Sander van Wesemael: Back-to-Back Mixed Game Champion at The Festival and EPT!
If you’ve been around the tables at The Festival Series, you’ve likely met Sander van Wesemael. The Dutch poker aficionado made headlines recently by achieving a rare back-to-back victory in the 8-Game Mixed event – first winning the €350 8-Game at The Festival in Malta in September, then conquering the €1,100 8-Game at EPT Malta just weeks later. This impressive run describes Sander’s passion for the game perfectly. He’s a true poker enthusiast who treats every tournament with equal importance, whether the buy-in is €50 or €5,000. And he does it all with a humble attitude and a smile on his face.
In Malta, we watched Sander enjoying himself at the tables, whether it's chatting about strategy or the normal bits and the bees, making new friends and cracking jokes. It’s exactly the kind of atmosphere The Festival Series is all about. Sander’s love for the game is admirable: “the guy is gold,” as many who’ve played with him would agree.
A Poker Journey That Many Desire
Sander van Wesemael’s poker résumé is as diverse as it is impressive. Hailing from the Netherlands, Sander has travelled all over Europe (and online) to play the game he loves. Over the years, he has racked up nearly $1 million in live tournament earnings and collected trophies from some of the world’s biggest poker tours. From WPT National events to the Unibet Open, from the prestigious 'bordjes' at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam to massive field events on the partypoker MILLIONS tour and the European Poker Tour, Sander has made his mark everywhere.
One of Sander’s most outstanding runs came in 2017, when he pulled off three major wins in the span of a few months. He took down the PokerStars Festival Marbella Cup (outlasting 788 players for a €36,450 prize), followed by winning the PokerStars Festival Lille Cup (558 players for €28,704), and then topped it off by conquering a record 2,648-player field in Barcelona to win the PokerStars Championship Barcelona Cup for a whopping €127,000 first prize. These back-to-back-to-back victories, good for a Spade Trophy each, announced Sander as a rising star on the European circuit. It’s no wonder that today he’s recognised as a well-respected and consistent player among the Dutch community in any variant from No-Limit Hold’em to Mixed Games.
Below is a snapshot of Sander’s top five live poker results to date, thanks to the world's largest poker database, The Hendon Mob:
| Year | Tournament (Tour) | Location | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | €330 NL Hold’em PokerStars Championship Cup (PSC Barcelona) | Barcelona, Spain | 1st | €127,000 |
| 2018 | €1,100 NL Hold’em partypoker MILLIONS (Germany) | Rozvadov, Czech R. | 3rd | €75,000 |
| 2017 | €330 NL Hold’em PokerStars Festival (Marbella) | Marbella, Spain | 1st | €36,450 |
| 2021 | €1,100 PLO 8-Max Master Classics of Poker | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 1st | €32,641 |
| 2017 | €330 NL Hold’em PokerStars Festival (Lille) | Lille, France | 1st | €28,704 |
Sander’s achievements at The Festival Series are also starting to add up. In our own events, he’s now a champion as well. Notably, he won the €350 Mixed Games 8-Game event at The Festival in Malta 2025, besting a tough field of mixed-game lovers for a €6,301 payday and a Festival trophy. That victory kick-started his recent rungood with the EPT triumph shortly after. We’ve summarised Sander’s results in Festival Series tournaments below:
| Year | Festival Event | Location | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | €350 8-Game | The Festival Malta | 1st | €6,301 |
| 2025 | €550 NLH Main Event | The Festival Malta | 13th | €3,990 |
| 2023 | €1,100 PLO High Roller | The Festival Malta | 5th | €4,450 |
| 2023 | €250 PLO Championship | The Festival Malta | 4th | €1,450 |
Interview with Sander van Wesemael
After his incredible back-to-back wins in Malta, we sat down with Sander van Wesemael to talk about his recent success, his approach to poker, and his perspective on the game. In the conversation below, we kept Sander’s answers exactly as he gave them, to let his personality shine through.
First of all, congratulations on winning the 8-Game tournament at The Festival Malta and then immediately doing it again at EPT Malta! How did it feel to pull off two wins in the same format back-to-back? Did the second victory feel different from the first?
Sander van Wesemael: Hey Melvin, thank you so much! Both The Festival field and the EPT field had some tough players. Comparing the fields I think there were more players who sort of know what they are doing at The Festival. But the EPT had some really highly skilled players in there, combined with multiple people who did not know all the games. Both tournaments were a lot of fun to play, though!
