The 2020 XL Inferno included 34 events over 11 days, and it proved to be one of our most successful online series ever catering to 46,649 combined entrants and awarding $1,851,663 in prize money. Of that, nearly $320,000 was awarded in first-place prizes alone!
Those numbers were up from the 2019 edition, which was also comprised of 34 events. Last year, 39,378 entrants participated in the XL Inferno and $1,695,881 in prize money was awarded.
Winners this year came from across the globe, but no country did better than Romania with six champions crowned. Not far behind were Russia and the United Kingdom with five titles apiece, while Sweden and Canada had three each.
Meanwhile, there were two Ukrainian champs, while players from Argentina, Finland, Germany, Malta, Serbia, and Kazakhstan won titles.
Interestingly, there were no repeat winners in this year’s XL Inferno.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest and best highlights from the 2020 XL Inferno:
Romanian Domination
As mentioned above, no country performed better in terms of XL Inferno wins than Romania. It started in the $55 buy-in Event #4: $30,000 PKO when “FishTankHero” topped an 898-entry field to win the title for $7,179.78.
A couple days later, 888poker regular “ilovePickles” bested a 668-entry field to win the $33 buy-in Event #14: $20,000 R&A for $5,048.96, while at the same time fellow countryman “Sandilaulau” was busy navigating his way through a 692-entry field to win the $16.50 buy-in Event #16: $15,000 Late R&A for $2,793.99 and Romania’s third title.
The $22 buy-in Event #24: $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max had 1,509 entrants and was won by “DiCarpi0” for $4,630.70, while “BehindSpace” topped a field of 782 entrants to win the $33 buy-in Event #28: $15,000 Late DeepStack for $4,434.02.
Finally, on the last day of the series, “Lhadar” came out on top of a 2,521-entry field to win the $33 buy-in Event #33: $50,000 Mini Main Event for $10,676.07 and Romania’s sixth title of the series.
The half dozen trophies captured by Romania was quite a year-over-year improvement after they won just one title in the 2019 XL Inferno.
Sweden’s “junijuniorz” Wins XL Inferno Main Event
The 2020 XL Inferno $250 buy-in Event #32: $500,000 GTD Main Event saw 1,623 players rebuy 523 times, which generated a prize pool of $504,310.
The top 207 players got paid including 888poker Ambassador Dominik “888Dominik” Nitsche (121st - $806.89), “TravelHustle” (96th - $958.18), “Perrymejsen” (79th - $1,059.05), Robin “Inho” Ylitalo (71st - $1,109.48), “LeetRunGoot” (44th - $1,412.06), “Diegoavc” (34th - $1,664.22), Roman “EyeofSkadi” Matveychuk (29th - $1,664.22), “Hustlaaa” (21st - $1,916.37), “HateH4teHate” (17th - $2,269.39), “ribamech15” (12th - $4,236.20), and “pro100plr” (10th - $4,236.20).
Coming out on top was Sweden’s “junijuniorz,” who won the prestigious title for $85,178.75.
XL Inferno Main Event Final Table Results
1st – “junijuniorz” (Sweden) … $85,178.75
2nd – “KofeBryant” (Lithuania) … $60,618.06
3rd – “9salute46” (N/A) … $46,396.52
4th – “JBHInfinity” (UK) … $32,780.15
5th – “lapechuga4” (Argentina) … $23,954.72
6th – “ValVenis120” (UK) … $19,163.78
7th – “SouTheMan” (Malta) … $14,372.83
8th – “KoneKontoen” (Denmark) … $9,581.89
9th – “yamatasula” (Romania) … $5,446.54)
Event #29: $30,000 6-Max Exceeds Expectations
One tournament that stood out on the schedule for drawing a big field was the $109 buy-in Event #29: $30,000 6-Max, which saw 349 players rebuy 146 times to create a $49,500 prize pool, well ahead of the guarantee.
The top 42 finishers got a piece of it including “N33dCoaching” (42nd - $272.25), “JoaquinRuiz” (31st - $297), “ZDamian” (24th - $420.75), “shadowmoon3” (15th - $519.75), “Kroat.” (10th - $693), and final table bubble boy “pszemula” (7th - $1,237.50).
A little over seven hours of play, the final three players worked a deal that saw Kazakhstan’s “skorp1161” finish as champion for $9,562.67 while “Gat0rbl00d” and “barrrrrrrr” finished in second and third place for $7,629.66 and $6,468.67, respectively.
XL Inferno Event #29 Final Table Results
1st – “skorp1161” (Kazakhstan) … $9,562.67*
2nd – “Gat0rbl00d” (Canada) … $7,629.66*
3rd – “barrrrrrrrr” (Romania) … $6,468.67*
4th – “needabridge” (UK) … $3,960
5th – “AI888888” (Japan) … $2,970
6th – “304tcm304” (Romania) … $1,980
*Denotes three-way deal
Big Five-Figure Prizes Up Top
Outside of the Main Events, High Roller, Opening Event, and Tune Up, just two events awarded a first-place prize in the five figures. The first was the $109 buy-in Event #20: $50,000 PKO, which drew 425 players who rebought 142 times to create a $56,700 prize pool. The UK’s “Mrpop01” won that tournament for $10,043.10.
The other tournament was the $160 buy-in Event #23: $50,000 PKO 8-Max, which saw 340 players rebuy 102 times to create a $66,300 prize pool. Coming out on top was Serbia’s “sinke34,” who took home a $13,204.65 top prize.
