Sigurd Eskeland Wins WSOP Event #48: $2,500 Mixed Event

Sigurd Eskeland has just won WSOP Event# 48: $2,500 Mixed Event, after defeating a field of 453 players over three days to pick up a first career WSOP bracelet, as well as $260,497 in prize money. 
The former school teacher from Oslo, Norway has been playing poker for five years, and has even managed to cash in at the WSOP twice before, including at the 2008 Main Event.
The $2,500 Mixed Event which Eskeland won is not for the faint hearted though, as players must continually rotate between eight different poker disciplines of No Limit Hold’em, Fixed Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, Omaha 8/b, Razz, Stud, Stud 8/b, and 2-7 Triple Draw.
Added to the fact that Day 3 included a tough final field of 21 players, including Alexander Kravchenko, Todd Brunson, Jesse Martin, and Dario Minieri, and that play was extended due to scheduling requirements, and Sigurd Eskeland’s achievement becomes all the more impressive.
Commenting on the demands of the gruelling tournament Alexander Wice, who finished in 3rd spot said; “It was exhausting! I just kept trying to keep focused, but it was very hard.”
As the last eight players took their seats at the final table, Eskeland was not in any immediate danger as a middle-stack, and by the time he went heads-up against Steve Sung, he held a 2 to 1 chip advantage over his opponent.
The experienced Sung with seven WSOP final table appearances and a winners bracelet to his credit, managed to even up the chip count and must have felt quietly confident of success going into the final hand of the tournament. Sigurd Eskeland was dealt Ac-9s to Steve Sung’s pocket Q’s, and before long all the money was in the centre of the table pre-flop, with only the deal to decide the eventual winner.
The board ran out 9c-4c-3d-Jc-2c to complete Eskeland’s backdoor flush, and relegate Sung to the runner-up spot, and a $160,952 pay-day. In the meantime, Eskeland is riding high after his WSOP victory and takes away $260,497 for his hard fought efforts.
Previously discussing his attitude to the game he loves so well, Sigurd Eskeland commented:
“I have never felt unlucky. Luck is impossible to measure. I do not ever complain about anything. I have a good life — I am able to do the thing I love AND get paid for doing it.”