The XL Retro Series kicked off on 888poker back on October 9 and recently hit its halfway point. The latest edition of the XL Series will run through October 25 and offer more than $1.7 million in guaranteed prize pools.

So far, it has catered to a combined 6,327 players and awarded $650,205 in prize money.

Players from Brazil have been performing the best, having captured five titles, while Canada has laid claim to two. Meanwhile, players from Germany, Malta, Sweden, Finland, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Mexico have one apiece.

The series will culminate in a multi-flight $250 buy-in Main Event that boasts a massive $500,000 guarantee.

There will also be a $200K GTD Mystery Bounty, as well as a $2,100 buy-in $150K GTD Super High Roller.

For a look at the full schedule, please click here.

Finn Takes Down Event #6: $20K Crocodile PKO

Fin Takes Down Event #6 $20K Crocodile PKO
Finnish Player Takes Down Event #6 $20K Crocodile PKO
 

On Tuesday, October 11, one of the bigger buy-ins of the XL Retro series played out. The $320 buy-in, $20K GTD Event #6: Crocodile PKO saw 83 players rebuy 11 times to surpass the guarantee. The $28,200 prize pool was split between the regular and bounty pools.

The top 15 finishers made the money, including the following players –

  • “ukrLaci” (13th place for $317.25 + $337.50 in bounties)
  • “Destroyer300” (11th place for $331.35 + $150 in bounties)
  • “bettyordiane” (10th place for $331.35 + $75 in bounties)
  • “33betwizkid” (6th place for $676.80 + $351.56)
  • “PotofGreed” (3rd place for $1,656.75 + $1,804.69 in bounties).

Finland’s “rantzi” and Peru’s “Diegoavc” secured $3,210.57 by making it to heads-up play. But awaiting the winner of their heads-up match was an even bigger $3,564.83 PKO bounty.

After 5 hours and 42 minutes of play, the Finnish player emerged victorious for a total payday of $6,776.81.

XL Retro Event #6 Final Table Results

1st – “rantzi” (Finland) … $6,776.81

2nd – “Diegoavc” (Peru) … $3,876.20

3rd – “PotofGreed” (Malta) … $3,461.44

4th – “daltonhb” (Brazil) … $1,775.08

5th – “Ribaldo” (Montenegro) … $2,322.68

6th – “33betwizkid” (United Kingdom) … $1,028.36

7th – “Hvalavam” (Montenegro) … $1,522.50

8th – “bAsKobAKovic” (Denmark) … $640.95

9th – “idkhtp” (N/A) … $434.55

Also running on Tuesday was the $33 buy-in, $8,000 GTD Event #7: Sword Fish PKO. The tournament attracted 353 players who rebought 79 times. The 432-entry field surpassed the guarantee by offering up a $12,960 prize pool.

Canada’s “Squadup902” wound up victorious in that tournament for $2,118.59.

Destroyer300 Victorious in Event #12: Volcano PKO

Destroyer300 Victorious in Event #12: Volcano PKO
Destroyer300 Victorious in Event #12: Volcano PKO
 

On Saturday, October 15, the $1,050 buy-in, $45K GTD Event #12: Volcano PKO saw 28 players rebuy half a dozen times. The 34-entry field meant a $45,000 prize pool was up for grabs, split equally between the regular and bounty pools.

Some players to claim bounties but fail to get a piece of the regular prize pool were the following –

  • “xLIVEPROx” ($250)
  • “Iroquois” ($250)
  • “raisebot” ($500)
  • “DGrignon” ($500)
  • “InnerVision” ($750)
  • “Tedson89” ($1,000)

Only the top five finishers made the money, including the following –

  • “M1k3n70a7” (5th place for $2,240 plus $875 in bounties)
  • “TKOnorthside” (4th place for $2,800 plus $500 in bounties)
  • “GUYLORD1000” (3rd place for $4,200 plus $1,000 in bounties)

The top two players locked up $9,380 each by making it to heads-up play, but there was also an $8,625 PKO bounty up for grabs.

After 5 hours and 13 minutes, Lithuania’s “Destroyer300” defeated Belarus’ “9hipster” to win the tournament for $18,005.

XL Retro Event #12 Final Table Results

1st – “Destroyer300” (Lithuania) … $18,005

2nd – “9hipster” (Belarus) … $12,130

3rd – “GUYLORD1000” (Montenegro) … $5,200

4th – “TKOnorthside” (Canada) … $3,300

5th – “M1k3n70a7” (Canada) … $3,115

Brazilians Win Big in $200,000 Mystery Bounty

Brazilians Win Big in $200,000 Mystery Bounty
Brazilians Win Big in $200,000 Mystery Bounty
 

On Sunday, the $215 buy-in Event #13: $200,000 Mystery Bounty had 669 players rebuy 190 times. As a result, the top 120 finishers in the 859-entry field would get a piece of the $200,000 prize pool.

Among those to make deep runs were the following players –

  • “CheersMates” (55th place for $330 + $1,355.34 in bounties)
  • “binkachu” (42nd place for $340 + $2,532.99 in bounties)
  • “DosPoochies” (36th place for $350 + $177.67 in bounties)
  • “WalnutPic” (23rd place for $520 + $1,355.33 in bounties)
  • “altskripka” (16th place for $680 + $2,355.33 in bounties)
  • Final table bubble “Aalboss2” (10th place for $1,140 + $1,743.64 in bounties)

Additionally, Brazil’s “KKingJames23” finished in 45th place for $340. Nothing special, aside from the fact he claimed the bigger mystery bounty of $20,000! Including some other bounties, he had the biggest cash in the tournament with $20,695.32!

