888poker LIVE Barcelona Wraps after 12 Days of Thrilling Poker Action!

888poker LIVE Barcelona wrapped up yesterday, 23 May, with the final table of the Main Event. It was massive success, with huge sums awarded during the series. The warm weather heated up the action at the poker tables and created a relaxed and fun atmosphere for all those attending.

As we celebrate 888poker’s 20^th anniversary, poker pro celebrities Maria Ho and Dan “Jungleman” Cates joined in the festivities. Team888 ambassadors and the 888poker StreamTeam also made the trip to the cosmopolitan capital of Catalonia!

And after 12-days of intense poker action, we are well and truly ready for even more live poker in the upcoming months!

888poker Welcomes Ian Simpson as Newest Ambassador

One of the most significant announcements at the event was the signing of Geordie poker professional Ian Simpson.

Ian has racked up 1,086,946 in total live earnings as of May 2022, including taking top honours for €265,000 ($339,604) at the 2012 Irish Open.

As an accomplished player and Twitch streamer, we welcome him as the latest 888poker ambassador to our roster!

888poker LIVE Barcelona Gets Rolling

The Casino Barcelona doors to the event officially opened on 11 May with Opening and Main Event satellites along with other side tournaments.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the early winners:

Jungleman Binks the €5,300 Buy-in Super High Roller

The Super High Roller was more of a single-table tournament but did not lack any star poker. The tourney was undoubtedly entertaining, with Dan Cates and Maria Ho going deep metaphysically and card-wise.

But it was Jungleman who won the day, taking down fellow pro Maria Ho along the way and banking €33,000 for his efforts.

The Ball Keeps on Rolling in the High Roller

The High Roller event attracted a sizeable field of 63 runners with its more affordable €2,200 buy-in. After two days of battling, it came down to James Crawley, hailing from Cambridge, Ireland and Brit, Warren Aspey.

Warren Aspey has racked up $42,967 in total live earnings, with his best live cash being $13,407, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database. Crawley’s best cash was at the 2021 WSOP, where he placed 21^st for $17,923 in Event #64.

Well, James indeed smashed that with his win, bagging the trophy and top cash for

€38.000. And Warren didn’t do too shabbily either, with a respectable payday of €24.000 for his efforts.

Play with Friends SNG Gives Back

The Play With Friends Charity event was a nine-handed sit ‘n go with 888poker ambassadors and StreamTeam members playing for a slice of a $10,000 pie.

• 1^st place paid out $5,000
• 2^nd place paid out $3,000
• 3^rd place paid out $2,000

All nine players fought hard for their charities and very worthy causes.

StreamTeamer Josh Manley outlasted everyone, beating 888poker ambassador, Sam Abernathy to take top honours and bragging rights.

He raised $5,000 to donate to his special charity Myeloma UK.

The Party Gets Started with the Main Event

The jewel-in-the-crown of the festival was the Main Event with a €1,100 buy-in. The four flights in the tournament gave players multiple opportunities to make Day 2.

Players could also buy in on Day 2 up until the first two levels.

With 888poker ambassadors, StreamTeam members and famous poker personalities, including Maria Ho, Dan “Jungleman” Cates and Instagram wonder girl, Melika Razavi.

Melika is also a pretty accomplished poker player with $136,315 in total live earnings and a WSOP Online title in 2020, netting her an additional €239,180.

Fashionably late to the party was Team888’s Chris Eubank Jr., who played Day 1C of the event.

Did he make Day 2? Read on to find out!

888poker LIVE Day 1A Star-Studded Affair

Day 1A of the 888poker LIVE Main Event kicked off 19 May as the first of four starting days. The €1,100 buy-in event attracted 94 entries, with 39 players bagging and tagging their way to Day 2.

Among the players were several of our 888poker ambassadors, but it was a local Catalan player who eventually came out on top,

Alex Baena I Carrasco dominated with a big stack and bagged up 213,300. Melika Razavi took advantage of the re-entry option and eventually secured a very healthy stack of 176,500 going into Day 2.

888poker ambassador Samantha Abernathy ended on 106,800 chips, and 2022 888poker LIVE London champion Bhavin Khatri settled on 95,400.

Other notable baggers and taggers on Day 1A were the following:

• Alexandre Mantovani (62,100)
• Stream Team Member Rene Majed (33,200)
• Vivian Saliba (23,700)

Unfortunately, Maria Ho’s spell in the €1,100 Main Event was short-lived after losing a coin flip to Abernathy. She lost the remaining chips shortly after but promised to be back for the following starting day.

888poker LIVE Day 1B Attracts 72 More Entries

The second of the four starting flights in the 2022 888poker LIVE Barcelona €1,100 Main Event drew a slightly smaller field than Day 1A.

With Day 1B concluded, we crowned a new overall chip leader - Gabriel Podovei, who racked up a massive stack in the final stages. The tournament attracted an additional 72 entries on Day 1B, of which 24 players bagged and tagged for Day 2.

Among the survivors was former 888poker LIVE Main Event champion as Adrian-Eugen Constantin. Even with his smaller stack of 27K, he joined Bhavin Khatri with the chance to become the first two-time winner of an 888poker LIVE Main Event trophy.

Day 1C Sees Eubank Jr. Get a Fighting Chance!

The third starting day of the 2022 888poker LIVE Barcelona €1,100 Main Event drew the most players. A whopping 110 entries emerged to boost the overall field to 276 entries in total.

More than half of the runners were out of the race and way off the money within ten levels. Only 48 players bagged chips, with Alejandro De Lucio Sanchez topping the leaderboard with a stack of 199,100.

888poker ambassador Chris Eubank Jr (114,300) broke through the Spanish-dominated top ten to make it through, giving him a fighting chance on Day 2.

