From January 18-28, the XL Blizzard will play out on 888poker, and it’s slated to be one of our best online series yet. From must-play events such as the $80,000 Opening Event, $50,000 Crazy 8, $250,000 High Roller, and $1,000,000 Main Event, to brand new promotions, this is one online festival you’re not going to want to miss.
The XL Blizzard has been pared down from both the XL Eclipse and Inferno. Instead of a schedule with nearly 200 events, the XL Blizzard will instead offer a leaner 34 tournaments while retaining a variety of games and juicy guarantees. The new and improved schedule should allow players to play in every event if they so choose.
The XL Blizzard marks the third and final “XL Championship” event announced back in April. The XL Inferno Championships took place back in May with such winners as "GiNgErSpEw", “GodfryJONES”, and “F1oba”. Meanwhile, the XL Eclipse wrapped in September with winner that included “tutten7”, Cristian “progree69” Sampaoli, and Roman “Romeopro33” Romanovskyi.
Here are some things in store for January’s XL Blizzard.
Great Events, Ambassadors & More
The XL Blizzard will kick off on Thursday, January 18 with a $109 buy-in, $80,000 GTD Opening Event. From there, at least two events will be held every day until January 28, which is when the $1,050 buy-in, $1,000,000 Main Event gets underway.
In between, there are some great events including the $88 buy-in Event #6: $50,000 Crazy 8 on Saturday, January 20 t 19:00, the $160 buy-in Event #10: $200,000 Tune Up on Sunday, January 21 t 18:00, and the $2,100 buy-in Event #16: $250,000 High Roller on Tuesday, January 23 at 19:00.
The fields will be chock full of qualifiers, but you’ll also have to contend with full roster of 888poker Ambassador including Dominik Nitsche, Bruno Foster, Denílson, Natalie Hof, and Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot. Likewise, the newest addition to the team, Brazil’s Vivi Saliba, will be playing.
$1,000,000 Winners Promotion
As a special promotion for the XL Blizzard, we’re offering any eligible player that wins five or more XL Blizzard tournaments a $1,000,000 cash prize. It’s a tall order, but even if someone wins four of them, we’ll give a $100,000 cash prize.
Likewise, any eligible player that wins three shall receive $10,000, and any two-time winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize. Each eligible winner is entitled to only one XL Blizzard Prize based on total aggregated number of first-place rankings.
To put that in perspective, the XL Eclipse saw 13 repeat winners, one of whom took down three titles. That was Russia’s “Kaktus26rus,” who first won Event #121: $15,000 Breeze for $3,134.70, and followed that up by taking down Event #152: $100,000 Quarterback for $21,099.40. His third title came in Event #168: $15,000 Lightning 6-Max for $4,576 and make XL Eclipse history.
If he can do it again during the XL Blizzard, he’ll get an extra $10,000 for the feat!
Sweetening the pot, any eligible player who makes three or more final tables in XL Blizzard tournaments will receive a $600 tournament ticket. Likewise, any eligible player who places “in the money” eight times or more will get a $215 tournament ticket.
Champion of Champions Returns
Those who finish in the top 50 on our Leaderboard will gain automatic entry into the XL Blizzard Champion of Champions event. The winner of that tournament will not only be crowned Champion of Champions, but will win a once-in-a-lifetime package to the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.
The runner-up will also win a $3,000 Crazy 8 WSOP package plus a $1,050 tournament ticket, while the third-place finisher will earn a $3,000 Crazy 8 WSOP package. The fourth and fifth-place finishers will each be credited a $1,050 tournament ticket, and the sixth through ninth-place finishers a $600 tournament ticket. Those who participate and finish 10th-40th will get a $55 tournament ticket just for playing.
The WSOP prize packages include travel expenses, either three or five nights at the Vdara Hotel, daily transportation, and an 888live poker kit.
Bubble of Bubbles
On the other end of the champion spectrum are those who bubble a tournament, meaning they’re the highest ranked non-prize-winning player. For those bubble players in the XL Blizzard, they will receive a ticket to a special “Bubble of Bubbles” tournament.
The winner of that tournament will get a $3,000 Crazy 8 WSOP package, while the second through fourth-place finishers will win $160 tournament tickets. Meanwhile, the rest of the final table finalist will get a $55 tournament ticket.
Win a Seat Today
Qualify via our XL Blizzard Online Satellites for as little as 1¢ - or even for FREE, through taking part in our XL Blizzard Promotion. Just make a deposit with promo code: blizzard10 and get three tickets to our daily XL Blizzard qualifiers.
Qualifiers schedule:
XL Blizzard Main Event – Qualifier
When: Every day at 19:30 GMT
Prize: Top 3 players will win a $1,050 seat to the Main Event.
XL Blizzard Mini Opening Event – Qualifier
When: Every day at 13:30 GMT
Prize: Top 30 players will win a $12 seat to the Mini Opening Event.
