Ian Simpson Finishes Fourth in $120K XL Winter Series Event at 888poker
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Popular British grinder Ian Simpson again came close to taking down a $120,000 guaranteed tournament on 888poker, this time in the XL Winter Series. Back in November 2023, during the KO Games, Simpson finished third in the $109 buy-in $120,000 guaranteed Opener tournament, a result worth $5,485. On January 15, Simpson found himself at the final table of the $109 buy-in, $120,000 guaranteed Opening Event of the XL Winter Series but the script didn't go to plan.
The Opening Event saw 1,179 players take to the 888poker baize in an attempt to get the $2 million guaranteed XL Winter Series off to a flying start. Lithuania's "hilips123" will be delighted with their start to the series despite busting in 114th place for $132. The Lithuanian captured a handful of mystery bounties before busting, including one weighing in at $10,000! In total, "hilips123" banked $12,211, more than any other player in the field.
Day 1 concluded when the final table was set. Usually, eight players make up the final table, but the double elimination of "rolixx" and "YetiCara" meant only seven seats were filled.
"Bartu79" sat down as the chip leader with 67 big blinds, and Simpson was third with a 49 big blind stack. Nobody was particularly short stacked, with seventh-placed "RaiseRaiZe" sitting behind 25 big blinds at the restart.
$120,000 XL Winter #02 – Opening Event Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bartu79 | 4,005,215 | 67 | |
| 2 | figalex25 | Peru | 3,008,966 | 50 |
| 3 | Ian "Simpioni" Simpson | United Kingdom | 2,938,270 | 49 |
| 4 | optimusmov | Montenegro | 2,324,089 | 39 |
| 5 | Lolabee | United Kingdom | 2,175,984 | 26 |
| 6 | Tony996 | United Kingdom | 1,715,988 | 29 |
| 7 | RaiseRaiZe | Finland | 1,516,48 | 25 |
"figalex25" was second in chips when the first cards of the final table were pitched, yet they were the first finalist heading out of the door. The Peruvian lost a substantial percentage of their stack when their ace-ten flopped an ace against "Tony996" when "Tony996" held pocket rockets and had flopped a set. They then lost all but 2.5 big blinds when their pocket queens lost a coinflip against the ace-king of "optimusmov" before bowing out a few hands later.
Sixth place went to "Lolabee." They were down to only seven big blinds before busting. Their short stack went into the middle with eight-seven of diamonds from the button, only for "optimusmov" to snap-call with pocket aces! Those aces flopped two pair, which remained best.
"Tony996" clashed with Simpson in a pot that left "Tony996" as the table's shortest stack. The last of "Tony996"'s six big blinds were committed with queen-deuce, which lost to the ace-ten of "Bartu79" despite improving to two pair.
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The final four became three with the untimely demise of the 888poker ambassador Simpson. The action folded to "optimusmov" in the small blind, and they open-shoved with pocket fives. "optimusmov" had played highly aggressively and shown up with some weird and wonderful holdings, which is possibly why Simpson called off his 31 big blind stack with ace-ten. Simpson picked up a gut-shot straight draw on the flop to go with his two overcards, but the turn and river bricked, leaving Simpson to collect fourth-place prize money and give "optimusmov" an unassailable lead.
"optimusmov" had an 83.7 big blind stack going into three-handed play, with "Bartu79" on 16.1 big blinds, and "RaiseRaiZe" bringing up the rear with 10.7 big blinds. Obviously, the chip leader used their colossal stack to their advantage, and emerged a worthy champion.
Finland's "RaiseRaiZe" was the next player to bust at the hands of the hot-running "optimusmov." The Finn jammed 7.6 big blinds with ace-ten but lost to the suited king-jack of the chip leader courtesy of a king on the flop.
Heads-up was over almost as quickly as it began, mainly down to "optimusmov" holding almost nine times as many chips as "Bartu79." Something had to give, and it did when "Bartu79" moved all-in for seven big blinds with king-three, and "optimusmov" called with pocket sixes. The sixes remained true, busting "Bartu79" in second place, and leaving "optimusmov" as the last player standing.
$120,000 XL Winer #02 – Opening Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | optimusmov | Montenegro | $1,675 | $8,766 | $10,441 |
| 2 | Bartu79 | $3,475 | $6,408 | $9,883 | |
| 3 | RaiseRaiZe | Finland | $458 | $4,710 | $5,168 |
| 4 | Ian "Simpioni" Simpson | United Kingdom | $537 | $3,462 | $3,999 |
| 5 | Tony996 | United Kingdom | $1,075 | $2,562 | $3,637 |
| 6 | Lolabee | United Kingdom | $1,675 | $1,908 | $3,583 |
| 7 | figalex25 | Peru | $554 | $1,434 | $1,988 |
| 8 | YetiCara | Brazil | $696 | $1,086 | $1,782* |
*player was eliminated before the final table
888poker XL Winter Series Results
"ddaubar" was another 888poker player to win big during the XL Winter Series' early stages. They took down the $525 High Roller Opening event for $12,320.
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #01 – Mini Opening Event | $55 | 793 | $40,000 | BrittneySpew | $6,192 |
| #02 – Opening Event | $109 | 1,179 | $120,000 | ||
| #03 – High Roller Opening Event | $525 | 91 | $50,000 | ddaubar | $12,320 |
| #04 – PKO Mini | $22 | 580 | $11,600 | PMBogdan | $2,165* |
| #05 – PKO | $109 | 185 | $18,500 | thechronic99 | $3,706* |
*includes bounty payments
888poker 2024 XL Winter Series Schedule
Dozens more XL Winter Series events are waiting for you to enter. Eight events and side events take place on a busy January 16 that have buy-ins from $11 to $320. They include two Day 1s for the $162 buy-in $200,000 guaranteed XL Winter Mystery Bounty event, which is going to be huge.