The final nine players went on an overnight hiatus, with two players from Malta – “AUTISPOSTI” (2,351,170) and “Kabosu69” (2,240,846) – leading the way.

Also, in the mix were 888poker regulars “HyperX.” (1,916,734) and “kiskutya23” (1,509,124), while “33betwizkid” (492,610) and “Percepteur” (471,631) sat as the short stacks.

The United Kingdom’s “33betwizkid” managed to spin up their short stack. They made it all the way to heads-up play against Brazil’s “marllonsanti”, who began the final table in the middle of the pack.

With the action live-streamed, “marllonsanti” wound up winning the tournament for $16,330 plus $1,388.33 in bounties for a total payout of $17,718.33.

It marked the fifth title won by a Brazilian through the first 15 events!

XL Retro Event #13 Final Table Results

1st – “marllonsanti” (Brazil) … $17,718.33

2nd – “33betwizkid” (United Kingdom) … $13,821.31

3rd – “AUTISPOSTI” (Malta) … $9,795.98

4th – “frostnova” (Brazil) … $7,597.67

5th – “Kabosu69” (Malta) … $6,315.97

6th – “HyperX.” (United Kingdom) … $6,315.97

7th – “kiskutya23” (N/A) … $3,330.66

8th – “Omar.Si” (Montenegro) … $4,160.66

9th – “Percepteur” (N/A) … $2,690.66

In other Sunday news, Mexico’s “DonCamaron” topped a 105-entry field to win the $525 buy-in Event #14: $45,000 Whale 8-Max ($52,500 prize pool) for $10,847.67.

Brazil’s “julianopk10” bested 949 runners to win the $33 buy-in Event #15: $20,000 Mini Mystery Bounty ($28,470 prize pool) for $3,224.09.

In the latter event, Canada’s “Chesterman13”, who finished in 79th place for $49.86, won the largest bounty of $2,013.11 for a total payday of $2,062.97.

XL Retro Live Streams and Giveaways!

On Tuesday, October 25, we will live stream the Main Event final table on our Twitch 888pokerTV channel.

The Tuesday stream will feature giveaways and a special freeroll. There will be an additional stream on Monday, October 24, of the Super High Roller event:

  • Oct 24 – 20:00 GMT - $150,000 XL Retro #26 - Super High Roller - Final Table + Giveaways
  • Oct 25 – 20:00 GMT - $500,000 XL Retro #27 - Main Event Final Table + Freeroll + Giveaways

You can also check out the 888pooker StreamTeam and ambassador Twitch channels, where they will be playing events throughout the series. They will be giving away free tickets on top!

See the full line-up here: StreamTeam and Ambassador Twitch Streams.

2022 XL Retro Series Winners So Far

Date

Tournament

Buy-In

Total

Entries

Prize Pool

Winner

Country

Prize

Sunday,

 October 9

Event #1: $120,000

Mega Deep Opening Event

$109

1162

$120,000

"ZackSteffen"

Germany

$17,532

Sunday,

October 9

Event #2: $45,000

Whale Opening Event

$525

119

$59,500

"PotofGreed"

Malta

$14,660.80

Sunday,

October 9

Event #3: $15,000

Mini Mega Deep Opening Event

$33

639

$19,170

"kerkerian"

Canada

$3,316.88

Monday,

October 10

Event #4: $20,000

Tornado 8-Max

$109

240

$24,000

"StorValle"

Sweden

$5,220

Monday,

October 10

Event #5: $3,000

 Blow Fish 8-Max

$11

531

$5,310

"Luks012"

Brazil

$1,009.14

Tuesday,

October 11

Event #6: $20,000

Crocodile PKO

$320

94

$28,200

"rantzi"

Finland

$6,776.81

Tuesday,

October 11

Event #7: $8,000

Sword Fish PKO

$33

432

$12,960

"Squadup902"

Canada

$2,118.59

Wednesday,

October 12

Event #8: $15,000

Lightning 6-Max

$109

179

$17,900

"Lhollanda"

Brazil

$4,654

Wednesday,

October 12

Event #9: $6,000

Mini Lightning 6-Max

$33

283

$8,490

Baburka22

Uzbekistan

$1,952.76

Thursday,

October 13

Event #10: $20,000

Hurricane

$109

214

$21,400

"vaka123"

Ukraine

$4,797.88

Thursday,

 October 13

Event #11: $4,000

Catfish

$16.50

487

$7,305

"sousa1299"

Brazil

$1,336.49

Saturday,

October 15

Event #12: $45,000

Volcano PKO

$1,050

34

$45,000

"Destroyer300"

Lithuania

$18,005

Sunday,

October 16

Event #13: $200,000

Mystery Bounty

$215

859

$200,000

"marllonsanti"

Brazil

$17,718.33

Sunday,

October 16

Event #14: $45,000

Whale 8-Max

$525

105

$52,500

"DonCamaron"

Mexico

$10,847.67

Sunday,

October 16

Event #15: $20,000

Mini Mystery Bounty

$33

949

$28,470

"julianopk10"

Brazil

$3,224.09