Congratulations to "pereleman", Winner of XL Winter Series #10: $50,000 Tune Up for $9,050
The tenth event of the 888poker Winter Series has now come to an end after just over ten hours of play and when the last chance saloon had closed for business it was "pereleman" dubbed as the last player standing in the XL Winter Series #10: $50,000 Tune Up , besting a 1,085 player to take down a $9,819 payday.
The Belarus native started the final table directly in the middle of the pack, tumbling down to the bottom on a couple of occasions en route to victory. A steady grind for "pereleman" paid off during five-handed play when they went from rags to riches with big slick versus the ace-queen of "iaric_". The view on top must have been beautiful, because that is where the Belarusian stayed, cruising into the final two where a deal was instantly struck.
"pereleman" and Russia's "Thundy100" put the chips aggressively during heads-up play and just moments after beginning, the cards were face up. "Thundy100" held king-high versus the queen-ten or "pereleman" and was ahead until "pereleman" flopped top two. "Thundy100" failed to catch up and was eliminated for a respectable $7,053.
Official Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pereleman | Belarus | $9,819 |
| 2 | Thundy100 | Russia | $7,053 |
| 3 | FlushJeZus | Unknown | $5,289 |
| 4 | iaric_ | Moldova | $3,960 |
| 5 | BellaFicha | Brazil | $2,794 |
| 6 | Charlie "chazcombes" Combes | United Kingdom | $2,251 |
| 7 | CaioCapT | Brazil | $1,709 |
| 8 | Adam "IT5PAYDAY" Neal | United Kingdom | $1,199 |
| 9 | x90x60x90x | Russia | $694 |
Action of the Day
A typical XL Winter Series event saw a surge of players jump into the field early, never leaving question that the $50,000 guarantee was to be hit. The tournament had over 700 runners just eight levels in and by the time late registration had closed, that number reached 1,085. That number created a prize pool of $54,250, shattering the guarantee that was set and all players were then told that first place was going to be pulling in $9,819 for a victory.
Late registration closed on the start over level 18 and it was not until level 26 that a money bubble was reached, all 108 players that remained were then guaranteed at least a min-cash worth $114. The onslaught of eliminations diminished the field, dropping down to the final table by level 36 where "FlushJeZus" was sitting atop the leader board.
Russia's "x90x60x90x" was the first to take an exit when their turned top two pair ran into the flopped set of "CaioCapT", sending the Russian out as the first final table exitee. Close behind was "IT5PAYDAY" who put their chips in with ace-king versus the pocket sevens of "iaric_". A seven-high flop was of no help and "IT5PAYDAY" was sent to the rail in eighth place.
"CaioCapT" saw their chips whittle away quickly, putting their short stack into the middle shortly after with king -nine. Both "Thundy100" and Charlie "chazcombes" Combes called from the blinds to see a queen-high flop that Combes led out on and "Thundy100" folded. Combes tabled a middle pair of fours, which was ahead of the king-high in the hand of "CaioCapT". A clean runout saw Combes take down the pot, eliminating "CaioCapT" from the Tune Up.
Combes saw his time in the sun vanish quickly. A shove from "BellaFicha" who held ace-jack of hearts was snap-called by Combes who had slightly less chips but he was well in front with his pair of jacks. That was until the all heart flop landed on the virtual felt, leaving Combes in need of runner-runner. The turn card left him drawing dead and he was eliminated in sixth place.
It seems the elimination baton was passed to "BellaFicha" and they were the next on the chopping block. A once healthy stack saw times getting tough and "BellaFicha" elected to shove jack-four from the small blind. "Thundy100" snapped with king-ten of hearts and two hearts landed on the flop, putting "BellaFicha" in an even deeper hole. One that the Brazilian was buried in, missing on the next two streets, sending another pot to "Thundy100" as they were eliminated.
Shortly after it was two bigger stacks taking to the gauntlet, when "pereleman" raised from the cutoff with a pair of queens and "iaric_" shoved the button, holding nines. "pereleman" called and nailed a queen on the turn to secure the pot, dropping "iaric_" from the field in fourth place. "FlushJeZus" was then in the short-stack role and "pereleman" shoved from the small blind, putting the small stack to the test. "FlushJeZus" called with king-ten, facing the ace-seven of "pereleman". A seven-high board sent the complete pot to "Pereleman" who had an immense lead headed into heads-up play.
The final two players did not take long to determine that a champion was soon to be crowned, and just hands after starting heasd-up the two had all of their chips go into the middle. "Thundy100" was on the shorter end of things, holding king-seven against the queen-ten of "pereleman". A queen-ten flop gave "pereleman" two pair and "Thundy100" failed to catch up, eliminating them in second place for a respectable $7,053. Meaning that "pereleman" was crowned the victor, taking home $9,050 for their efforts.
That wraps it up for the PokerNews live coverage of this event, but tune in on Tuesday, December 15, for the XL Winter Series #17: $50,000 High Roller!