Day 6 of the XL Blizzard, which was comprised of three high roller events, marked the halfway point of the 11-day series, which will run through January 28. That means 18 events from the 34-tournament schedule are complete.
The XL Blizzard, which will award more than $2.8 million, still has several exciting events on the schedule including the $150 buy-in Event #25: $25,000 Knockout, $160 buy-in Event #28: $50,000 6-Max, and the $1,050 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD Main Event on Jan. 28.
We’re also offering new promotions such as awarding big cash prizes to anyone who wins multiple events ($1,000,000 if you can win five of them), a “Bubble of Bubbles” tournament (gain entry if/when you bubble a tournament), and the return of the Champion of Champions event.
The Champion of Champions returns for the XL Blizzard series and one lucky 888poker player will win a $12,000 WSOP Vegas package. Each time you play in an XL Blizzard event, you earn leaderboard points. The top 50 players on the leaderboard receive a ticket to the Champion of Champions tournament to be held at 18:00 GMT on January 30.
Here’s a quick breakdown on what’s happened in the XL Blizzard thus far:
Day 1 – The Netherlands’ Jans “Graftekkel” Arends won the Opening Event for more than $17K. “bygavuga” and “scellone94” capture titles.
Day 2 – “Jamasutra” and “Pasha813” notch “Twin Wins” in Events #4 & #5 Respectively.
Day 3 – Norway’s “Rekrutt1” won Event #6: Crazy 8 for more than $10K; former XL Eclipse winners “NeveGiveUp” and “msksevart” both claimed XL Blizzard titles.
Day 4 – In Event #9: $120,000 Mega Deep, “23NoraB” found redemption from his second-place XL Inferno Mega Deep finish. Meanwhile, three 888poker Ambassadors made deep runs in the Whale and Niklas “tutten7” Åstedt came up short of winning a XL Blizzard not once but twice.
Day 5 – “DeltaSpider” becomes fourth Russian to win XL Blizzard title, “yarik1903” nabs Ukraine’s second.
Get all the details on the XL Blizzard here.
“SteveyBG” Wins $250K High Roller, Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot Finishes in 9th Place
The $2,100 buy-in Event #16: $250,000 High Roller drew 84 player who rebought 34 times. The tournament attracted some of the biggest names in the game including 888poker Ambassadors Martin “MJacobson888” Jacobson, Sofia Lövgren, and Dominik “888Dominik” Nitsche, as well as Ole “olekonjole” Schemion and XL Eclipse High Roller champ Roman “Romeopro33” Romanovsky.
Nitsche fell in Level 15 (1,500/3,000/350) when he got his chips in on a 6♥5♥10♠ flop holding the 10♦J♥ only to run into the K♥K♠ of “SteveyBG.” Neither the 4♦ turn nor 7♥ river helped Nitsche, and he hit the rail in 20th place just a few spot shy of the money.
Falling one spot shy a cash in 18th place was Russia’s “Biack88,” who claimed a seat in the “Bubble of Bubbles” tournament.
The only 888poker Ambassador to cash was Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot, who was actually streaming his action on Twitch. Unfortunately, his quest for the XL Blizzard High Roller title came to an end with nine players remaining.
In Level 19 (3,000/6,000/875), Talbot moved all in holding the A♣J♥ only to run it smack dab into the A♠K♣ of “OINKOinkOink.” Talbot failed to pair his kicker on the 4♣2♠Q♠7♦10♥ flop and he hit the rail in ninth place for $7,500.
Ukraine’s “yarik1903” came close to winning his second XL Blizzard title in two days – a feat that would’ve earned him a $1,000 bonus – but he fell in fifth place after his ace-six failed to overcome the Big Slick of “aIderfaIder.” He would be joined on the rail a short time later by Sebastian “p000cket000” Sikorski, who fell in third place for $35,000.
Eventually, “OINKOinkOink” and “SteveyBG” struck a heads-up deal that saw the former finish second for $51,302.81 and the latter as champ for $64,697.19. It was the second XL win for “SteveyBG,” who last May topped a field of 470 entries to win the XL Inferno Event #1: $30,000 Sunday Lightning for $13,893.
Immediate Redemption for “OINKOinkOink”
Minutes after finishing runner-up in Event #16: $250,000 High Roller for $51K, Germany’s “OINKOinkOink” took down the $215 buy-in Event #17: $100,000 Mini High Roller for $24,179.40. That tournament attracted 417 players who rebought 213 times, which surpassed the advertised guarantee by creating a $126,000 prize pool.
Busting in 55th place, thus winning his way into the “Bubble of Bubbles” tournament, was Sweden’s “TrollKonst8.” Among those to finish in the money were Robin “Inho” Ylitalo (52nd for $630), Parker “888tonkaaaa” Talbot (28th for $756), Roman “Romeopro33” Romanovsky (24th for $882), Nicholas “PKaiser” Fierro (14th for $1,386), XL Blizzard Event #4 champ “Pasha813” (6th for $5,355), and “sivvis” (4th for $10,080).
After 9 hours and 14 minutes, Germany’s “OINKOinkOink” bested fellow countryman “Charlymogo” in heads-up play to win $17,955. It was the second runner-up finish for “Charlymogo” in the XL Blizzard. Last week, he took second behind “scellone94” in Event #3: $20,000 Late Opening Event for $4,312.
“Ao1ing” Bubbles Late High Roller, “LovePorn69” Wins After Heads-Up Deal
The $160 buy-in Event #18: $30,000 Late High Roller saw 212 players rebuy 76 times to create a $43,200 prize pool. That was paid out to the top 27 players, meaning the good luck of Russia’s “Ao1ing” continues.
Sure, he busted as the bubble boy in 28th place, but that just means he’s won entry into the “Bubble of Bubbles” tournament. It’s just another accomplishment for the man who’s sat atop the XL Blizzard Leaderboard for most of the first half of the series.
As for those who made some money, they include 888poker Ambassador and 2014 World Series of Poker champ Martin “MJacobson888” Jacobson (23rd for $432), Event #9: Mega Deep winner “23NoraB” (14th for $648), “dmg34” (8th for $1,296), and “Fukuruku” (4th for $3,780).
After Sweden’ “Clay_Born” bowed out in third place for $5,076, the final two players worked a deal 6 hours and 23 minutes into the tournament. Russia’s “P0vorachivay” wound up taking second for $7,933.94, while “LovePorn69” claimed the title and an $8,050.06 prize.
It was actually the second time “P0vorachivay” finished runner-up in a XL tournament. Last September, he took second to Nicholas “PKaiser” Fierro in the XL Eclipse Event #17: $15,000 Lightning 6-Max.
What’s Coming Up on Wednesday?
Three more events are coming up on Wednesday.
Both the $109 buy-in Event #19: $40,000 8-Max and $12 buy-in Event #20: $10,000 Mini 8-Max will kick off at 19:00.
Two hours later at 21:00, the $30 buy-in Event #21: $10,000 Late 8-Max will round out the day.
