888poker XL Winter Day 1: Ireland's "arucia" Wins Opening Event ($9,039)
Table Of Contents
- 888poker XL Winter #1 - $50,000 Opening Event
- Opening Event Final Table Results
- Action of the Day
- 888poker XL Winter #2 - $15,000 Mini Opening Event
- 888poker XL Winter #3 - $15,000 Late Opening Event
- Full 888 XL Winter Schedule
- Freeroll Your Way Into The XL Winter Series Main Event
- Claim Your $888 Welcome Bonus Today
888poker introduced a new festival this month aptly named the XL Winter Series with over $1 million in guarantees across 34 action-packed events on Dec. 10-20.
The festival kicked on Thursday with a bang with the $50,000 Opening Event running under the watchful eye of the PokerNews Live Reporting Team along with two other amazing events.
Satellites to the XL Winter Series now running on 888poker
888poker XL Winter #1 - $50,000 Opening Event
| Buy-in | Date | Players | Prize pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| $109 | Dec. 10 | 511 | $51,100 |
The first event of the 888poker Winter Series is now in the books after a total of 511 entry slips were sold to take part in the XL Winter Series #1: $50,000 Opening Event. The tournament ran for just under nine hours and when the dust had settled it was Ireland's "arucia" taking home the crown.
"arucia" pocketed $9,039 in a final table journey that saw "arucia" grind it out, sitting in the passenger seat as the red-hot "barrybarry15" took out most of the field. The Ireland native picked nothing but optimal spots and ran pure when needed en route to victory.
The action was heads-up after two notable players hit the rail in Johannes "TrollKonst8" Korsar and Nicolas "PKaiser" Fierro.
The heads-up battle between "barrybarry15" and "arucia" lasted just a few moments before the duo agreed to a deal. The chips then hit the middle of the table until a champion was crowned with "arucia" reigning supreme, in the first XL Winter Series Event.
Opening Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | ||||
| 1 | arucia | Ireland | $9,039* | ||||
| 2 | barrybarry15 | United Kingdom | $8,049* | ||||
| 3 | Johannes "TrollKonst8" Korsar | Sweden | $5,366 | ||||
| 4 | Nicolas "PKaiser" Fierro | Chile | $4,088 | ||||
| 5 | Unknownplay3r | Morocco | $2,862 | ||||
| 6 | G00RG3 | Sweden | $2,172 | ||||
| 7 | Repsej51 | Unknown | $1,661 | ||||
| 8 | Dendaa | Serbia | $1,150 | ||||
| 9 | Ripleyy1 | Canada | $848 |
*denotes deal of the final two players
Action of the Day
The $109 buy-in event began with a bang with the field growing to over 200 players by the second level of play. One of the players near the bottom was Canada's "Ripleyy1" who had just a quarter of their starting stack.
The Canadian spun that short stack into a final table appearance but this didn't last long as they finished the tournament in ninth when their ace-queen proved to be no good against a set of sevens held by "barrybarry15".
Soon after it was "Dendaa" dropping from the field when they shoved a pair of treys, only to collide with a pair of jacks in which "barrybarry15" was the owner. Both players hit a set but "barrybarry15" scooped the pot, sending "Dendaa" out the door.
TrollKonst8 took over as executioner, dropping "Repsej51" from the opening event. "Repsej51" moved all-in with ace-queen suited but "TrollKonst8" woke up with a pair of ladies. The board came down dry and "TrollKonst8" scooped the pot, eliminating "Repsej51".
"barrybarry15" then retook the throne, sending yet another player to the payout desk. "G00RG3" pushed their remaining stack from the button with a pair of fours and "barrybarry15" called with ace-seven. A seven-high flop was more than enough to take down the pot, knocking out "G00RG3".
A short-stacked "Unkownplay3r" moved their stack into the middle with ace-jack, running into the pocket kings of "arucia". A blank board landed and "Unkownplay3r" was eliminated, sending what was the first of many pots crucial pots to "arucia" at the final table.
