Welcome to 888poker’s XL Blizzard 2019 Daily Recap
Yesterday: April 4, 2019
Trio of Titles Awarded on Day 1 of the 2019 XL Blizzard
Our latest major online series kicked off on Thursday with the XL Blizzard, one of 888poker’s trio of famed XL events. The series, which will offer more than $1.7 million in guaranteed prize pools over its 11 days, wrapped up its opening day with three tournaments from the 34-event schedule in the books.
the XL Blizzard catered to 3,160 entrants and awarded $150,625 in prize money on Day 1.
XL Blizzard Opening Event Ends in a Heads-Up Deal
The 2019 edition of the XL Blizzard kicked off with Event #1: $100,000 Opening Event, a tournament that attracted 727 players (227 rebuys) and was live reported on PokerNews.com. That meant a $100K prize pool was up for grabs.
One player to compete for a piece of it was Parker “888tonkaaaa” Talbot, who amassed chips early but fell in Level 19 (4,000/8,000/1,000).
That is when Tonka raised to 14,000 from late position and “yHuKaJIbHbIu” called from the cutoff to see a 2♠10♠3♣ flop. Tonka checked and “yHuKaJIbHbIu” bet 22,222. Tonka woke up with an all-in check raise to 204,862 and “yHuKaJIbHbIu” called holding the A♠7♠ for a flush draw. Tonka was ahead with the J♣10♣ for top pair but the J♠ turn gave his opponent the flush. Tonka was looking to fill up on the river, but that didn’t happen as the A♥ bricked.
After “Farrugia_1” bubbled the tournament in 100th place the in-the-money finishes came quick and included Niklas “tutten7” Åstedt (84th - $250), “GramNaKartke” (51st - $340), Bryan “DePittsterje” Paris (39th - $380), “easylimp888” (14th - $900), 888poker ambassador, Ana “AnaMarquez” Marquez (9th - $1,300), “V.BlomFan60” (6th - $4,200), and “joph8ralph” (3rd - $9,900).
Once it got down to the final two players, a deal was struck that saw Switzerland’s “metis996” secure $14,991.50 and Russia’s “plomoor” $16,458.50. The duo then played it out for the title and in the final hand of the tournament “metis996” got his shorter stack all in preflop holding the A♥4♥ and was looking to hold against “plomoor’s” Q♠10♠. That proved easier said than done as the board ran out Q♥2♣5♠8♦8♥.
Romanians Battle for Event #2: $20,000 Mini Opening Event Title
In the $16.50 buy-in, $20K GTD Event #2: $20,000 Mini Opening Event 1,262 players rebought 443 times to create a $25,575 prize pool. That was paid out to the top 162 spots with players like “ZANOCI” (36th - $89.51), “sherblemon” (18th - $122.76), “Tuna_lover” (10th - $225.06), “LastDriver” (6th - $1,010.21), and “sucre0104” (3rd - $2,427.06) all making deep runs.
The title came down to a pair of Romanian players, and after 8 hours and 10 minutes “IlovePickles” defeated “JacktheCpt” in heads-up play to win the title and accompanying $4,348.20 first-place prize.
It marked the second time “JacktheCpt” finished runner-up in a XL Blizzard tournament having done so last year in Event #29: $15,000 Mini 6-Max. That was in a field of 970 entrants. Meanwhile, “IlovePickles” is a Monsoon champion and had some practice at the $16.50 price point having won the Big Fish (809 entries) back in December for $2,753.48.
“shcirrr” Claims Late Opening Event for Latvia
The $55 buy-in Event #3: $20,000 Late Opening Event boasted a $20,000 guarantee, which it cruised past by attracting 387 players who rebought 114 times. That generated a $25,050 prize pool that was distributed to the top 54 players including “BLaaZeKush” (25th - $175.35), “MAMOHT_T” (18th - $225.45), “Niiimo” (9th - $415.83), “Razielskat” (5th - $1,402.80), and “metis996” (4th - $2,004).
After “_Lord_Xenu_” bowed out in third place for $2,630.25, the title came down to Latvia’s “shcirrr” and Russia’s “Omfg72oAgain.” After 7 hours and 25 minutes, the Latvian prevailed to capture the title and $4,807.16 top prize.
You might remember that in last year’s XL Inferno, “shcirrr” finished third in Event #13: $25,000 Late Tune Up to the tune of $15,178.
Here’s What is Coming Up on Friday:
Two more events will take place on Friday, April 5, both starting at 18:00 GMT. The first is the $55 buy-in XL Blizzard Event #4: $30,000 Progressive Knock Out (PKO), and the other the $22 buy-in Event #5: $20,000 Mini PKO.
We’ll be bringing you daily recaps throughout the entirety of the XL Blizzard, so be sure to check back again tomorrow!