The 888poker XL Autumn festivities kicked off on Sunday, with the first three tournaments on the 44-event schedule. The series, which runs through November 1, features affordable buy-ins and over $2,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools.

The highlight of the XL Autumn is the $1,050 buy-in, $1,000,000 GTD Main Event, which is currently hosting daily flights.

Day 2 is slated to play out on November 1, the final day of the series. Players will have the opportunity to qualify for that event at a fraction of the buy-in as satellite and daily freerolls are happening now.

On Sunday, the trio of opening events catered to a combined 3,925 entrants and awarded $138,295 in prize money. Here are the highlights!

Sweden’s “Ilikepugs” Wins XL Autumn Opening Event

The $55 buy-in XL Autumn Event #1: $100,000 Opening Event had 1,468 players rebuy 429 times. So, the $100,000 prize pool was reserved for the top 240 places.

Among those to make deep runs were the following players –

• “MorayEEEEEL” (41^st - $260)
• “_DENGER_” (31^st - $300)
• “Alligator717” (17^th - $580)
• “drugan1959” (10^th - $1,020)
• “ToKu98” (5^th - $4,060)
• “Socc3rman” (3^rd - $7,410)

Also notably, 888poker StreamTeam’s own Jordan “BanfieldJ” Banfield made the final table. He finished a respectable 6th place for $3,030.

The tournament took 10 hours and 21 minutes to reach a winner. It concluded after 888poker regular “Ilikepugs” out of Sweden defeated Denmark’s “Dvingminator” in heads-up play.

The latter earned $10,080 for finishing as runner-up while the former took down the top prize of $13,810.

XL Autumn Event #1 Final Table Results

1^st – “Ilikepugs” (Sweden) … $13,810

2^nd – “Dvingminator” (Denmark) … $10,080

3^rd – “Socc3rman” (Ukraine) … $7,410

4^th – “LuiMartins” (Brazil) … $5,490

5^th – “ToKu98” (Brazil) … $4,060

6^th – “BanfieldJ” (Canada) … $3,030

7^th – “Trymalin” (Belarus) … $2,270

8^th – “POTCHECKER99” (Germany) … $1,720

9^th – “otavioak1” (Brazil) … $1,310

UK’s “Zachrina” Wins $20K Mini Opening Event

The $16.50 buy-in XL Autumn Event #2: $20,000 Mini Opening saw 1,222 players rebuy 281 times. The 1,503-entry field surpassed the guarantee by creating a $22,545 prize pool. That money was paid out among the top 240 finishers.

After 8 hours and 19 minutes, the UK’s “Zachrina” bested Denmark’s “Blondal” in heads-up play to win the title and $3,114.77 first-place prize.

XL Autumn Event #2 Final Table Results

1^st – “Zachrina” (United Kingdom) … $3,114.77

2^nd – “Blondal” (Denmark) … $2,272.53

3^rd – “Icthefuture” (Russia) … $1,670.58

4^th – “BorysX” (Ukraine) … $1,237.72

5^th – “glansuas” (Ireland) … $915.32

6^th – “RiverBlank” (Russia) … $683.11

7^th – “Duells0n” (Germany) … $511.77

8^th – “EastBeast888” (United Kingdom) … $387.77

9^th – “pavkom” (Russia) … $295.33

“ChipDiddyO” Wins $15K Late Opening for UK’s 2^nd Title

Day 1 of the XL Autumn concluded with the $33 buy-in Event #3: $15,000 Late Opening. It squeaked by its guarantee as 425 players rebought 100 times to create a $15,750 prize pool.

The top 72 finishers made the money, including the following players –

• “BrunoZika1” (46^th - $81.90)
• Fabrizio “DrMiKee” Gonzalez (35^th - $83.47)
• “ImSoReborn” (17^th - $110.25)
• Final table bubble “Ethan83” (10^th - $185.85)

After 7 hours and 24 minutes of play, the UK’s “ChipDiddyO” defeated Russia’s “whalewhale” in heads-up play to win the title and $2,880.83 top prize.

XL Autumn Event #3 Final Table Results

1^st – “ChipDiddyO” (United Kingdom) … $2,880.83

2^nd – “whalewhale” (Russia) … $2,088.45

3^rd – “HELLSRECRUIT” (Canada) … $1,513.57

4^th – “hitTHC” (Lithuania) … $1,105.65

5^th – “RonaldSleasy” (United Kingdom) … $814.27

6^th – “julianopk10” (Brazil) … $598.50

7^th – “Putsomecream” (Malta) … $442.57

8^th – “TIGHTasYrSis” (Thailand) … $329.17

9^th – “voitikh” (Ukraine) … $245.70

Upcoming XL Autumn Tournaments

Almost every day of the XL Autumn features three tournaments. There will be the premier event followed by both “Mini” and “Late” versions of that event.

For example, on Friday, October 22 at 17:00 GMT the following events are scheduled –

• The $55 buy-in, Event #16: $30,000 Deepstack will take place, followed by the Mini –
• The $16.50 buy-in Event #17: $15,000 Mini DeepStack at the same time.
• Two hours later, at 19:00 GMT, the $33 buy-in Event #18: $10,000 Late DeepStack will happen.

Other prominent tournaments on the schedule include the following –

$109 buy-in Event #22: $200,000 Tune Up at 18:00 GMT on Sunday, October 24

$320 buy-in Event #28: $50,000 PKO at 18:00 GMT on Tuesday, October 26

$215 buy-in Event #34: $40,000 PKO 6-Max at 18:00 on Thursday, October 28

Be sure to check back in the coming weeks for regular recaps of the 2021 XL Autumn!