The Knockout Games Series, which began back on April 24, passed its halfway point on 888poker over the weekend. A week in, the series has closed the book on 24 tournaments from its 44-event series. It offers players the chance to play affordable buy-in knockout tournaments boasting over $1,000,000 in guarantees!

Thus far, the series has catered to a combined 15,014 entries and awarded $722,475 in prize money.

• Players from Brazil lead the pack with six titles followed by four from the Denmark contingent.
• Ukraine has three titles to their credit, Sweden, and Romania two apiece
• While Mexico, Uruguay, Lithuania, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Montenegro are all on the board with one each.

The highlight of the series will be the $215 buy-in, $300,000 GTD Main Event on Sunday, May 8 with daily freerolls awarding seats.

Remember, all players who bubble any of the series events will automatically enter a raffle giving away a pair of gloves, signed by 888poker ambassador Chris Eubank Jr. himself!

Here’s a look at some of the big storylines from the past week of play.

Pakistan’s “Cherrywine” Wins Super Knockout

On Tuesday, April 26, the $160 buy-in Event #7: $30,000 Super Knockout surpassed its guarantee. One hundred and eighty-nine players rebought 50 times to generate a $35,850 prize pool.

That was reserved for the top 36 finishers, including the following:

• “Machidon7” (34^th place for $245.28)
• “N33dCoaching” (30^th place for $359.58)
• “KellerA” (21^st place for $323.87)
• “AUTISPOSTI” (12^th place for $525.85)
• “RagnAArok” (7^th place for $857.46)
• “craig555” (3^rd place for $2,979.01)

After just over seven hours of play in the tournament, Pakistan’s “cherrywine”, a regular on 888poker, bested Germany’s “xGERxSpiderx” in heads-up play. They won a $3,805.62 top prize plus $525 KO bounty for a total payday of $4,330.63.

Event #7: $30,000 Super Knockout Final Table Results

1^st – “cherrywine” (Pakistan) … $4,330.62

2^nd – “xGERxSpiderx” (Germany) … $3,267.52

3^rd – “craig555” (United Kingdom) … $2,979.01

4^th – “SRFC1899” (Ireland) … $1,751.92

5^th – “li1li1” (Romania) … $1,798.61

6^th – “Teippio94” (Finland) … $1,290.39

7^th – “RagnAArok” (N/A) … $857.46

8^th – “Srmaxduxpkr” (Malta) … $1,012.27

9^th – “Daniel_nilla” (Sweden) … $527.93

In other Tuesday news, Denmark’s “Nobilitas” topped a 772-entry field (606 unique + 166 rebuys) to win Event #8: $15,000 Mini Super Knockout for $1,341.

While Kazakhstan’s “IIIIILIIIII” beat out 245 runners (212 unique + 33 rebuys) to take down Event #9: $10,000 Late Super Knockout for $1,575.

Brazilians Dominate Thursday Freezeouts

On Thursday, April 28 a trio of “Freezeout” tournaments took place. The biggest was the $215 buy-in Event #13: $25,000 PKO Freezeout, which surpassed its guarantee by attracting 157 players. That resulted in a $31,400 prize pool split between the regular and bounty pools.

The top 30 finishers made the money, including the following:

• “N33dCoaching” (18^th place for $182.12 plus $468.75 in bounties)
• “RagnAArok” (15^th place for $183.69 plus $325 in bounties)
• “IlovePickles” (7^th place for $494.55 plus $275 in bounties)
• “boraodota” (3^rd place for $935.72 + $453.13 in bounties)

Both Brazil’s “guizones27” and Lithuania’s “sraigtakkkkk” locked up $3,015.97 in prize money by virtue of making it to heads-up play. But awaiting the winner was a $4,346.86 PKO bounty. After 8 hours and 15 minutes, the Brazilian prevailed for a total payday of $7,362.83.

Event #13: $25,000 Freezeout PKO Final Table Results

1^st – “guizones27” (Brazil) … $7,362.83

2^nd – “sraigtakkkkk” (Lithuania) … $3,522.22

3^rd – “ehbarone68” (Canada) … $2,107.01

4^th – “alligatorboy” (Germany) … $2,746.79

5^th – “boraodota” (Brazil) … $1,388.85

6^th – “MartonasBOOM” (Sweden) … $753, 24

7^th – “IlovePickles” (Romania) … $769.55

8^th – “craig511” (United kingdom) … $548.60

9^th – “xrenanx192” (Brazil) … $730.96

In the $55 buy-in Event #14: $10,000 Mini PKO Freezeout, Brazil’s “armlockvoado” topped a 306-player field to win the title for $1,272.35 plus $1,314.34 in bounties (total payout of $2,586.69)

Fellow countryman “raphaelvgc” bested a 295-player field to win the $33 buy-in Event #15: $7,000 Late PKO Freezeout for $772.83 plus $939.82 in bounties ($1,712.65 total payday).

