888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event Eclipses £500K GTD with Yiannis Liperis Winning £120K!

The last stop on the 888poker LIVE schedule touched down in the English city of Coventry. The $500K GTD 888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event ran from 25 through 29 October at the Coventry Business Arena.

A whopping 672 entries smashed the guarantee, creating a £537,600 prize pool with £125K up top (£120K after ICM deal)..

Walking away with the lion’s share of the prize money was Yiannis Liperis. After a 5-way final table deal, Yiannis walked away with a not-too-shabby £120,000.

The multi-flight £888 buy-in multi-flight Main Event had four Day 1s and saw the locals come out in force to support this live tournament.

Main Event Day 1A – The Action Gets Going!

A total of 85 entries showed up to play the first of four starting flights of the 888pokerLIVE Coventry Main Event.

Ali Abdulzahra grabbed the chip lead on Day 1 after a brutal river beat on Elliott. A river card gave Abdulzahra straight, and he ended the night with 318,000.

Bhavin Khatri, winner of last year’s 888poker LIVE London Main Event, sat in second place with 258,000.

At the end of play, 17 players bagged and tagged, returning for Day 2 on Saturday, 28 October.

Plenty of British poker stars, along with 888poker ambassador, Ian Simpson, threw their caps into the ring for the High Roller event.

They included Carl Shaw, Niall Farrell, Dean Hutchison, and Ludovic Geilich.

Unluckily for Ian, he ran his AQ into a pair of JJ and was out on the bubble. Ludovic went on to win the title and £40,870 top payout.

Main Event Day 1B – Team888 Comes Out in Force

Day 1B saw Yiannis Liperis, who already has more than $3,000,000 in career earnings, in a position to make a deep run. He ended the day atop the 34 players who booked their tickets to Day 2.

The 888poker team didn’t fare so well. Nick Eastwood, Ian Simpson, Lucia Navarro, Josh Manley, and Aaron Barone all hit the rail.

However, 888poker Ambassador Vivian Saliba found Pocket Kings to double up, finishing with 219,000.

Out of the 180 total entries on Day 1B, 51 remained in the hunt for Day 2.

Main Event Day 1C & 1D - Biggest Day of Action

Day 1C attracted an additional 288 entries, with 67 players remaining to try their luck on Day 2.

Francis Obadun, who placed runner-up in the recent 888pokerLIVE London Main Event, was the bubble boy this time.

Firstly, he ran AK into AA and then QQ into AA again – in back-to-back hands to fall short of the money.

A total of 288 players entered Day 1C, combined with the 265 from the first two starting flights, created a field of 553.

Three 888poker players also made Day 2. Vivian Saliba (219,000) was joined by teammates Lucia Navarro (89,500) and Ian Simpson (50,500).

On the same day, Vivian Saliba put another notch in her belt by taking down the 888pokerTV Sit & Go. She beat 888 StreamTeam member Nick “eastyyy22” Eastwood to secure the title!

🥳 Congratulations to @vivisaliba for winning yet another 888pokerTV Sit & Go! #poker #livepoker pic.twitter.com/YG47huXZWi

— 888poker (@888poker) October 27, 2023

Main Event Day 2 – And Then There Were 21!

By the end of late registration on Day 2, there were 672 entries, generating a prize pool of £537,600 and smashing the GTD!

The top 70 players would finish in the money, with the champion taking home a whopping £125,000. (A deal was made at the final table, with the winner receiving £120,000).

Tournament Payout Schedule:

Of the three 888poker ambassadors who made Day 3, only Lucia Navarro cashed. She went out in 67^th place for a £1,900 min-cash.

Main Event Day 3 – Final Table & Winner!

Action on Day 3 was fast and furious to start, but it took 5 hours to play down to a final table. 888poker qualifier Richard Pearson ran his ticket up to a very respectable £4,700 for his 14^th-place finish.

After Cosmin Penescu was eliminated in sixth place, the final five agreed to an ICM deal.

Yiannis Liperis would get £120,000, Harris £66,860, Johnson and Ji £46,000 each, and Chattha £40,000.

With a deal done and only the trophy left to play for, action sped up considerably. In no time, we were heads-up with Liperis and Chatta battling it out for the title.

Yiannis had a massive 3 to 1 chip lead over Charles at the start of heads-up, and it took only 6 minutes for Liperis to secure the victory.

• Charles Chattha raised to 200,000 on the button.
• Yiannis Liperis called from the big blind.

• The flop came down 3♦A♦6♠ and Chattha c-bet for 200,000.
• Liperis raised to 850,000, and Chattha shoved all in for 4,500,000.

• Liperis called….

• Charles Chattha: 7♥6♣
• Yiannis Liperis: A♥3♥

Chattha’s flopped pair of sixes was no match for Liperis’ flopped two pair. The river was the 4♦, eliminating Chattha in second place.

Final Table Payouts:

*After 5-way final table ICM deal

Well played all, and see you at the next 888poker LIVE event!