Evan Sandberg Outlasts Tony Dunst and Matt Berkey for First WSOP Bracelet

Winning your first World Series of Poker bracelet is always a thrill, but for Evan Sandberg, one of the most memorable days of his poker career took place this week when he claimed gold. Not only did he achieve that lofty ambition, but he did so at a final table containing multiple poker legends, and in a $2k-entry event to boot.

Playing the Numbers Game

The 25^th event of this year’s WSOP Online Series took place online and saw 162 rebuy 66 times, creating a prize pool of $421,800, with the $2,000-entry 8-Max event taking nine hours to reach a conclusion. Sandberg may have won the top prize of $94,567, but there were a number of other massive players who achieved deep runs too.

Sandberg’s achievement is by no means a flash in the pan, with a consistent record of success in recent years culminating in this, his greatest accomplishment. With almost a million dollars in ranking titles in live events, Sandberg took down last year’s Wynn Fall Classic Mystery Bounty event, which cost $1,600 to play and earned him a huge top prize of $293,322.

The bubble burst and saw Julio Clavell bust out in eighth place at the final table, cashing for a result worth $9,701. Solve for Why founder Matt Berkey moved all-in with ace-jack and Clavell called correctly with pocket queens. He was well ahead pre-flop, but an ace on the flop ended Calvell’s hopes, with Berkey scoring a valuable elimination.

Zamani Crashes Out

With seven players left, Martin Zamani was the next player to go, leaving for a result worth $13,286. He was all-in and at risk with pocket tens but ran into the monster hand of pocket aces held by Kijoon Park. Zamani couldn’t improve and departed outside the final six.

Berkey was the next player to go, leaving for $18,221 in sixth place. He was a little short-stacked with ace-seven offsuit and was called by Jason Obinger with pocket eights. The snowmen held and that froze Berkey out of the final five.

Out in fifth place was Krista Gifford who busted for $25,139 in fifth place. All-in with pocket deuces, she needed to hold against the queen-jack of Park. A jack on the flop set Gifford behind and she couldn’t hit a deuce on turn or river, missing out on the top four.

Dunst Misses Out on Third Bracelet

With four players left, the field was full of quality, but the most decorated player in terms of their WSOP success was next to go. Tony Dunst has two WSOP bracelets and three WSOP Circuit rings, as well as over $2 million in winnings in World Series events alone. That didn’t help him survive when all-in, however, as his queen-seven was overtaken by the jack-ten of Evan Sandberg. A jack on the flop eventually led to a full house for Sandberg on the river and Dunst had to settle for a fourth-place finish worth $34,672.

Out in third was Obinger. He had climbed the ladder well but missed out on the heads-up battle when run ended for a result worth $48,211. Obinger raised all-in with king-ten and started and ended what turned out to be his final hand behind Evan Sandberg’s ace-jack. A jack on the turn helped Sandberg Obinger to chasing three outs to the river and he couldn’t hit them, busting in the process.

Park and Sandeberg was a great battle heads-up, with 30 minutes of jousting leading to Sandberg holding a vital lead. Park pressed and pushed but in the end mis-timed his final move, shoving on a river which had given his opponent the winning flush. Representing the hand held by his opponent, the game was up for Park, who won $67,488 in second place.

For Sandberg, however, his top prize of $94,567 was nothing compared to the glory of winning his first-ever WSOP bracelet in a moment of his career that he’ll clearly never forget.