On Sunday, April 24, the Knockout Games Series kicked off on 888poker. The 44-event series offers players the chance to play affordable buy-in knockout tournaments boasting over $1,000,000 in guarantees!

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.

As a bonus, 888poker ambassador Chris Eubank Jr. will play in Event #22 - $150,000 Tune-Up PKO on May 1. He will stream the tournament live on 888pokerTV Twitch channel and there will be a special bounty on his head – an exclusive Road to Las Vegas package worth $13,000!

Also, all players who bubble any of the series events will automatically enter a raffle giving away a pair of gloves, signed by Chris himself!

The series got off to a hot start on Sunday as the first three events all attracted big crowds.

Here’s a look at the highlights from the first day of the Knockout Games Series.

Brazil’s “77portuga77” Wins $125,000 Opening Event

Brazil’s “77portuga77” Wins $125,000 Opening Event

The series kicked off with the $109 buy-in Event #1: $125,000 Opening Event, a tournament that saw 955 players rebuy 267 times.

The top 180 finishers nabbed a portion of the $125,000 prize pool including the following:

  • “Exodus31” (65th place for $166.14 + $87.50 in bounties)
  • “chazcombes” (41st place for $191.70 + $412.50 in bounties)
  • “AUTISPOSTI” (39th place for $191.70 + $385.94 in bounties)
  • “KofeBryant” (19th place for $300.33 + $203.13 in bounties)
  • Final table bubble “fakeceasar” (10th place for $683.73 + $1,570.71 in bounties)

The final table of nine players took a break before returning on Monday to play down to a winner. Ukraine’s “bloodusama” was the chip leader followed closely by Germany’s “Schniepi2808”. Denmark’s “andybooo9” say in third place, while the other six players were all grouped together as the short stacks.

Those big stacks would claim three out of the top four spots. But, when all was said and done. It was Brazil’s “77portuga77” battling back from a short stack to claim the title.

Not only did they win $8,083.35 in prize money, but they also laid claim to a $7,135.47 PKO bounty for a total payout of $15,218.82.

Event #1: $125,000 Opening Event Final Table Results

1st – “77portuga77” (Brazil) … $15,218.82

2nd – “andybooo9” (Denmark) … $10,411.89

3rd – “Schniepi2808” (Germany) … $7,081.36

4th – “bloodusama” (Ukraine) … $5,405.19

5th – “SayPlease” (N/A) … $3,134.78

6th – “Vraaa” (Brazil) … $2947.25

7th – “3AHYDA” (Mexico) … $3,357.69

8th – “Seferochuk” (Malta) … $1,231.59

9th – “Jan.14” (Kazakhstan) … $1,878.70

StreamTeam's "Josh_Manley" Goes Deep while Brazilians Battle Heads-Up in Mini Opening PKO

Brazilians Battle for Mini Opening PKO Title

In the $16.50 buy-in Event #2: $20,000 Mini Opening PKO, 1,074 players rebought 290 times to create a $20,460 prize pool. That was paid out to the top 180 finishers including StreamTeam member "Josh_Manley" who cashed in 5th place for $436.82 + $32.82 in bounties. Other players who made the money were the following: 

  • “ewro88as” (35th place for $33.75 + $90.71 in bounties)
  • “Saul.Hudson” (24th place for $48.08 + $96.66 in bounties)
  • “LokiLaufeyso” (14th place for $84.90 + $290.90 in bounties)
  • “ItsOkay” (7th place for $244.49 + $176.45 in bounties)
  • “shkptr” (4th place for $590.27 + $123.26 in bounties)

Lithuania’s “Exofus31” bowed out in third place for $803.05 plus $253.97 in bounties. The final two players, both hailing from Brazil, locked up $1,293.07 in prize money but battled it out for an even-larger $1,487.51 PKO bounty.

After 8 hours and 21 minutes of play, “beckan116” defeated fellow countryman “NutsnAcapuco” to win the title for a total payday of $2,782.19.

