Kristiansen had never played the game before. EMPC co-founder Tobias Leknes, known as Senkel, invented it, and the player on the button picks the game from a set of mixed games. “Amazing. It’s the first time I play the game,” Kristiansen said. “It’s a really awesome kind of variant, mixing in some mixed games where you choose on the button. So yeah, I’m ecstatic, super happy.”

Fifty-three players made 65 entries for a prize pool of €17 986. Oluwole took €3 170 for second, his second final table of the week after fourth place in the S.O.R.B.E.T. England’s Isaac Barker finished third for €2 230, and Dealer’s Choice runner-up Martin Dahle finished fifth.

Kristiansen finished third in the 10-Game at EMPC 2024 and seventh in the Lowball Draw Mix earlier this week. He is the third Norwegian to win a title this week, after Thor William Morstøl and Raymond Forsland.

“I mean, in this event, in general, the opposition is always really tough,” he said. “It was ups and downs for sure, but you’ve got to run a little bit good to be able to take the title. But I think it was a fair fight till the end, and it was a lot of fun.”

He puts the people first. “The atmosphere and the people is like the number one and number two, that everyone here loves mixed games,” he said. “So it’s just a lot of fun to enjoy different types of variants of poker and meet lots of good people.”

Kristiansen joked about Leknes putting his own name on the event. “Well, it’s very typical Tobias Leknes, I guess. He’s very full of himself. No, I’m joking. I think it’s great. He’s the inventor, so why not?”

Kristiansen is Norwegian but lives in Tallinn. At the trophy ceremony, Leknes asked how it felt to win on home soil. “It feels great, and I, of course, won the most important tournament of them all, Senkel’s Paradise Pick’em,” Kristiansen said. “Titles mean everything to me when it comes to poker, so just winning is amazing.”

Photos: Lemon Poker