Martin ‘Franke’ von Zweigbergk
Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk is one of Scandinavia’s best-known poker personalities and has been involved in running poker events across Europe for more than 20 years.
He first took up poker at school, playing a five card draw poker variant called Chicago with his friends. He is now a very accomplished player with more than $144,000 in live tournament winnings to his name. However, it is Franke’s entrepreneurial undertakings that have made him such a well-known figure in the European poker world.
Franke’s first poker industry venture came while he was still working as a programme manager at Nokia Finland. Pokerfinnkampen was a “battle of the nations” competition between Finnish and Swedish poker players which took place annually in Tallinn, Estonia. Hundreds of players from both countries would turn up to compete as individuals and in teams.
Since then, Franke has been involved in numerous other business projects including co-founding Europe’s first independent poker player agency, launching the innovative Cash Game Festival, introducing the game of Padel to Estonia and creating the Slowball.eu “Art on Wheels” art/motor project.
His most recent venture is The Festival, a series of week-long events held all over Europe that combine poker, casino games and sports betting in a competitive format.
Franke, who was born in Sweden but now lives in Estonia, is mad about the Irish Open and has been playing the event since 2014. He said: “Everyone involved in the Irish Open – from JP and Paul to dealers, floor staff, bar tenders, everyone – is doing an incredible job to make people happy. The friendliness, the atmosphere … the Irish are just the best. It’s a really great event.”
You can follow Franke on on Instagram or X (Twitter).