Big Success for 888poker Players in WonderWorld and Freezeout Series

Over the weekend, two big events wrapped up on 888poker. After a full month of Day 1 flights throughout June, the “WonderWorld” promotion saw one lucky winner turn $1 into a huge prize,

The Freezeout Series proved to be a huge hit with a familiar name taking down the Main Event – easily surpassing the $200,000 guarantee collecting and distributing $234,000 in the kitty.

“benhouse236” Gets 4K x ROI by Winning WonderWorld

888poker’s “WonderWorld” promotion offered players a shot at a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool for just a buck. The tournament proved to be the biggest in the history of 888poker in terms of number of players – 40,529 players and 70,294 total entries– thanks to the multi-flight feature.

Every day since the beginning of June, there were daily starting flights for WonderWorld, with the survivors, of which there were 4,384, advancing to the Day 2 finale on Sunday, June 29.

The top 2,150 players were guaranteed a minimum payday of $10, though everyone had their sights set on making the big money. Among those to make deep runs but fall short of the final table were “bobbyNewton” (28^th - $180), “misterbluff3” (20^th - $210), “Apolon888888” (16^th - $240), and “ALEX007d” (10^th - $300).

The tournament was live streamed by 888poker with David Tuchman and Nick Wealthall on commentary, and at the final table they were joined by 888poker Ambassador and 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Martin Jacobson. Watch the replay of the live stream by clicking here.

The trio commentated on several eliminations including in the 600,000/1,200,000/150,000 level when “Czaaaar” got their last 5.6 million all in preflop holding the A♥6♥ and was up against the Q♠9♠ of “Nosorog1204.” The 6♣7♥K♠ flop paired “Czaaaar” but the running J♣ turn and 10♠ river gave “Nosorog1204” a straight to win the pot.

Two hands later, “transanergy” moved all in for 12,337,209 under the gun with the A♣4♥ and “benhouse236,” who had doubled the hand before with set over set, called with the K♠Q♦ in the big blind. The board ran out 10♣5♥3♠10♠K♥ and “benhouse236” rivered the best hand to send “transanergy” out the door in fourth place.

With three players remaining, a deal was struck that saw the UK’s “benhouse236” (31,073,509 in chips) claim the title and $4,083.85 in prize money, while Argentina’s “pincha73” (20,320,979) and Ukraine’s “Nosorog1204” (18,842,480) finished in second and third place for $2,642.35 and $2,573.80 respectively.

WonderWorld Final Table Results

1^st – “benhouse236” (UK) … $4,083.85*

2^nd – “pincha73” (Argentina) … $2,642.35*

3^rd – “Nosorog1204” (Ukraine) … $2,573.80*

4^th – “transanergy” (Ukraine) … $1,300

5^th – “Czaaaar” (UK) … $1,000

6^th – “wacko90” (UK) … $750

7^th – “deldave14” (UK) … $600

8^th – “Utekai” (Russia) … $450

9^th – “jopski1” (Finland) … $350

*Denotes three-handed deal

Superstorm Champ Wins Freezeout Series Main Event

In other 888poker news, we wrapped out popular Freezeout Series, which was originally comprised of 24 events from June 14-29. Unfortunately, tournaments from Thursday, June 25 had to be cancelled due to an unexpected technical issue.

Even so, the series proved to be a tremendous success with 16,296 entrants taking part and $645,380 in prize money being awarded. Among the countries to claim titles were Germany, UK, Estonia, Finland, Brazil, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Canada.

The series kicked off with Germany’s “Taurin21” besting a 914-player field to win Event #1: $50,000 Tune Up for $9,000. Other highlights included Romania’s “Zapdix” topping a 398-player field to win Event #12: $15,000 Late PKO 8-Max for a $1,715.86 top prize plus a $1,113.18 bounty.

The UK’s “needabridge” claimed a $6,900 prize for outlasting 261 players in Event #19: $30,000 6-Max; and Canada’s “RespiceFinem” beat a 225-player field to win Event #21: $10,000 Late 6-Max for $2,587.56. From Brazil “luish64” navigated a 1,551-entry field to win Event #22: $40,000 Mini Main Event for $6,037.66

In the $109 buy-in, $200K guaranteed Main Event, 2,340 players created a $234,000 prize pool that was paid out amongst the top 250 finishers. Among those to make deep runs were –

• “Simpioni” (45^th - $819)
• “jadedjason” (30^th - $1,053)
• “SouTheMan” (21^st - $1,053)
• “Perrymejsen” (15^th - $1,170)
• “nelispoker86” (7^th - $7,020)
• “pszemula” (4^th - $14,040)

After “Ramlalb14” bowed out in third place for $16,380, the title came down to Russia’s “zaSPARTAK” and Brazil’s “GERSON1986.” It took six hours of play on Day 2 for the Russian to come out on top and capture the $46,800 first-place prize.

