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Evan Sandberg Wins Record-Breaking Arizona State Poker Championship
- Evan Sandberg wins Arizona State Poker Championship for $627,050.
- Event set records with 4,018 entries and biggest prize pool.
- Sandberg's career tournament earnings now exceed $3.4 million.
Evan Sandberg already had two WSOP bracelets to his name. What he did not have was the kind of live score that felt like the defining one.
That changed at Talking Stick Resort, where Sandberg outlasted a record 4,018 entries to win the 20th Arizona State Poker Championship for $627,050. The victory produced the largest live cash of his career and the biggest first-place payout in the history of the $1,100 event.
Sandberg Comes Back From the Short Stack
Sandberg began the 10-handed final table as chip leader with 36.6 million, narrowly ahead of Brandon Conrad and Sergio Segura. The trio had considerably more chips than the rest of the table, but the lead proved anything but secure.
John Phan and Ronnie Bardah were the first two players eliminated before Hill Kerby, Jonathan Roeder and local player Moussa Haddad followed. Conrad then took control, eliminating Segura in fifth after rivering a set against pocket kings and later sending John Riordan out in fourth.
By that point, Sandberg had briefly become the shortest stack. At one stage he was below 10 big blinds and all-in with ace-deuce suited against pocket nines. A double-paired board produced a chop rather than his elimination, and Sandberg used the reprieve to work his way back into contention.
Three-handed play eventually came down to Sandberg, Conrad and Jared Rogers. The pivotal hand saw Conrad’s pocket fives race against Sandberg’s ace-king. Sandberg completed Broadway on the river, eliminating Conrad for $224,804 and taking a substantial lead into heads-up.
Sandberg Closes Out Rogers Heads-Up
Sandberg began heads-up with roughly a three-to-one chip advantage.
Rogers briefly reduced the deficit but eventually slipped below 10 big blinds. His final seven big blinds went in with nine-six of clubs against Sandberg’s jack-eight of clubs.
The board ran ten-eight-four-four-eight, giving Sandberg a full house and the championship. Rogers collected $369,937 for second place.
2026 Arizona State Poker Championship Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evan Sandberg | $627,050 |
| 2 | Jared Rogers | $369,937 |
| 3 | Brandon Conrad | $224,804 |
| 4 | John Riordan | $140,214 |
| 5 | Sergio Segura | $91,498 |
| 6 | Moussa Haddad | $63,495 |
| 7 | Jonathan Roeder | $47,133 |
| 8 | Hill Kerby | $37,143 |
| 9 | Ronnie Bardah | $30,566 |
| 19 | John Phan | $25,801 |
20th Edition Sets New Records
The championship’s numbers have risen sharply in recent years. It drew 1,580 entries in 2022, 2,066 in 2023 and 2,860 in 2024 before another record of 3,546 was established last year.
The 2026 edition pushed that figure to 4,018, creating a $4,018,000 prize pool. The four starting flights attracted 816, 951, 1,114 and 1,137 entries respectively.
For Sandberg, the $627,050 payday eclipsed every previous recorded live result of his career. The two-time bracelet winner has now moved beyond $3.4 million in recorded tournament earnings, adding the Arizona title to online WSOP bracelet victories in 2022 and 2024 and back-to-back WSOP Circuit Main Event wins.
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