WSOPE 2019: Espen Sandvik Wins Event #5: €2.5K 8-Game Mix, Phil Hellmuth Finishes 3rd

Espen Sandvik & Phil Hellmuth (WSOPE Mini Main Event)
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  • Attreyee Khasnabis October 19, 2019
  • 4 Minutes Read

Norwegian player Espen Sandvik is the latest bracelet winner at the ongoing 2019 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) that is taking place at the King’s Resort in Rozvadoz. He trounced the 71-player strong entry field in Event #5: €2,500 8-Game Mix to collect a career-best €75,246.

Sandvik had entered the final table as the chip leader and while it was a start-studded line-up comprising of three former WSOP gold bracelet winners, the Norwegian went on to single-handedly eliminate six of the seven finalists, including Joao Vieira, Jochen Kaiser, Thomer Pidun, Jeff Madsen, Phil Hellmuth and eventual runner-up Ville Haavisto, en route to capturing his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet, which also happens to be his first-ever live title!

Talking about his game-play in the post-event interview, Sandvik said, “More confidence and more inspiration to work harder. I’m mature in bankroll management, the buy-in of the Main Event is too much. I don’t take too big risks. I feel good about playing like this and not be nervous.”

Commenting on playing against Phil ‘Poker Brat’ Hellmuth in the heads-up, the champion said, “I was hoping not to play heads-up against him because maybe I’d become a bit more nervous.”

Hellmuth was inches away from winning a record-setting 16th WSOP bracelet, but just like the rest of the final table fell victim to the calm and composed Sandvik, who ultimately eliminated the latter in third place for €31,058.

With only the top 11 assured payouts, the players who finished in the money but fell short of the final table were Kahle Burns (9th for €6,839), Didier Rabl (10th for €6,839) and Tomasz Gluszko (11th for €5,654).

Sebastian Pauli bubbled the final table, finishing eighth for €8,604.

Another event presently underway is Event #3: €1,350 Mini Main Event No-Limit Hold’em. The event logged in 766 entries through three starting flights, generating a prize pool of €873,240. 153 runners headlined by Day 1B chip leader and Team India’s Pulkit Goyal (1,518,000), returned for Day 2. Nitin Jain (801,000) is the other Indian challenger currently playing Day 2.

Pulkit Goyal & Nitin Jain
Pulkit Goyal & Nitin Jain

 

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Espen Sandvik – 795,000

2. Ville Haavisto – 680,000

3. Thomer Pidun – 539,000

4. Joao Vieira – 453,000

5. Jeff Madsen – 440,000

6. Phil Hellmuth – 402,000

7. Jochen Kaiser – 125,000

 

Final Table Recap

With three former WSOP bracelet winners present at the final table, the first of them to be eliminated was Joao Vieira. During level 22, the Portuguese pro lost a massive pot to Phil Hellmuth and was left with only 200,000 in chips. Soon after that, in a game of Stud Hi-Lo, he pitted his // against Espen Sandvik’s //. The latter’s full house sent Vieira to the rail in seventh place.

Joao Vieira
Joao Vieira

Just after the remaining players returned from the dinner break, Jochen Kaiser‘s were cracked by Sandvik’s , dismissing the former in sixth place.

Finishing in fifth place was Thomer Pidun when his // were bested by Sandvik’s //.

At the start of level 24, another bracelet winner, Jeff Madsen, fell out of the title race. With the flop open , Madsen moved all-in with and Sandvik called with . The turn and river saw Sandvik complete his spades flush, ending Madsen’s run in fourth place.

Jeff Madsen
Jeff Madsen

The most experienced player at the final table was none other than the 15-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. He seemed poised to add yet another bracelet to his tally; however, it was not meant to be. Hellmuth lost a massive pot to Sandvik, who was on fire last night, bringing the former’s stack down to 400,000. He lost yet another hand to Sandvik, which left him very short with just 120,000 behind. Sandvik put the final nail in Hellmuth’s coffin when the former’s overpowered Hellmuth’s , eliminating the latter in third place.

Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth

The heads-up battle began with Espen Sandvik (3,367,000) starting out with a massive lead over Ville Haavisto (183,000). The 18:1 chip lead was unsurmountable for Haavisto to overcome, and the final showdown lasted only one hand.

Ville Haavisto
Ville Haavisto

On the final hand, Haavisto’s was no match for Sandvik’s . And just like that, Sandvik claimed his career-first WSOP gold bracelet, along with a personal-best live score of €75,246!

Espen Sandvik
Espen Sandvik

Final Table Results (EURO)

1. Espen Sandvik – €75,246

2. Ville Haavisto – €46,613

3. Phil Hellmuth – €31,058

4. Jeff Madsen – €21,386

5. Thomer Pidun – €15,235

6. Jochen Kaiser – €11,242

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerNews

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the 2019 WSOPE!

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