He was joined by Stream Team member Jordan with a stack of 75,600 and the newest Team 888 ambassador, Ian Simpson. Other notable Day 1C survivors were 2017 WSOP Europe Main Event winner Marti Roca de Torres (62,500) and Dan Cates (37,700).

Day 1C saw an additional 27 entries, of which 23 advanced to Day 2.

Here are the final number of players who survived to play Day 2:

On Day 2, Players Drop Like Flies!

Out of a field of 334 entries, 134 players made it to Day 2. By the end of the day, only 13 remained in contention.

The prize pool stood at a respectable €320,640, but there was a long day of live poker action before anyone could claim a slice.

The money bubble burst in level 18 with Adrian Constantin showing Day 1C chip leader Alejandro De Lucio Sanchez the door. The remaining 36 players were guaranteed to walk away with at least €2,800.

Despite sending the bubble boy home, former 888poker LIVE Main Event champion Adrian Constantin could not repeat his victory. He bowed out in 14th place for €4,000, while Bhavin Khatri had to settle for a payday of €2,800 in 28th place.

Vivian Saliba was the only 888poker ambassador to reach the money. She finished in 27th place for €2,800. Two of her other teammates were eliminated just before the money bubble.

Samantha Abernathy went out in 39^th place, and Chris Eubank Jr. finished a respectable 42^nd.

Fellow brand ambassadors Ian Simpson, Alexandre Mantovani, and StreamTeam members Joshua Manley and Jordan Banfield also bowed out empty-handed.

Here are the final 13 payouts:

Day 3 Action Starts Fast and Furiously!

We entered Day 3 of the 888poker LIVE Barcelona Festival with thirteen players vying for the top prize of €68,000.

Here are their positions as the start of Day 3:

First out in 13^th place started the day in thirteenth - Antonio Sanchez Torregrosa. He ran Ah6s into Sando Hauser’s As9d. With no joy in the cards, he exited for €4,000.

Next to go was Adan Soler Fernandez – in the same position in chips he entered the day with – 12th place. His Ts9s looked pretty but couldn’t overcome Hauser’s Kc7c. Hauser was now two-for-two in knockouts on Day 3. Adan took home a €5,480 payday.

In 11^th place, it was Gerad Carbo’s time to do the knocking out. On the receiving end was Jose Manuel Gonzalez, who entered Day 3 in 6^th place. He cashed for €5,480.

Shockingly, 10^th-place went to the one of two Brits, Ashley Timms. He had entered Day 3 in top position but with a tenuous 2BB lead over Ewen Trevidy and Alexandre Ventura Bolet. But he had lost a few sizeable pots to his nemesis and player, who had eventually knocked him out. He ran his Ac2h into Hauser’s AsJc.

Hauser was now three-for-three in Day 3 knockouts if you're keeping count!

888poker LIVE Barcelona – And Then There Were Nine!

Here are the final table standings on Day 3:

After the final table was set, Alex Baena was first to hit the canvas in ninth place for €7,500. His AdTd couldn’t put a beat on Kimmo Kurko’s JhJd.

WSOPE Main Event Champ Marti Roca de Torres made a very respectable showing finishing in 8^th place for €10,000. His pocket Tens fell foul to Kurko’s AsKd.

The battle between Hauser and Kurko to knockout players continued as Ewen Trevidy found himself on the rail in 7^th place for €13,000. His QdTc made two-pair on the river, but Hauser made a king-high straight with Jh9h.

Ten minutes later, Gerad Carbo also found himself reaching for the door as Kuro struck again. Carbo’s As9h was no match for Kimmo’s AhQh, and he was out in 6^th for €16,500.

Bernard Carreras fought a good fight, managing to ladder up into 5^th place for €20,000. But he too fell prey to the superior cards of Kurko – his Ad9s falling short of Kurko’s AhJd.

Next to say his goodbyes was the last remaining Brit in the pack (and Chris Eubank Jr’s manager!) Stefan Wesson. He went out in 4^th place for €24,000 at the hands of Sandro Hauser.

…and then there were three…

At this point, the threesome agreed to a deal. The remaining three locked up 90% of the prize money with 10% on the table:

Around twenty minutes later, the Finn, Kimmo Kurko, made his exit in 3^rd place. He collected the pre-designated payout of €39,800. And as fate would have it, it was Hauser who took him to task with AsKh. Kurko’s Jc5c was no match.

But with the AdKc3c4d3h final board, Hauser must have been sweating the river with his AK!

888poker LIVE Barcelona – And Then There Were TWO!

Heads-up action saw the Spaniard Alexandre Ventura Bolet and the Italian Sandro Hauser face off for the trophy and the remaining prize money of €13,800.

Hauser had a massive 3:1 chip lead - 7.4M versus Ventura Bolet’s 2,5M. But Alexandre battled back. He managed to almost even the playing field after a double up with the blinds at 80K/160K/160Ka.

Hauser hit back in level 28 with the blinds at 100K/200K/200Ka. He raised Ventura Bolet’s blind with QdTc. Alexandre called with 9c4h.

The Qc9d6c flop gave both players apiece. Ventura Bolet check-called Hauser’s c-bet for 750K. With the pot now ballooned to 3M and a 6d on the turn, Hauser pushed for his remaining 2.3M.

The Spaniard called. and the Italian was now back with a massive chip lead.

But another double-up by Ventura Bolet evened things up again, now almost two hours into heads-up play! It took another 45 minutes for Hauser to finally pull away, challenging the Spaniard’s big blind with KcJd.

With only a 2M stack at the start of the hand, Ventura Bolet called with 9d3d.

The board ran out KdQs2d5h2s, crowing Sandro Hauser as the winner and latest 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event Champ!

Hauser walked away with €56,800 and the trophy. Runner-up Ventura Bolet took home €41,400 for his valiant effort.