888poker LIVE Coventry 2024: Chris Da-Silva Bags £125K Top Cash and Trophy!

888poker hosted its final live stop of 2024 at the Grosvenor Casino in Coventry, UK! 888poker LIVE Coventry was a massive success. The Main Event attracted 812 entries—the largest field of the 888pokerLIVE season!

The series kicked off on 10 October, culminating with the Main Event from 16 through 21 October. The tournament’s 812 entries created a massive prize pool of £617,120 – smashing the £500K GTD, with £125,000 going to the winner, Chris Da-Silva.

At the start of the final day of action, sixteen players prepared to do battle for the top cash in the final event of the 888pokerLIVE season. Da-Silva was sitting pretty in second place with a healthy 55-blind stack.

By the time he reached the final table of eight, he was basically drawing even with chip leader Mindaugas Kurlenskas. The battle for dominance between the two was palpable, and Chris finally won in an epic heads-up match.

Most of the live event was streamed on our 888pokerTV Twitch channel, capturing the excitement and fervour of this remarkably successful poker series!

888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event - Day 1A

The 888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event boasted six starting flights, and Day 1A began to slowly, allowing some big stacks to emerge. Players took full advantage of unlimited re-entries as they vied for a piece of the £500,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Only eight of the 53 entries on Day 1A bagged and tagged for Day 2, with just eight claiming a stack at the end of 14 levels of play.

The biggest stack of the day went to Brandon Harris and the smallest to David Docherty, who bluffed off his stack, leaving just a single small blind (2,500) behind.

Lucky for him, he managed to run that up to 110K for his Day 2 adventures.

"Always leave one small blind behind," Docherty told the table after winning his final all-in.

888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event - Days 1BC

On Day 1 B, a large number of 888poker ambassadors and streamers threw their caps into the ring, bidding to make Day 2. 107 entries resulted in 23 players punching their ticket to Day 2.

888 ambassador Ian Simpson was joined by 888 streamer Nick Eastwood. They battled in several hands, with Ian finally getting the best of Nick in a cooler and knocking him out.

Simpson wasn’t able to capitalise on this win, but he wasn’t alone in his commiseration. Team888’s Jack “JaackMaate” Dean, David “WurstHandz” Brady and Lucia Navarro also found themselves on the rail.

Thursday’s late flight 1C saw just two players add their names to the Day 2 list, with Mindaugas Kurlenskas leading the way (351,000). 888poker’s Ian Simpson also found a bag for Day 2 in this flight.

888poker LIVE Coventry Rumble

The £200 buy-in Rumble Turbo was one of the highlights of the series. It attracted 108 entrants and created a £18,470 prize pool. The top 15 finishers won a piece of the pie with £4,380 in top cash.

888poker ambassador Ian Simpson had his eye on this prize and crushed it – taking home the trophy and top money.

Congratulations to 888poker's Ian Simpson who won the 888poker Live Coventry Rumble last night.

He beat the 108-entry field to take home the first-place prize of £4,380!

Well played! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nnXlcp6ndP

— Grosvenor Poker (@GrosvenorPoker) October 17, 2024

888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event - Days 1DE

The fourth of six Day 1s attracted 302 entries, with 46 making Day 2. 888poker StreamTeam member Ricardo Mateus amassed an impressive stack of 395,000. He was joined by 888 ambassador Lucia Navarro, who finished just outside the top ten.

They both joined teammate Ian Simpson for Day 2.

888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event – Days 1F & 2

Day 2 action started with 217 entries on Day 1F – the final flight of the 888poker LIVE Coventry. Forty-four survivors joined the 86 players from the first five flights.

After all the numbers were tallied, 812 entries created the biggest prize pool since 2020 - £617,120!

One hundred one players were in the money, with a min-cash of £1,700 and a first-place prize of £125,000!

888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event Payout Schedule

The 888poker players didn’t fare well on Day 2. Ambassador Ian Simpson bluffed a straight on the river with ace-high. His opponent tabled the real straight, sending Ian to the rail, short of the money.

Teammate Ricardo Mateus was on the other end of a bluff. But in this instance, his opponent got lucky and rivered a wheel, crippling Ricardo’s stack. He later managed to bink 89th place for £1,760.

That left Lucia Navarro as the last 888poker ambassador standing. She held on for 52^nd place and a £2,220 payday.

🎱 @lucia13Navarro is AT RISK!

The last remaining Team @888poker ambassador is all-in and needs help to stay alive in the 888LIVE Coventry Main Event...can she find the cards she needs?

⬇️ live updates pic.twitter.com/OIOoABMUK6

— PokerNews (@PokerNews) October 19, 2024

After a flurry of action on Day 2, we were down to the final sixteen.

Sunil Mistri led the way with another seasoned player, Chris Da-Silva. Da-Silva has three previous 888poker final table appearances and a pair of final tables in Coventry.

Main Event Day 3 and Final Table Action!

On Day 2, it took a little over two hours to get down to the final table of eight. During the redraw, the ninth player busted, leaving the final table one short.

888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event Final Eight

Day 1A chip leader Brandon Garris pushed his pocket fives into the pocket tens of Mindaugas Kurlenskas on the redraw. Unfortunately for him, the cards didn’t deliver, and he went to the rail in ninth (£9,810).

Next to find his walking papers was Alex Todd. His KQs fell foul to Chris Da-Silva’s pocket aces. He collected £11,750 for his efforts

Jack Jaeger ran AKo into Jiang Pu's pocket sixes less than thirty minutes later. The small pair held, and Jack busted in seventh for £14,140.

It would be another two and a half hours until the next elimination. Harriwin Selvarajoo pocket sixes met their match in Mindaugas Kurlenskas’ KJs. Mindaugas smashed the flop with trip kings. With no help on the turn and river, Harriwin finished in sixth for £16,290.

Jiang Pu was next to find an elimination with the unlucky situation of running AQo into AKo five-handed. The Q on the turn gave him the lead but Conor Odriscoll’s K played on the river when the nine hit giving Conner the straight. Pu walked away with a £23,760 payday.

In fourth place, Sunil Mistri was outdrawn by Mindaugas Kurlenskas' KQo, holding the superior AJo. Mindaugas spiked a K on the flop, and that was all she wrote for Sunil. He took fourth place and £37,770 in cash.

About an hour later, it was Conor Odriscoll’s time to bid us sayonara. He tangled with Da-Silva’s A2o, holding 96s. The flopped ace squashed any hope of a Conor outdraw. He found the rail in third place for a respectable £60,720 payday.

Main Event Heads-Up Action!

Heads-up action started with Chris Da-Silva holding a 3-to-one chip lead. Da-Silva dominated heads-up, whittling down Mindaugas Kurlenskas' stack until he had him all-in and dominated. Running spades gave Mindaugas the flush and double-up.

But it was Chris’ night, and he was not to be denied. The second time he got Mindaugas Kurlenskas all-in, Da-Silva’s K8o held versus Mindaugas’ Q9s for the title, trophy, and £125,00 top cash. Mindaugas Kurlenskas took home £91,100 for his efforts.

Well played, all!

We'll see you next year for the 888poker LIVE series!

888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event Final Table Results