The win came three months after “zaSPARTAK” won the Superstorm for $112,234. That $100 buy-in tournament had been running for several weeks and catered to 11,618 entries for a $1,068,856 prize pool. It went down in history as the lowest buy-in event on 888poker to surpass a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Before that, “zaSPARTAK” went deep in the XL Blizzard Event #13: $20,000 Late Tune-Up, ultimately finishing fifth in the 541-entry field for $1,514.80.

Freezeout Series Main Event Final Table Results

1^st – “zaSPARTAK” (Russia) … $46,800

2^nd – “GERSON1986” (Brazil) … $23,517

3^rd – “Ramlalb14” (Trinidad & Tobago) … $16,380

4^th – “pszemula” (N/A) … $14,040

5^th – “Klebersonw” (Brazil) … $11,700

6^th – “RaiseOnceAli” (Latvia) … $9,360

7^th – “nelispoker86” (N/A) … $7,020

8^th – “dkfdyulr” (Ukraine) … $4,680

9^th – “Porra15” (Brazil) … $3,510

Freezeout Series Winners

Event #1: $50,000 Tune Up (914 players; $50,000 prize pool) won by “Taurin21” (Germany) for $9,000

Event #2: $20,000 Mini Tune Up (1,471 players; $22,065 prize pool) won by “Potyy007” (UK) for $3,751.73

Event #3: $15,000 Late Tune Up (479 players; $15,000 prize pool) won by “Dr_Lefties” (Estonia) for $2,850

Event #4: $20,000 8-Max (389 players; $20,000 prize pool) won by “mylly8” (Finland) for $3,800

Event #5: $15,000 Mini 8-Max (988 players; $15,000 prize pool) won by “BrunoLSR1986” (Brazil) for $2,764.50

Event #6: $10,000 Late 8-Max (278 players; $10,000 prize pool) won by “Dragosbmb” (Romania) for $1,598.52

Event #7: $30,000 9-Max (246 players; $30,000 prize pool) won by “shadow147” (UK) for $6,135

Event #8: $15,000 Mini 9-Max (903 players; $15,000 prize pool) won by “vargass20” (Brazil) for $2,700

Event #9: $10,000 Late 9-Max (205 players; $10,250 prize pool) won by “vezunchiksss” (Ukraine) for $2,203.79

Event #10: $30,000 PKO 8-Max (273 entries; $30,000 prize pool) won by “Artcmok” (Belarus) for $6,184.76

Event #11: $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max (787 entries; $20,000 prize pool) “bagdze123” (Lithuania) for $3,499.48

Event #12: $15,000 Late PKO 8-Max (398 entries; $15,000 prize pool) won by “Zapdix” (Romania) for $2,829.04

Event #16: $20,000 DeepStack (383 entries; $20,000 prize pool) won by “uR4iseM3Up” for $3,838

Event #17: $15,000 Mini DeepStack (924 entries; $15,000 prize pool) won by “samfreddie23” (UK) for $1,826.61

Event #18: $10,000 Late DeepStack (361 entries; $10,830 prize pool) won by “Mikle_Dudin” (Russia) for $2,078.35

Event #19: $30,000 6-Max (261 entries; $30,000 prize pool) won by “needabridge” (UK) for $6,900

Event #20: $15,000 Mini 6-Max (829 entries; $15,000 prize pool) won by “Sultanhcik” (Ukraine) for $2,662.50

Event #21: $10,000 Late 6-Max (225 entries; $11,250 prize pool) won by “RespiceFinem” (Canada) for $2,587.56

Event #22: $40,000 Mini Main Event (1,551 entries; $46,530 prize pool) won by “luish64” (Brazil) for $6,037.66

Event #23: $10,000 Micro Main Event (2,091 entries; $10,455 prize pool) won by “DollaMagn3t” (Romania) for $1,653.30

Event #24: $200,000 Main Event (2,304 entries; $234,000 prize pool) won by “zaSPARTAK” (Russia) for $46,800