Where Are They Now: Season 4 EPT Barcelona Champ Sander Lylloff
The EPT Barcelona continued to grow in Season 4 as 543 players took to the felt to compete for a €1,170,700 first-place prize. Among those in contention were Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, Katja Thater and Greg Raymer, though none of them managed to make it to the last day of play; in fact just 13 players managed to do that. Among them was Copenhagen’s Sander Lylloff, who began that day third in chips.
Lylloff used his chip advantage to make it all the way to three-handed play, which is where he played against the UK’s Mark Teltscher and USA’s Greg Dyer for nearly four hours! Eventually Dyer fell when he shoved with the 
only to run into Lylloff’s 
, which left the Dane with a 2:1 heads-up chip lead against Teltscher, who happened to be one of his close friends. It took just six hands to clinch victory.
In the final hand, Lylloff shoved after Teltscher had three-bet. Teltscher called off with the 
and was in great shape against Lylloff’s 
. The 
gave Lylloff a pair of jacks, but he was still well behind the overpair and better flush draw of Teltscher. Incredibly, the 
turned to give Lylloff trips! The 
river failed to help Teltscher and he had to settle for second place and €673,000.
Lylloff, born April 7, 1982, is considered one of the best backgammon players in the world, and it wasn’t until 2001 that a friend introduced him to poker. Interestingly, Lylloff and Teltscher were partners in the 2005 Pro AM Backgammon Event in Las Vegas where they finished in second place. Lylloff went on to serve as a Victory Poker Pro until that site folded after Black Friday.
In the six years since his EPT Barcelona win, Lylloff has managed just five cashes totaling $94,557. The most notable of those was a 349th-place finish in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event for $29,911, while the most recent was a 377th-place finish in the ISPT Wembley Main Event for $701.