Abdula Atila

Abdula Atila (also known as Atila Seiar Abdula) is a Romanian professional poker player and data scientist. He gained recognition in the European poker scene by winning a major tournament on the Euro Masters of Poker (EMOP) tour. Beyond the felt, he has built a successful career in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Abdula Atila studied Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Bucharest, earning his Bachelor's degree between 2004 and 2008. His academic background laid the foundation for his later work in data science.

Atila's most notable poker achievement came in 2016 when he won the third leg of the Euro Masters of Poker tour in Bulgaria. The event was held at the Crystal Crown Casino in Golden Sands (Sunny Beach), drawing a field of 276 entrants. Atila, playing as Abdula Atila Seiar, outlasted the competition to claim the €65,100 first prize. He entered heads-up play against Finland's Riku Molander with a 4-to-1 chip lead and sealed the victory in just 15 hands, winning a race with pocket threes against Molander's A5.

Other Romanians also cashed in the event, including Ciorabai Ferdi who finished 7th for €8,310. The final table payouts ranged from €6,090 for 9th place up to the champion's €65,100.

Outside of poker, Abdula Atila works as a senior data scientist. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has over seven years of experience in the field. He is currently employed at ING, where he develops generative AI solutions for banking applications. Previously, he served as Head of Artificial Intelligence at Koble, a venture capital firm in London, and worked as a data scientist at BestJobs in Romania. His expertise includes NLP, machine learning, and predictive modeling.

Abdula Atila represents a growing trend of poker players who balance the game with high-level professional careers. His victory at EMOP Bulgaria remains his most publicized poker achievement, highlighting Romania's presence in the European tournament circuit.