Lucky layover sends Finnish businessman on trip to WSOP Main Event finale

"Win the WSOP Main Event." 

Saaskilahti put this on his vision board.

Hayley Hochstetler

How to spend a layover

The Finlander settled on that goal after a lucky layover in California last year. 

"I was on a business trip on the West Coast, and I had like six hours to kill before my flight back to Europe from LA."

As luck would have it, Hustler Casino had his favorite game: PLO $10/20/40. Saaskilahti did what anyone would do in that situation — he burned from the airport to the casino and jumped in the game. 

"I played for three hours and won almost $20K."

An awesome result, but an immediate problem. That's a lot of American cash. 

Lauri Saaskilahti Final Table Tale of the Tape

• Chips: 37,500,000
• Country: Finland
• Career earnings: $1,138,453

"I didn't really want to convert it into euros or anything, so I was thinking to myself, 'Okay, next summer I'm turning 40. Why not make the trip to the US again and go and play the Main Event?'

Saaskilahti could also bring his family. It would be a different kind of holiday, and a unique way to celebrate a 40th birthday. Needless to say, it has turned into much more than a birthday, and Saaskilahti is within arm's reach of a $10 million prize. 

He may look the part, but Saaskilahti is no pro.

Hayley Hochstetler

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Fork in the road

The spontaneous trip is just another unlikely plot point on Saaskilahti's path to the final table. Long ago he had a choice, and poker took a backseat to professional priorities. 

"I'm not a professional player. I'm an amateur player who loves poker as a hobby. I got into the game watching World Poker Tour on television, and then I played semi-professionally throughout my studies."

When Saaskiahti graduated, he came to a fork in the road. He could go all in on poker, or focus on a professional career path. "I chose [the career path], but poker has been a hobby for me throughout the years."Saaskilahti built his career and continued playing poker on the side. 

Now, so many years later, he returned this summer with cash in hand and jumped into the Main Event. Aside from dodging a mild sickness, he says it has been a relatively simple trip to the finale. 

"Day 1 went well, then Day 2 and Day 3 were the most difficult for me because I had a cold. I was not physically feeling well. Those were probably the most challenging days. After that, it was more or less smooth sailing."

Save for a cold, Lauri called his trip to Day 9 "smooth sailing."

Back to business

Now, it's time to prepare for the live final table, where the ESPN lights get a little hotter in August. Saaskilahti says he isn't ready yet. The week after Day 8 was spent on vacation with family, and he will gradually start to prepare himself in the days before the final table. 

"I will probably make a kind of two-step approach when it comes to the final table. If I were to explain it in business terms, I would say that I will conduct an in-depth review of my opponents."

He will try to get to know them better: their cultural background, where they are from, and think about how he would approach the situation if he were in their shoes.

Lauri Saaskilahti day-by-day chip counts

• Day 1D - 129,700
• Day 2D - 239,000
• Day 3 - 224,000
• Day 4 - 2,100,000
• Day 5 - 4,345,000
• Day 6 - 8,100,000
• Day 7 - 15,600,000
• Day 8 - 37,500,000

"I will also do a bit of scenario planning, probably have three different scenarios, A, B, and C, and prepare myself a little bit for some outcomes that might take place and how my game would need to change accordingly."

Millions of dollars are at stake, but Saaskilahti has already lived every poker player's dream on his bonus trip to America, where he will remain with his family until the Main Event is over. 

There's just not that much preparing to do, he says, but Saaskilahti is not done with what he wrote down on that piece of paper back in January. 

"I made the final table, but I still need to work on finishing that goal."