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Espen Sandvik and Dash Dudley Win WSOP Europe Gold

Espen Sandvik 2019 WSOP Europe

The 2019 World Series of Poker Europe is in full swing and more bracelets have been awarded. Yesterday, we reported that James Chen took down the €250k Super High Roller to give Taiwan their first bracelet winner.

Later on Friday, Espen Sandvik won his first career bracelet after taking down the €2,500 8-Game Mix Event. Both Phil Hellmuth and Jeff Madsen made the final table. Also, in a previously completed event, Dash Dudley won his second career WSOP bracelet after taking down the €550 PL Omaha Event.

Espen Sandvik Wins 8-Game

Among the additions to the 2019 WSOP-E schedule was the €2,500 8-Game Mix. The two-day event kicked off on Thursday with a field of 71 players and several big names were in contention throughout.

Kahle Burns managed a deep run, finishing in 9th place. WSOP bracelet winner Joao Vieira managed to make the final table but finished in 7th. The final six players returned on Friday to battle for the bracelet. Among them were four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen and 15-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.

Hellmuth and Madsen had the most experience going into the final table, and they made a play for the bracelet, but both fell short of the win. Madsen was knocked out during a Limit Hold’em round when his pocket tens were outdrawn by the Js-8s of Espen Sandvik. Sandvik hit runner-runner flush for the win.

The story of the final table was Sanvik. He simply bowled over his opponents and by the time play was three-handed, he had a 5 to 1 chip lead. Phil Hellmuth played his heart out, as usual, but fell short. His end came during 2-7 Triple Draw. He lost most of his remaining stack when Sandvik drew a rough eight on the last draw.

The rest of Hellmuth chips went to Sandvik when his draw to an 8-7 only produced a pair of fours. Sandvik drew a nine and the event was heads-up. Ville Haavisto had less than 2 big bets left at the start of heads-up play.

In the final hand of the event, Haavisto drew one to a 7-5 in Triple Draw while Sandvik stood pat with a queen. Haavisto paired his seven and the event was over.

Espen Sandvik of Norway won his first career bracelet along with $84,058 in prize money.

Dash Dudley Wins €550 PLO

Dash Dudley has a name that would be suitable for a superhero rather than a poker player. The US PLO expert took down his second career bracelet after winning the €550 PLO Event. The low buy-in created a field of 476 players for this event, but most fans were paying attention to Shaun Deeb who made a deep run.

Deeb ultimately fell short of the final table but his 18th place finish was enough to close the gap against Robert Campbell. Deeb is just 14.09 points behind Campbell in the race for WSOP Player of the Year.

The final table of this event was a strong one with bracelet winners Anson Tsang, Iso Donev, and Dash Dudley. Tsang and Donev were unable to get anything going at the final table and finished seventh and fifth respectively. Ultimately it was Canada’s Christopher Back facing Dudley for the bracelet.

Dudley started with the chip lead and won a bunch of small pots to widen the gap. Finally, Back put the rest of his chips at risk with a pair and gutshot draw against a made straight for Dudley. Back failed to complete his straight and Dudley secured his second bracelet.

This was the first time that Dudley has played poker outside of the United States, but it paid off in a big way with his second career WSOP bracelet and $57,410 in prize money.

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