The Festival is of course, no EPT, we are mainly focused on mixed games, and we do not have a rich history like they do. Which event stands out for you the most, according to your own needs in poker?
Sander van Wesemael: So to me both events have a lot of value, the vibe of The Festival is unmatched, but the stakes in general are a bit lower. The EPT is a bit more serious with bigger stakes and also bigger cash games. Depending on where I am at confidence and bankroll-wise, I can see myself pick either option over the other.
You have won back-to-back trophies in holdem at EPT, and not the smallest events either! now back to back in 8game, in two different events. what's next for you? will we see you going for a bracelet in 8game perhaps?
Sander van Wesemael: Hahahaha, yeah i have a tendency to go back-to-back. For now, the focus is online for the next month. the Coinpoker PLO cash game world championship is on now, and the plan is to make a lot of volume there. After that, I will make some new plans!
The Festival Bratislava is around the corner. November 18-24. Have you seen the schedule yet? are you thinking of making the trip from Malta to Bratislava for a couple days?
Sander van Wesemael: The schedule of Bratislava looks amazing, and I would love to go. But it clashes with the biggest tournament series of the Netherlands, the Master Classics of Poker, regretfully. So if I am travelling, I will go to the Master Classics of Poker.
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I'm from the same country as you are, and have to say that you are a so-called 'household name' in the Dutch poker community. What would your message be to the Dutch crowd when it comes to mixed games?
Sander van Wesemael: To the Dutchies, I would say play some different games and see if you have a good time, you can always go back to playing holdem or PLO if you don't enjoy it. The Festival is an amazing place to try it out because they always have relatively low buy-ins, and always some holdem tournaments as well if you decide the mixed games are not for you.
You have 17 victories up to today in your career. Events won at WPT Nationals, Holland Casino, Unibet Open, Unibet Deepstack Open, The Festival, Masterclassics, EPT... What do you think about your career so far and what is your essential goal in poker? How do you describe your poker career and goals?
Sander van Wesemael: I am extremely grateful for the poker career that I have. Winning 17 tournaments has some luck involved as well; if I had never won any of those, I would have a completely different life! My essential goal in poker changes from time to time. At the start, I just wanted to play and get better and build a legacy, especially live. For the last couple of years, it has changed a lot; it's more short-term now. I just want to do the best I can at either a live festival or online during a series or during a cash game grind. Also, I want to use poker now to build a good life for me and my family, where, at the start, I really did not care about any money involved. But saying that, I strongly believe that the only way you can play poker well is if you are enjoying yourself, so I try to never force myself to play.
EPT Spade, Unibet Belt, Holland Casino bordje, or The Festival trophy? Do you have them lined up somewhere, and which one stands out in your opinion?
Sander van Wesemael: Ooooh, choosing 1 is so hard, they all have great stories and memories, but if I have to choose one, I think I would say my silver edition bordje from the Master Classics of Poker. I think it is one of the tournaments where I played close to the best I could at the time, and I vividly remember seeing the silver bordjes and thinking wow, this would be soooo amazing to win!
For my trophies, I used to have all my trophies lined up in the Netherlands. I even used a cupboard that my wife built for herself, but I kinda stole it. But since I moved to Malta, all the trophies from before 2020 are in boxes at my parents. Slowly but surely, I am building a new collection here in Malta now, but we still have to find a nice place for them here, including the epic trophy of The Festival Series!
The Rise of Dutch Poker at The Festival
Sander van Wesemael’s story is part of a larger trend: the Dutch poker player community is rising at The Festival Series. In Malta, multiple titles were snagged by players from the Netherlands – Sander with his 8-Game trophy and compatriot Egi Adriaans with the Hendon Mob Championship title, to name a couple. Dutch players are making final tables, having fun, and enriching the festival atmosphere with their enthusiasm. It’s clear that the Netherlands’ presence in our events is only getting stronger, bringing both talent and camaraderie to the tables.
In closing, we congratulate Sander on his amazing achievements and thank him for sharing his insights. His humble, passionate approach to poker is exactly what The Festival Series is about – competition blended with community. With champions like Sander van Wesemael and media partner Pokercity leading the way, the future looks bright for Dutch poker at The Festival and beyond. We can’t wait to see more of our Dutch friends (and rivals!) in upcoming stops, and we wish Sander the best of luck in chasing that next title. Gefeliciteerd, Sander – and see you at the next Festival, perhaps our next stop in Bratislava from November 18-24!
