The 888poker XL Winter Series continued earlier this week with nine more tournaments from its 34-event schedule. After Wednesday play, 22 events were in the books with 16,917 entrants participating and $540,685 in prize money awarded.
One of the storylines from the early going of the series was the sheer number of titles being claimed by players from Belarus. That continued as two more players added titles to the country’s count. First, it was “Slavvva12388” besting a 1,287-entry field to win Event #15: $10,000 Mini R&A on Monday for $1,835.
The following day, “altavistt” topped a 204-entry field to win Event #19: $20,000 Late High Roller for $4,386. That brought the total number of titles going to Belarus thus far to six, more than a quarter of the completed events.
Other counties to have captured titles are Ireland, Romania, UK, Serbia, Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
“Kannwas” Wins High Roller Title
Tuesday marked a day filled with high roller action on 888poker including the $320 buy-in Event #17: $50,000 High Roller, a tournament that saw 121 players rebuy 33 times. That meant the $50,000 prize pool was paid out to the top 18 finishers.
888poker Ambassador Dominik “888Dominik” Nitsche nearly cashed the tournament but came up a couple of spots short exiting in 20th place. His demise took place in Level 23 (3,000/6,000/750) when he moved all-in for 68,764 holding the 6♦6♥.
He was called by “pactamah23”, who had the superior Q♥Q♠. The board ran out J♠3♥3♦3♠A♥, and that was all she wrote for Nitsche.
After Russia’s “Andrey120988” exited as the bubble boy in 19th place, the in-the-money finishes mounted. Among those to cash were “JBHInfinisty” (16th - $1,025), “xLIVEPROx” (11th - $1,125), “pactamah23” (8th - $1,500), and Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka (5th - $3,000).
Lapka, who was playing from Mexico, was down to just a big blind when he got it in with the A♠K♠. He was in prime shape to double through “Kannwas”, who had the J♣2♣.
The 10♦9♠2♠ flop made things interesting by giving “Kannwas” a pair of deuces. But Lapka a flush draw to go with his overs. The 2♦ improved “Kannwas” to trips, which meant Lapka needed a spade on the river to stay alive.
Unfortunately for him, the K♥ wasn’t what he was looking for, and he hit the virtual rail.
“Kannwas” went on to make it to heads-up play with a 2:1 chip lead over the UK’s “oldskool555”. The latter managed to score a double, but that was about it as the former closed it out in Level 33 (20,000/40,000/5,000).
In what would be the final hand of the tournament, “Kannwas” opened with the A♦3♥. He called when “oldskool55” jammed with the K♥K♣. The 8♣5♦3♣ flop kept “oldskool55” in the lead, but disaster struck when the A♣ peeled off on the turn to give “Kannwas” two pair.
The 2♦ river was of no consequence, and just like that, it was all over.
Event #17 High Roller Final Table Results
1st – “Kannwas” (N/A) … $11,500
2nd – “oldskool555” (UK) … $8,000
3rd – “mao042” (Russia) … $6,075
4th – “ALLINchains” (Serbia) … $4,500
5th – Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka (Mexico) … $3,000
6th – “ErwannP” (Peru) … $2,500
7th – “Octopokes” (UK) … $2,000
8th – “pactamah23” (Germany) … $1,500
9th – “sllodi” (UK) … $1,250
In other high roller action, Ukraine’s “InTheAnd” topped a 552-entry field to win the $55 buy-in Event #18: $25,000 Mini High Roller ($27,600 prize pool) for $5,296.44.
Belarus’ “altavistt” came out on top of a 204-entry field to win the $109 buy-in Event #19: $20,000 Late High Roller for $4,386.
Lithuania’s “Miroslavas28” Captures Big PKO Bounty
On Wednesday, the premier tournament was the $109 buy-in Event #20: $30,000 Progressive Knockout (PKO) bounty. The tournament that attracted 302 players who rebought 86 times. The 388-entry field resulted in a $38,800 prize pool split equally between the regular and bounty pools.
The top 60 finishers got a piece of the former including “sumpfin” (28th for $116.40 + $87.50 in bounties) -
- “Timoshasan” (16th for $139.68 + $125 in bounties)
- “Getluckyyyy” (10th for $230.86 + $365.31 in bounties)
- “Tuna_lover” (5th for $1,039.84 + $604.69 in bounties),
- “33betwizkid” (3rd for $1,971.04 + $867.60 in bounties)
After nearly eight hours of play, it was Lithuania’s “Miroslavas28” besting “KwiacurVr6” in heads-up play. He won the title for $3,226.22 plus a hefty $4,172.21 for a total payday of $7,398.43.
