A word with the champ...

After winning the ParadisePoker Tour League for Season 2, we simply had to have a word with Danish star Ronnie Espensen.

Here's what he had to say about winning €10,000 plus entry into all Season 3 events:

How does it feel to have won the ParadisePoker Tour League for Season 2?
I'm very happy to have won the ParadisePoker Tour League. It's a very nice prize considering the size of the Main Event buy-in. The money and the packages are great and it's a big boost to my poker confidence.

Where did you finish in each event? Did you have a favourite tournament?
I made the points in 4 out of 6 tournaments. I finished 17th in Vilamoura, 14th in London, in Prague I came 34th and Barcelona 39th. My favourite must have been the London event, mostly because I was so close to making the final table. I started the final day 4th in chips and when we were 14 left I was still about an average stack, but a bad beat ended my chances (read about the hand below! - PP blog)

How did it feel going into the final event in Barcelona knowing you had to make the points?
I was actually glad that I came to the final stop in second-place. It removed a lot of pressure from me, knowing that I had everything to win instead of everything to lose.

Did you speak to (league leader at the time) Robert Haigh?
Robert and I were quickly aware of where we were sitting and we talked at the first break. We spoke about some of the previous events and wished each other good luck, even though it was easy to tell that we didn't mean it! :) I give Robert a lot of credit for his performance during this season, as making two final tables is impressive!

Describe what it was like throughout PPT Barca, from hearing news of Robert’s exit to knowing how close Tibor Boros was to overtaking you?
Robert's exit on Day 1 gave me a lot to consider and I knew I had to make some conservative changes to my play without getting too exploitable.

I came into Day 2 with a decent stack, a little above average and my plan was to maintain that stack by keeping the pots small and staying out of trouble. After about an hour of play I pick up KK on the button. It was folded to me, so I make a standard raise and the big blind shoves his relatively short stack. He showed AK and spikes an Ace.

Suddenly I was the short stack and I had to make some tough decisions. I re-shoved my stack a few times to maintain about 20 big blinds, but as we approached the top 50 players I knew needed to finish in at least 47th-place to take the lead from Robert.

That was my first priority so I had to make some lay-downs that normally, with my stack, I should have shoved. After we got into the top 47 I was left with around 5BBs, though I did triple up with AQ against 45s. My new problem now was that Tibor Boros had a healthy stack and he could win the league by getting deep. So every player who got knocked out before me was very important. I actually ended up busting with AT against 99 at the exact same time as two other players and the floor ruled that I was assigned the 39th-place because of my stack size.

At that point Boros needed to make the top 11 to win or finish 12th to chop. It was too intense so I headed to my hotel and went to sleep. At 2am I woke up and HAD to check the blog - and saw that I had won by only 1 point! What a relief...

Bearing in mind you won the league by just a point, was there a key moment/hand in Season Two that you could pinpoint as the most important?
My last hand in London hand led to some sleepless nights and things might have been a little more comfortable if it hadn't happened!

The blinds were 3000/6000 and I'm sitting UTG+1. I look down at KK and make a raise to 15,000. An active player calls me from UTG+2 and this German player re-raises to 60,000. I re-raise all-in for around 160,000 (German guy and I had about the same stack).

UTG+2 folds. German guy snap-calls and shows AQ. UTG+2 says that he folded AQ so I was in good shape to take down a huge pot and the chip lead. Unfortunately the flop comes QQx. It was a standard bad beat but it just felt tougher when being so close to the final table. I couldn't help but think about what I possibly could have achieved at that stage with that stack.

Despite your fantastic consistency in making the points, you didn’t make a final table in Season 2 – does that affect how you feel about this achievement?
In a way it feels a little unfair. As mentioned, Robert Haigh made two final tables and that is a way better performance than mine if I'm honest. However, due to the non-progressive point system I had to make some changes to my play after I took the lead at the second stop of the Tour, so I might have missed some value by keeping in mind that adding a few points at each stop could be enough to win the league.

Would you have swapped it for a final table appearance and a chance of winning the top prize?
Not at all. I am very happy achieving this and it means a lot to me. Plus the prize gives me another six shots for a final table in Season 3!