XL Inferno Event #23 Final Table Results
1st – “sinke23” (Serbia) … $6,381.53 prize … $6,823.12 KO
2nd – “mathi8ce” (N/A) … $4,723.87 prize … $587.11 KO
3rd – “Ph4N888” (Romania) … $3,563.62 prize … $2,165.61 KO
4th – “CrushingAces” (N/A) … $2,569.12 prize … $1,881.44 KO
5th – “BigWizzzard” (Romania) … $1,740.37 prize … $262.50 KO
6th – “VitorBrasil” (Brazil) … $1,243.12 prize … $1,136.73 KO
7th – “Mrbeans12” (UK) … $911.62 prize … $412.51 KO
8th – “IHaveAsthma” (Mexico) … $745.87 prize … $464.07 KO
2020 XL Inferno Winners
Through all 34 events in the 2020 XL Inferno, 4,522 players finished in the money. As previously mentioned, $1,851,663 in prize money was awarded, which meant the average cash was for $409.49! Not too shabby considering most of the tournaments on the schedule ranged in buy-ins from $5.50 to $55.
Here’s a look at all the winners from the most recent XL Inferno:
Event #1: $75,000 Opening Event (878 entries; $87,800 prize pool) won by “MorayEEEEEL” (Sweden) for $16,585.42
Event #2: $25,000 Mini Opening Event (2,436 entires; $36,540 prize pool) won by “blachu3232” (Argentina) for $6,172.39
Event #3: $20,000 Late Opening Event (555 entries; $27,750 prize pool) won by “tightlikea_v” (Canada) for $3,954.37
Event #4: $30,000 PKO (898 entries; $44,900 prize pool) won by “FishTankHero” (Romania) for $7,179.78
Event #5: $20,000 Mini PKO (1,607 entries; $32,140 prize pool); won by “williemwoles” (Russia) for $4,553.16
Event #6: $15,000 Late PKO (672 entries; $20,160 prize pool) won by “barneslad123” (UK) for $3,452.96
Event #7: $30,000 8-Max (506 entries; $50,600 prize pool) won by “rickybarbosa” for $9,147.94
Event #8: $12,000 Mini 8-Max (2,356 entries; $18,848 prize pool) won by “krakadiller” (Russia) for $3,299.36
Event #9: $15,000 Late 8-Max (439 entries; $21,950 prize pool) won by “Gat0rbl00d” (Canada) for $3,728.65
Event #10: $150,000 Tune Up (1,615 entries; $161,500 prize pool) won by “MuckFest” (Finland) for $28,230.20
Event #11: $50,000 Mini Tune Up (4,107 entries; $61,605 prize pool) “4YTbE” (Russia) for $7,448.95
Event #12: $15,000 Micro Tune Up (3,600 entries; $18,000 prize pool) won by “Bluffman1995” for $2,467.36
Event #13: $20,000 Late Tune Up (545 entries; $27,250 prize pool) won by “futomaki123” for $5,229.34
Event #14: $20,000 R&A (668 entries; $26,310 prize pool) won by “IlovePickles” (Romania) for $5,048.96
Event #15: $12,000 Mini R&A (2,113 entries; $12,995 prize pool) won by “SpielerKind” (Ukraine) for $2,243.63
Event #16: $15,000 Late R&A (692 entries; $15,000 prize pool) won by “Sandilaulau” (Romania) for $2,793.99
Event #17: $100,000 High Roller (326 entries; $100,000 prize pool) won by “HSV_Gandi” (Germany) for $20,450
Event #18: $30,000 Mini High Roller (802 entries; $40,100 prize pool) won by “MAMOHT_T” (Russia) for $7,574.89
Event #19: $20,000 Late High Roller (256 entries; $25,600 prize pool) won by “dmnln” (Malta) for $5,504
Event #20: $50,000 PKO (567 entries; $56,700 prize pool) won by “Mrpop01” (UK) for $10,043.10
Event #21: $20,000 Mini PKO (1,727 entries; $25,905 prize pool) won by “ailaroz” (Sweden) for $3,519.83
Event #22: $12,000 Late PKO (637 entries; $19,110 prize pool) won by “GeeTeeWoah” (UK) for $3,150.47
Event #23: $50,000 PKO 8-Max (442 entries; $66,300 prize pool) won by “sinke34” (Serbia) for $13,204.65
Event #24: $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max (1,509 entries; $30,180 prize pool) won by “DiCarpi0” (Romania) for $4,630.70
Event #25: $20,000 Late PKO 8-Max (543 entries; $27,150 prize pool) won by “Kroat.” (UK) for $5,102.98
Event #26: $30,000 DeepStack (803 entries; $40,150 prize pool) won by “metelindberg” (Russia) for $7,584.53
Event #27: $20,000 Mini DeepStack (1,880 entries; $28,200 prize pool) won by “mojitos86” (UK) for $4,603.14
Event #28: $15,000 Late DeepStack (782 entries; $23,460 prize pool) won by “BehindSpace” (Romania) for $4,434.02
Event #29: $30,000 6-Max (495 entries; $49,500 prize pool) won by “skorp1161” (Kazakhstan) for $9,562.67
Event #30: $20,000 Mini 6-Max (1,859 entries; $27,885 prize pool) won by “aka.plan4ik” (Russia) for $4,562.54
Event #31: $15,000 Late 6-Max (440 entries; $22,000 prize pool) won by “LeetRunGoot” (Canada) for $4,620
Event #32: $500,000 Main Event (2,146 entries; $504,310 prize pool) won by “junijuniorz” (Sweden) for $85,178.75
Event #33: $50,000 Mini Main Event (2,521 entries; $75,630 prize pool) won by “Lhadar” (Romania) for $10,676.07
Event #34: $20,000 Micro Main Event (5,227 entries; $26,135 prize pool) won by “Testosteron.” (Ukraine) for $3,661.58