Event #2: $20,000 Mini Opening PKO Final Table Results

1st – “beckan116” (Brazil) … $2,782.19

2nd – “NutsnAcapuco” (Brazil) … $1,545.74

3rd – “Exodus31” (Lithuania) … $1,057.02

4th – “shkptr” (Belarus) … $713.53

5th – “Josh_Manley” (United Kingdom) … $469.64

6th – “AnatolijJ” (United Kingdom) … $451.15

7th – “ItsOkay” (Malta) … $420.94

8th – “istnotluck” (United Kingdom) … $231.57

9th – “kingsoftilt94” (Pakistan) … $360.63

Sweden’s “ObisNutrank” Victorious in Late Opening PKO

Sweden’s “ObisNutrank” Victorious in Late Opening PKO

The final event on Sunday was the $44 buy-in Event #3: $12,000 Late Opening PKO. It cruised by its guarantee as 381 players rebought 85 times to create a $18,640 prize pool. That was split between the regular and bounty pools with the top 72 finishers getting a piece of the former.

Some familiar names to make the money were tie following:

  • “kevlar1991” (51st place for $47.53 + $10 in bounties)
  • “Vraaa” (36th place for $49.39 + $140.63 in bounties)
  • “BrunoZika1” (26th place for $50.32 + $81.25 in bounties)
  • “goatshooting” (16th place for $65.24 + $173.75 in bounties)
  • “Panxetillo” (11th place for $109.97 + $301.88 in bounties)
  • “lullymonkey” (4th place for $654.26 + $395.63 in bounties)
  • “BigodinSagaz” (3rd place for $895.65 + $183.12 in bounties)

Sweden’s “ObisNutrank” and Kazakhstan’s “Otyrar” each locked up $1,469.76 in prize money by virtue of making it to heads-up play. After seven and a half hours of play the former prevailed in the heads-up match to win the $1,379.82 PKO bounty for a total prize of $2,850.74.

Event #3: $12,000 Late Opening PKO Final Table Results

1st – “ObisNutrank” (Sweden) … $2,850.74

2nd – “Otyrar” (Kazakhstan) … $2,025.53

3rd – “BigodinSagaz” (Brazil) … $1,078.77

4th – “luffymonkey” (Montenegro) … $1,049.89

5th – “LuiMartins” (Brazil) … $678.40

6th – “brasilHunter” (Kazakhstan) … $716.98

7th – “Alindgo” (Ireland) … $411.27

8th – “BGloKKo” (Brazil) … $214.78

9th – “Seferochuk” (Malta) … $265.39

What’s Coming Up…

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

  • $160 buy-in Event #7: $30,000 Super Knockout at 17:00 GMT on Tuesday, April 26
  • $215 buy-in Event #13: $25,000 PKO Freezeout at 17:00 GMT on Thursday, April 28
  • $160 buy-in Event #22: $150,000 Tune Up PKO at 17:00 GMT on Sunday, May 1
  • $215 buy-in Event #34: $25,000 PKO Freezeout at 17:00 GMT on Thursday, May 5
  • $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 –

  • 2 May - KO Games #22 - $150,000 Tune Up PKO
  • 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…

Date

Tournament

Buy-In

Players

Rebuys

Total

Entries

Prize Pool

Winner

Country

Prize

Sunday,

April 24

Event #1: $125,000

Opening Event PKO

$109

955

267

1,222

$125,000

77portuga77

Brazil

$15,218.82

Sunday,

April 24

Event #2: $20,000

Mini Opening PKO

$16.50

1,074

290

1,364

$20,460

beckan116

Brazil

$2,782.19

Sunday,

April 24

Event #3: $12,000

Late Opening PKO

$44

381

85

466

$18,640

ObisNutrank

Sweden

$2,850.74

Monday

 April 25

Event #4: $25,000

PKO 8-Max

$55

490

153

643

$32,150

protocali

Lithuania

$4,418.06

Monday

April 25

Event #5: $10,000

Mini PKO 8-Max

$11

777

258

1,035

$10,350

jmjmns

Denmark

$1,352.12

Monday

April 25

Event #6: $10,000

Late PKO 8-Max

$33

373

77

450

$13,500

Komyagin

Ukraine

$2,239.64

Something Exciting to Add to Your Poker Calendar

888poker LIVE stop – Barcelona

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, including, Daniel Cates (Jungle Man), Maria Ho and Michael Mizrachi.

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