Event #20 PKO Final Table Results
1st – “Miroslavas28” (Lithuania) … $3,226.22 + $4,172.21 in bounties
2nd – “KwiacurVr6” (N/A) … $3,226.22 + $615.62 in bounties
3rd – “33betwizkid” (UK) … $1,971.04 + $867.60 in bounties
4th – “creosbaldo” (Brazil) … $1,427.84 + $585.15 in bounties
5th – “Tuna_lover” (UK) … $1,039.84 + $604.69 in bounties
6th – “dulek_jason” (N/A) … $768.24 + $645.31 in bounties
7th – “Ibbza” (Sweden) … $562.60 + $518.76 in bounties
8th – “bernHardA” (Germany) … $419.04 + $287.50 in bounties
9th – “WackyJaxon” (Lithuania) … $310.40 + $395.31
The other big PKO winners on the day were Romania’s “85bogdy”. He topped a 1,287-entry field to win the $16.50 buy-in Event #21: $15,000 Mini PKO for $2,279.55 in prize money. “JustTrappedU”bested a 506-entry field to win the $33 buy-in Event #22: $10,000 Late PKO for $2,628.09.
What’s Coming Up
Remember, the series is set to culminate with the $250 buy-in, $500,000 GTD Main Event on the last day – Sunday, December 20 at 17:00 GMT. The tournament will feature a Progressive Knockout (PKO) format – a first for an XL Series Main Event!
That tournament will also be live-streamed on 888poker’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Speaking of which, players will be able to follow the XL Winter Series action LIVE from our social media channels. They can also get in on giveaway action by entering special contests on our Facebook channel during the live stream.
We’ll be giving away three $109 and five $33 tournament tickets during the stream.
2020 XL Winter Winners Thus Far
Date ... Tournament ... Buy-in ... Total ... Entries ... Prize Pool ... Winner ... Prize
December 10 Event #1: $50,000 Opening Event … $109 … 511 … $51,100 … arucia (Ireland) for $9,039.21
December 10 Event #2: $15,000 Mini Opening Event … $16.50 … 1,245 … $18,675 … costi.irim25 (Romania) for $3,362
December 10 Event #3: $15,000 Late Opening Event … $55 … 309 … $15,450 … sumpfin (UK) for $3,159.63
Friday, December 11 Event #4: $30,000 PKO … $55 … 660 … $33,000 … Undervit (Belarus) for $5,235.23
December 11 Event #5: $15,000 Mini PKO … $22 … 1,031 … $20,620 … MarshallMatt (Belarus) for $2,787.62
December 11 Event #6: $10,000 Late PKO … $33 … 525 … $15,750 … Ivanov259 (UK) for $2,744.47
December 12 Event #7: $30,000 8-Max … $109 … 340 … $34,000 … maestro1908 for $6,630
December 12 Event #8: $10,000 Mini 8-Max … $12 … 899 … $10,000 … Djolex91 (Serbia) for 1,870
December 12 Event #9: $15,000 Late 8-Max … $55 … 274 … $15,000 … RakDoll (Belarus) for $3,037.50
December 13 Event #10: $50,000 Tune Up … $55 … 1,085 … $54,250 … pereleman (Belarus) for $9,819.41
December 13 Event #11: $30,000 Mini Tune Up … $16.50 … 1,943 … $30,000 … SirHennie for $5,100
December 13 Event #12: $10,000 Micro Tune Up … $5.50 … 2221 … $11,105 … Comical_Life (Russia) for $1,876.72
December 13 Event #13: $20,000 Late Tune Up … $55 … 409 … $20,450 … 888recall for $3,957.19
December 14 Event #14: $20,000 R&A Event … $33 … 517 … $20,000 … toycegas (Latvia) for $3,870
December 14 Event #15: $10,000 Mini R&A … $5.50 … 1,287 … $10,000 … Slavvva12388 (Belarus) for $1,835
December 14 Event #16: $10,000 Late R&A … $12 … 570 … $10,000 … ingeruRO14 (Romania) for $1,935
December 15 Event #17: $50,000 High Roller … $320 … 154 … $50,000 … Kannwas for $11,500
December 15 Event #18: $25,000 Mini High Roller … $55 … 552 … $27,600 … InTheAnd (Ukraine) for $5,296.44
December 15 Event #19: $20,000 Late High Roller … $109 … 204 … $20,400 … altavistt (Belarus) for $4,386
December 16 Event #20: $30,000 PKO … $109 … 388 … $38,800 … Miroslavas (Lithuania) for $7,398.43
December 16 Event #21: $15,000 Mini PKO … $16.50 … 1,287 … $19,305 … 85bogdy (Romania) for $2,279.55
December 16 Event #22: $10,000 Late PKO … $33 … 506 … $15,180 … JustTrappedU for $2,628.09