“RaPaPaPaPam” Denies “Machidon7” a Second Title; Wins $150K Tune Up PKO

On Sunday, May 1, the $160 buy-in Event #22: $150,000 Tune Up PKO was a big one as 783 players rebought 175 times So, the $150,000 prize pool was reserved for the top 144 finishers.

One player in action was 888poker ambassador Chris Eubank Jr., who streamed the tournament live on the 888pokerTV Twitch channel. There was also a special bounty on his head with the player who knocked him out receiving an exclusive Road to Las Vegas package worth $13,000!

Among those to cash were the following players:

• Ian “Simpioni” Simpson (61^st place for $218.82 plus $581.26 in bounties)
• “27slowplay” (30^th place for $312.60 plus $290.63 in bounties)
• Robin “Inho” Ylitalo (16^th place for $523.60)
• Final table bubble “NumberOne” (10^th place for $890.91 plus $384.38 in prize money)

The final nine players then took a break before returning on Monday to play down to a winner. Romania’s “Machidon7” was there and looking for his second title.

He had already won the $22 buy-in Event #23: $25,000 Mini Tune Up PKO on Sunday for $3,026.14 (more on that below).

The good news is “Machidon7” made it to heads-up play alongside Ukraine’s “RaPaPaPaPam”, which ensured them both $10,464.28 in prize money. Awaiting the winner was a hefty $10,420.86 PKO Bounty.

The Ukrainian wound up denying his Romanian opponent a second title and claimed a total payout of $20,885.57.

Event #22: $150,000 Tune-Up PKO Final Table Results

1^st – “RaPaPaPaPam” (Ukraine) … $20,885.57

2^nd – “Machidon7” (Romania) … $11,780.87

3^rd – “KBONGRJ” (Brazil) … $7,372.39

4^th – “AngryOgr” (Ukraine) … $7,654.58

5^th – “Aragorn92” (Germany) … $6,136.86

6^th – “PagoPerdeu” (Brazil) … $3,968.15

7^th – “DGR.POKEHER” (New Zealand) … $2,180.32

8^th – “Perrymejsen” (Sweden) … $2,828.59

9^th – “zer0szbr0” (United Kingdom) … $1,691

Also, on Sunday was the $22 buy-in Event #23: $25,000 Mini Tune Up PKO. This tournament that drew 1,176 players who rebought 286 times, generating a $29,240 prize pool.

After nine hours of play, it was Romania’s “Machidon7” coming out on top for a $1,850.05 top prize plus $1,176.09 PKO bounty for a total of $3,026.14.

Finally, the $55 buy-in Event #24: $15,000 Late Tune Up PKO attracted 389 players who rebought 76 times, which resulted in a $23,250 prize pool.

After 7 hours and 20 minutes of play, Montenegro’s “eganomakeup” bested Denmark’s “inzolin22” in heads-up play to win the tournament for $1,834.72 plus a $2,627.61 PKO bounty for a total payday of $4,462.33.

What’s Coming Up…

There are plenty of great events coming up, including the following:

• $160 buy-in Event #28: $30,000 Super Knockout at 17:00 GMT on Tuesday, May 3
• $215 buy-in Event #34: $25,000 PKO Freezeout at the same time on Thursday, May 5
• $22 buy-in Event #38: $15,000 Mini Knockout at 18:00 GMT on Friday, May 6
• $109 buy-in Event #40: $30,000 PKO 6-Max at 17:00 GMT on Saturday, May 7
• $215 buy-in, Event #43: $300,000 Main Event PKO on Sunday, May 8 at 17:00 GMT

888poker will stream the final tables of the following tournaments on our 888pokerTV Twitch channel –

• 9 May - KO Games #43 - $300,000 Main Event PKO

Click here for a look at the full Knockout Games Series schedule on 888poker!

888poker Knockout Games Series Winners Thus Far…

Something Else You Should Know

We’re bringing out the sunshine in May as we head to the next 888poker LIVE stop – Barcelona, the cosmopolitan capital of Catalonia, Spain!

The latest 888poker LIVE Festival will run from 12 through 23 May, with the €1,100 buy-in Main Event capping things off from 19 - 23 May.

We’ll be welcoming the whole team of 888poker Ambassadors and Streamers, along with special guests.

This event will be kicked up a notch as 888poker celebrates 20 years of prominence in the poker industry.

And adding the stature of the festival, we’ve included a prestigious €5,300 buy-in High Roller tournament to up the ante.

Click here for full information and schedule