The final table began with Fierro on top but it was a rank that he could not hang onto. The poker pro whittled down to short stack, moving their stack into the middle with queen-jack, and was called by the pocket sevens of "barrybarry15". A seven-high flop left Fierro completely drawing dead to hit the showers in fourth place.
Korsar saw his stack swing from shortest to largest in a matter of hands and then back again. Ultimately he was eliminated in third place when his suited king-jack couldn't get there against the ace-four of "barrybarry15".
Heads-up play started relatively even but "arucia" quickly took a considerable lead. The players discussed a deal and decided to ICM chop, moving their chips into the middle during the next two hands with "arucia" taking down the final one. "barrybarry15" called the rest of their chips into the middle with ace-four, running into the ace-seven of "arucia" who ended finding three. "barrybarry15" was eliminated in second for a respectable $8,049.
Head to our Live Reporting Hub to read more about this event.
888poker XL Winter #2 - $15,000 Mini Opening Event
| Buy-in | Date | Players | Prize pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| $16.50 | Dec. 10 | 1,245 | $18,675 |
The XL Winter #2 - $15,000 Mini Opening Event attracted 1,245 entries to generate an $18,575 prize pool. The lion's share of this money, $3,362, went to Romania's "costi.irim25", who was crowned the winner after nearly eight hours of play. Sweden's "fistpump99" lost the final heads-up and banked the runner-up prize of $2,428.
Jason "JayMow30" Maurer was also on the podium taking home $1,811 for his third-place performance.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | costi.irim25 | Romania | $3,362 |
| 2 | fistpump99 | Sweden | $2,428 |
| 3 | Jason "JayMow30" Maurer | Canada | $1,811 |
| 4 | Bridie176 | Ireland | $1,354 |
| 5 | VanderAars | Unknown | $941 |
| 6 | Momentum288 | Unknown | $754 |
| 7 | Theslot | Romania | $568 |
| 8 | aquarius213 | Romania | $383 |
| 9 | 14grand | United Kingdom | $233 |
888poker XL Winter #3 - $15,000 Late Opening Event
| Buy-in | Date | Players | Prize pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| $55 | Dec. 10 | 309 | $15,450 |
United Kingdom's "sumpfin" outlasted a field of 309 entries including 58 reentries to win the $55 buy-in XL Winter #2 - $15,000 Late Opening Event for $3,160 after more than 6 1/2 hours of play. The prize pool grew to $15,450 to sneak past the $15,000 guarantee slapped on the event.
"sumpfin" shipped the event after defeating "Ilfris" (second - $2,318) in heads-up play. Meanwhile, Vangel "machkonti" Apostolov just missed out on a podium finish and instead claimed the fourth-place prize of $1,313.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sumpfin | United Kingdom | $3,160 |
| 2 | Ilfris | Unknown | $2,318 |
| 3 | Kamooooon | United Kingdom | $1,746 |
| 4 | Vangel "machkonti" Apostolov | Unknown | $1,313 |
| 5 | El__Loco | United Kingdom | $896 |
| 6 | grantipant | Unknown | $695 |
| 7 | Paulada85 | Brazil | $541 |
| 8 | Str8Rippin | Unknown | $386 |
| 9 | rstoeltjes | Unknown | $294 |
Full 888 XL Winter Schedule
| Date | Time (GMT) | Event | Buy-in | GTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec. 10 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #1 - $50,000 Opening Event | $109 | $50,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #2 - $15,000 Mini Opening Event | $16.50 | $15,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #3 - $15,000 Late Opening Event | $55 | $15,000 | |
| Dec. 11 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #4 - $30,000 PKO | $55 | $30,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #5 - $15,000 Mini PKO | $22 | $15,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #6 - $10,000 Late PKO | $33 | $10,000 | |
| Dec. 12 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #7 - $30,000 8-Max | $109 | $30,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #8 - $10,000 Mini 8-Max | $12 | $10,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #9 - $15,000 Late 8-Max | $55 | $15,000 | |
