Evan "ballz222" Sandberg Scores First WSOP Bracelet in Event #25: $2,000 No- Limit Hold'em 8-Max
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On Wednesday, the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online continued with Event #25: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max, a tournament that drew 162 players who rebought 66 times. The field resulted in a $421,800 prize pool, and after just over nine hours of play, it was Evan "ballz222" Sandberg who scored the victory to capture a $94,567 top prize and his first gold bracelet.
Sandberg, who defeated Kijoon "standardiu" Park in heads-up play, is California native with over $950,000 in live tournament earnings according to The Hendon Mob. Sandberg is regular in the World Series and his last notable cash was this year in the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em (Event #49) where he placed seventh for $76,912. His largest live cash to date is from a first-place finish in the $1,600 Mystery Bounty at the 2021 Wynn Fall Classic for a handsome sum of $293,322. He can now add a shiny new piece of hardware to his trophy case, a WSOP gold bracelet.
Final Table Payouts
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evan "ballz222" Sandberg | United States | $94,567 |
| 2 | Kijoon "standardiu" Park | United States | $67,488 |
| 3 | Jason "Jaybangs" Obinger | United States | $48,211 |
| 4 | Tony "Panoramic" Dunst | United States | $34,672 |
| 5 | Krista "Pollux" Gifford | United States | $25,139 |
| 6 | Matt "Berkey11_S4Y" Berkey | United States | $18,221 |
| 7 | Martin "Bathroomline" Zamani | United States | $13,286 |
| 8 | Julio "PrsFinest" Clavell | United States | $9,701 |
Final Table Action
Once the bubble burst it took only 25 minutes before the first casualty. The action got off to a hot start when Matt ”Berkey11_S4Y” Berkey moved all in with ace-jack suited and was called by Julio "PrsFinest" Clavell with his pocket queens. Unfortunately for Clavell, an ace appeared on the flop and Berkey’s superior pair held to eliminate Clavell in eighth place.
Twenty minutes later, Martin "Bathroomline" Zamani then moved all in with pocket tens but ran into pocket aces held by Park. Zamani was sent out in seventh place when the board didn’t improve his hand.
A few hands later, it was Berkey who moved all in with ace-seven offsuit and was called by Jason "Jaybangs" Obinger with pocket eights. Although there was a seven on the flop, Berkey couldn’t improve to beat Obinger’s overpair and he was sent to the rail in sixth place.
Short-stacked Krista "Pollux" Gifford found herself in a flip situation with pocket deuces against the queen-jack suited of Park. When the board flopped a jack, Gifford couldn’t find any improvement on the turn or river and was eliminated in fifth place.
Four-handed play went back and forth for a while until Dunst moved all in with queen-seven offsuit and was called by the jack-ten offsuit of Sandberg. The flop gave Sandberg a pair of jacks and the river resulted in a full house which sent Dunst out in fourth place.
A short while later, Obinger got it all in with king-ten offsuit versus Sandberg’s ace-jack. Sandberg was already ahead going into the battle but he paired his jack on the turn and the river bricked to seal his victory and Obinger was sent home in third.
After around thirty minutes of back-and-forth heads-up action, Park moved all in on a five-of-hearts river against Sandberg. Sandberg quickly made the call and his eight-three of hearts was tabled which showed he had made a flush on the river to take down the pot and eliminated Park in second place, awarding himself the coveted bracelet and the first place prize.
This concludes coverage of WSOP.com Event #25: $2,000 NLH 8-Max. Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team for live updates from your favorite events over the rest of the series.
