Børge Sandsgaard Wins PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino €330 EPT Cup
Børge Sandsgaard has done it again! The Norwegian, who cashed no less than four times at last year's PokerStars Championship, won the €330 EPT Cup at the 2018 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino, claiming his second trophy in two years after winning the €1,100 Turbo last year. Sandsgaard bested a field of 1,057 entries, who came from four starting days.
Sandsgaard received €47,000 for his victory after making a deal heads-up with Jose Astima, where the latter would receive €42,000. The two agreed to stop playing after the deal was made, eschewing heads-up play, and Sandsgaard was declared the official winner.
A cool and collected Sandsgaard spoke with PokerNews after the abrupt ending.
"I never get excited," he explained. "There's something wrong with me," he followed, emotionless. "I don't get excited, so I don't get nervous."
Asked if that's a good quality for a poker player to have, Sandsgaard concurred.
"I think it's the best. No heartbeat," he said while pointing at his throat, a common tell that many poker players have a hard time controlling.
Last year, Sandsgaard went on a rampage in Monaco, cashing no less than four times. Highlights were a victory in the €1,100 turbo (€15,600) as well as a massive third place in the €1,100 National (€83,350). He acknowledged Monaco is a special place for him.
"I don't play so much live," he added about not appearing often on other stops. Once he does, he's proven to be a dangerous contender and can now call himself an EPT winner on top of that.
€330 EPT Cup Final Result
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Børge Sandsgaard | Norway | €47,000 |
| 2 | Jose Astima | France | €42,000 |
| 3 | Enzo Vitale | Italy | €23,500 |
| 4 | Hugo Basin | France | €17,800 |
| 5 | Giovanni Rosadoni | France | €13,600 |
| 6 | Benoit Alziary | France | €10,000 |
| 7 | Kevin Enjalbert | France | €7,500 |
| 8 | Patrick Cohen | France | €5,400 |
| 9 | Stephen Forster | United Kingdom | €4,237 |
The day started with 158 out of 1,057 players, who were all in the money after surviving one of the four Day 1s. Although many players were left at the start, with an average stack of 20 big blinds and 30-minute levels the field got whittled down to the final nine in a little over five hours.
Final table action
Keeping up the trend before the final table, the bustouts kept following each up in quick succession at the final table as well. Stephen Foster (9th - €4,237) was gone directly after the start, while Patrick Cohen (8th - €5,400) followed him shortly afterwards. Cohen was all in with pocket fours but couldn't crack Børge Sandsgaard's pocket aces, the first of many pots the eventual winner would ship.
Kevin Enjalbert became the 7th place finisher (€7,500) after losing with king-queen against Hugo Basin's jack-ten when the latter hit a jack on the flop to win the hand. The next scalp was for Sandsgaard again: he took out Benoit Alziany in 6th place (€10,000). After Sandsgaard knocked out Alziany, he, Basin and Jose Astima held nearly equal stacks of 6 million, while Enzo Vitale and Giovanni Rosadoni were the short stacks with 2 million each.
After the dinner break, former chipleader Hugo Basin found himself on a downward slope and lost several key pots to Sandsgaard to drop to 2 million. Subsequently, the Norwegian claimed the chip lead and never surrendered it afterwards. He knocked out Rosadoni in 5th place (€13,600) with pocket queens against ace-deuce of spades.
Astima, not very active up until that point, then knocked out Basin next (4th - €17,800). Basin shoved king-jack in the small blind and Astima called with queen-jack in the big blind. The queen flopped to end Basin's run. It was another payjump for short stack ninja Vitale, who survived being extremely low on chips throughout the final table. With his last few big blinds, he finally fell in third after losing ace-king against Sandsgaard's jack-ten of spades.
Astima and Sandsgaard compared the numbers, made the deal and agreed not to play heads-up anymore. And just like that, the winner of the EPT Cup was crowned. Congratulations to Børge Sandsgaard!
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