"MorayEEEEEL" Wins Event #1 of the 2020 888poker XL Inferno for $16,585
It took just under 10 hours from the time the first card was dealt to decide a winner in the first event of the 2020 888poker XL Inferno. Swedish player "MorayEEEEEL" fired two bullets in XL Inferno #1: $75,000 Opening Event, but the second one was golden as they used it to navigate all the way through the field of 636 entries and 242 rebuys to take down the $16,585 prize.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MorayEEEEEL | Sweden | $16,585 |
| 2 | noneda | Romania | $12,029 |
| 3 | Knaber666 | Lithuania | $8,868 |
| 4 | AUTISPOSTI | Malta | $6,673 |
| 5 | AALUJAA | United Kingdom | $4,589 |
| 6 | ilicinnnn | Romania | $3,732 |
| 7 | keybr | Brazil | $2,854 |
| 8 | DoctorPoker5 | Macedonia | $1,976 |
| 9 | Poelsetyv | Denmark | $1,317 |
The Day's Action
XL Inferno #1: $75,000 Opening Event got underway at 2pm Eastern time, and the field size continued to grow quickly through the registration period, and with around 45 minutes left in registration they blew past the $75,000 guarantee. By the time the gates came down, a total of 636 entries and 242 rebuys put $87,800 into the kitty for prizes.
That meant 81 players would share in the prizes, with the earliest cashers getting $263, and $16,585 up top for the winner. It took another couple hours to play down to the money spots, and one of the players at risk on the bubble was 888poker ambassador Sofia "sofialovgren" Lövgren, who got most of her chips in on the bubble hand, but had pair over pair to bust one of three players on the final hand of hand for hand play. Lövgren went on to cash for $483 in 22nd place.
Another big name to make it to the $483 payout level was Dara "Doked" O'Kearney. It took him two bullets, but he really turned on after registration closed, and at one point had a top 10 stack. Ultimately, O'Kearney bowed out in a race with fives into ace-queen, finishing 21st.
They got to the official final table of eight around 9pm Eastern and it didn't take long to get down to six players. "DoctorPoker5" and "keybr" bowed out quickly, but they played six-handed for about half an hour before "ilicinnnn" got fours into aces for 6th place.
It took another half hour or so for "AALUJAA" bluffed the river and got caught by "Knaber666" for 5th place. "AUTISPOSTI" was next out in 4th when they found a spot with ace-jack, but ran into the kings of "noneda".
They played three-handed for about 45 minutes until "Knaber666" got it in with ace-four but ran straight into the queens of "MorayEEEEEL" for 3rd place. Heads up lasted about 20 minutes, and the key hand happened when they had nearly the same stacks. It started as a race between sixes and ace-nine. There was an ace on the flop, and "noneda" was on pace to win it all right there. But "MorayEEEEEL" spiked the set the river to take a dominating lead, and "noneda" was eliminated on the next hand.
PokerNews will be doing daily recaps throughout the 2020 888poker XL Inferno, but we'll be back on the virtual floor next for coverage of XL Inferno #10 on Sunday May 17.