| Dec. 13 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #10 - $50,000 Tune Up | $55 | $50,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #11 - $30,000 Mini Tune Up | $16.5 | $30,000 | |
| 6:30 p.m. | XL Winter #12 - $10,000 Micro Tune Up | $5.5 | $10,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #13 - $20,000 Late Tune Up | $55 | $20,000 | |
| Dec. 14 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #14 - $20,000 R&A Event | $33 | $20,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #15 - $10,000 Mini R&A | $5.50 | $10,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | XL Winter #16 - $10,000 Late R&A | $12 | $10,000 | |
| Dec. 15 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #17 - $50,000 High Roller | $320 | $50,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #18 - $25,000 Mini High Roller | $55 | $25,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #19 - $20,000 Late High Roller | $109 | $20,000 | |
| Dec. 16 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #20 - $30,000 PKO | $109 | $30,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #21 - $15,000 Mini PKO | $16.50 | $15,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #22 - $10,000 Late PKO | $33 | $15,000 | |
| Dec. 17 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #23 - $40,000 PKO 8-Max | $160 | $40,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #24 - $15,000 Mini PKO 8-Max | $22 | $15,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #25 - $15,000 Late PKO 8-Max | $55 | $15,000 | |
| Dec. 18 | 5 p.m. | XL Winter #26 - $25,000 PKO DeepStack | $55 | $25,000 |
| 5 p.m. | XL Winter #27 - $15,000 Mini DeepStack | $16.50 | $15,000 | |
| 7 p.m. | XL Winter #28 - $10,000 Late DeepStack | $33 | $10,000 | |
| Dec. 19 | 6 p.m. | XL Winter #29 - $25,000 PKO 6-Max | $109 | $25,000 |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #30 - $15,000 Mini PKO 6-Max | $16.50 | $15,000 | |
| 8 p.m. | XL Winter #31- $15,000 Late PKO 6-Max | $55 | $15,000 | |
| Dec. 20 | 5 p.m. | XL Winter #32- $500,000 Main Event PKO | $250 | $500,000 |
| 5:30 p.m. | XL Winter #33- $50,000 Mini Main Event PKO | $33 | $50,000 | |
| 6 p.m. | XL Winter #34- $15,000 Late Main Event PKO | $5.5 | $15,000 |
See How Much You Can Earn with Early Bird Rakeback
Freeroll Your Way Into The XL Winter Series Main Event
One cent satellites aside, you can play your way into the XL Winter Series for free thanks to the XL Winter Main Event Freerolls. These run every day and are open to 888poker players who have recently made a deposit into their accounts.
There are plenty of other opportunities to secure freebies from 888poker, too. The site is hitting random tables with gift drops throughout the XL Winter Series that grant special prizes and XL tournament tickets.
Claim Your $888 Welcome Bonus Today
Head to 888poker between Dec. 10-20 if you want to get your teeth into the XL Winter Series events. If you don’t have an account simply download 888poker through our links and you will be awarded an $88 bonus (£20 in the UK) without making a deposit. Once you are ready to make your first deposit, it will be matched in the form of a bonus up to $888, or more than twice as much advertised on the site.
In this Series
- 1 888poker XL Winter Day 1: Ireland's "arucia" Wins Opening Event ($9,039)
- 2 888poker XL Winter Day 2: Belarus Dominates with Two PKO Winners
- 3 888poker XL Winter Day 3: "maestro1908" Masters an Eight-Max Victory
- 4 888poker XL Winter Day 4: "pereleman" Ships the Tune Up to Continue Belarus Dominance
- 5 888poker XL Winter Day 5: Latvia's "toycegs" Ships the $20,000 R&A Event ($3,870)
- 6 888poker XL Winter Day 6: "Kannwas" Ships the High Roller ($11,500)
- 7 888poker XL Winter Day 7: "Miroslavas28" Puts Lithuania on the Map with a Big PKO Win
- 8 888poker XL Winter Day 8: "futomaki123" Wins the $40,000 PKO 8-Max ($8,430)
- 9 888poker XL Winter Day 9: Two Final Tables and a Win for "MaratTash1"
- 10 888poker XL Winter Day 10: Gerard "RevenirROI" [Removed:293] Wins the $25K 6-Max ($7,728)
- 11 888poker XL Winter Day 11: "Kazi070486" Ships the Main Event PKO ($60,862)
