“ChePushila77” Wins the 888poker XL Winter Series Main Event ($50,045)

The 888poker XL Winter Series came to a thrilling conclusion on January 27 with the crowning of the $500,000 guaranteed Rakeless Mystery Bounty Main Event champion. Some 2,067 bought into the XL Winter Series Main Event for $250, creating a $516,750 prize pool. Mexico’s “ChePushila77” was the sole survivor; they walked away with an addition of $50,045 to their poker bankroll.

The field was whittled to the eight-handed final table on the second day’s play, which saw most of the larger mystery bounties collected. Ukraine’s “jsj588” opened the golden envelope containing the massive $50,000 jackpot bounty. That, coupled with a handful of other bounties and their prize money for finishing in 80th place, gave them a total haul worth $52,766, the largest of the entire tournament.

Canada’s “dujoe123” was the chip leader at the start of the final table, but it took a lot of work to get there. “dujoe123” bought in a staggering 11 times, meaning they had to finish in the top 12 to break even.

Bringing up the rear was Andorra’s “EDY14101.” They sat down with 11 big blinds at their disposal, although they had already accumulated $18,827 in bounties so the pressure was off them.

A $10,000 mystery bounty was still in play when the final table began. That bounty, worth almost the same as the fifth-place prize money, played a role in how the finalists played until it was collected.

$500,000 Rakeless Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

It took 15 minutes of play for the first elimination to happen. “lxiltxZtKQn” was down to less than 11 big blinds when they opened for more than half of their stack with ace-queen from early position. “seven77” three-bet with pocket tens from the next seat along, and “lxiltxZtKQn” called all-in when the action folded back around to them. A ten on the flop left “lxiltxZtKQn” needing a miracle, and they were drawing dead on the turn.

Pocket tens were also involved in the next exit. “nzlegal” min-raised from under the gun with pocket tens, “ChePushila77” three-bet all-in from the big blind with pocket jacks, and “nzlegal” called off the 18.8 big blinds they had behind. A king-high board sent the New Zealander to the rail, while “ChePushila77” moved to the top of the chip counts.

The final table was reduced to five players soon after when “EDY14101” ran out of steam. “dujoe123″ min-raised from under the gun with pocket kings, and EDY14101” called from the big blind with nine-seven of clubs. “EDY14101” initially checked the six-seve-jack flop but then check-raised all-in for 9.9 big blinds after “dujoe123” fired a continuation bet. “dujoe123” snap-called, and their kings held to send “EDY14101” home in sixth with a total prize worth $26,909 thanks to their huge bounty haul.

The final five became four with the untimely demise of start-of-the-day chip leader “dujoe123.” They lost all but 6.8 big blinds when they got their stack in with ace-jack and ran into the pocket aces of “Naik10.” Any hopes of an impressive comeback were ended shortly after when “dujoe123” shoved for 4.3 big blinds with queen-five from the small blind, and “Naik10” called with ace-king in the big blind. “dujoe123” flopped a queen, but “Naik10” paired their king. An ace on the river confirmed “dujoe123″‘s elimination.

Fourth place and $17,351 went to Ireland’s “9salute46,” a regular in 888poker high-stakes tournament offerings. Their final actions in the XL Winter Series Main Event were to min-raise from an 8.1 big blind stack with queen-eight and see “seven77” call from the big blind with seven-six. A seven-six-queen flop meant the chips were destined to go into the middle, which they did. “seven77” turned a full house, and “9salute46” busted when the river bricked.

Three-handed play began with “Naik10” (67.3 ig blinds) leading from “seven77” (64.8 big blinds), and “ChePushila77” (40.1 big blinds) bringing up the rear. With a $10,000 mystery bounty in play, any mistake could and would be punished.

Nothing really went right for “Naik10,” and they saw their stack size plummet. Losing with queen-four of hearts to the queen-ten of “seven77” when both players backed into trips was a prime example of how “Naik10” ran three-handed.

“Naik10” fell in third after getting their last 2.8 big blinds into the middle with queen-eight of spades. Both “seven77” and “ChePushila77” called, doing so with king-six and queen-jack of clubs, respectively, as both active players hunted the $10,000 bounty. “Naik10” improved to a straight on the river, but it was too late because “ChePushila77” had turned a flush. To rub salt into the wound, “Naik10” had the last $10,000 bounty on their heads; it now belonged to “ChePushila77.”

“seven77” held an 87.9 big blind to 41.3 big blind lead over “ChePushila77” at the start of heads-up play, but the latter won a huge pot to claim the lead for themselves. The hand saw “seven77” make an ill-timed all-in bluff on the river with nothing but nine-high and a handful of missed draws, but it was never getting through because “ChePushila77” had turned a full house.

With “ChePushila77” now holding a huge chip advantage, it was only a matter of time before they became the XL Winter Series Main Event champion. That accolade was confirmed when they min-raised with pocket tens before calling the 16.4 big blind shove from “seven77,” which was made while holding ace-nine of spades. “ChePushila77” flopped a full house, rendering the turn and river meaningless. “seven77” busyted in second place, a finish good for $34,301, leaving “ChePushila” to get their hands on a $50,045 top prize and the title of champion.

$500,000 Rakeless Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results

Full 888poker XL Winter Series Results

The crowning of the Main Event brought the curtain down on an exciting XL Winter Series at 888poker. Across the 59 numbered events, 37,457 entrants (including re-entries) created $1,487,788 worth of prize pools. With the side events that flew the XL Winter Series flag, the $1.5 million in combined guarantees promised at the start of the festival were obliterated.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.