the European Poker Tournament €5,400 No Limit Hold’em Main event with a prize of $91,230. He also tried his luck across the Atlantic at the World Series of Poker Event and finished 23rd earning $42,729. He can now be seen playing all over the world and is fast becoming one of the highest earners. He is currently part of Team PokerStars Pro.
One can see his dedication and passion for the game. He gives his 101%every time he plays and makes sure that he finishes well. He is gearing up to be the first to win two Europea Poker Tour titles. With his determination, there is no doubt that he will be able to achieve that in the years to come establish himself not only as a backgammon king but also as a poker champion.