The $7,500,000 XL Inferno Championships kicked off Yesterday and it started BIG!

By the end of the night, 16 events from the Series’ schedule were complete and $1,177,180 in prize money had been awarded.

Amongst the winners on Day 1 of the XL Inferno, were Brazil’s “Xandee1991” and Latvia’s Guntis “luffEEE” Aleskins. The Brazilian was 888poker’s biggest winner yesterday, taking home over $53,000!

“Xandee1991” Wins 160 XL Inferno Opening Event

German player “schwalta14” became the first player eliminated from Event #7: $160 XL Inferno Opening Event, a tournament that drew 1,447 players who accounted for 632 rebuys. That brought the total field up to 2,079 entries and created a $311,850 prize pool, which cleared the advertised $300,000 guarantee.

Among the big names to play the event were Nicolas “PKaiser” Fierro, Chris “NigDawG” Brammer, Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov, and 888poker Ambassador Chris “888Moorman” Moorman. Unfortunately, none of those players managed to cash.

The prize pool was distributed to the top 162 players including “BadBeatMaker” (18th - $1,496.88), “JoeyChestnut” (41st - $966.73), “cocktail588” (99th - $654.88), and Super XL Series V Main Event champ “Gr33nApples” (138th - $498.96).

The tournament lasted more than 13 hours, and in the end, it came down to Brazil’s “Xandee1991” versus the UK’s “kevlar1991” for the title. In the final hand of the tournament, which took place in Level 36 with the blinds at 175,000/350,000/43,800, “kevlar1991” got his short stack all in preflop holding the A♥K♣ and was flipping against the 5♣5♦ of “Xandee1991.” The board ran out 5♥2♦8♣9♣4♠ and “kevlar1991” had to settle for second place and a $38,981.25 consolation prize.

  #7 Opening Event - Final Table Results    
1 Xandee1991 (Brazil) $53,014.50
2 kevlar1991 (UK) $38,981.25
3 MommyTosier (Canada) $29,594.56
4 bluecheeck (UK) $21,205.80
5 lasochobi (Argentina) $15,436.57
6 Phil "PRoyal888" Mighall (UK) $12,318.07
7 wiissssppppaa (UK) $9,199.57
8 mario73m (UK) $6,081.07
9 janwest030 (Germany) $3,367.98

Guntis “luffEEE” Aleskins Wins Event #12 $30,000 Sunday Tornado

Another highlight on Day 1 was the $109 buy-in Sunday Tornado, which attracted 264 players and surpassed the $30,000 guarantee by creating a $32,700 prize pool. The tournament lasted nearly nine hours, and when the dust settled it was Guntis “luffEEE” Aleskins capturing his first XL title.

Aleskins, who earned $6,687.15 for his victory, was just five days removed from winning a live €330 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Shot Clock event in Monte Carlo for $7,652. Obviously, it’s been a good week for the man from Latvia, and he’s got 13 more days to try and win another XL Inferno title.

  #12 Sunday Tornado - Final Table Results    
1 Guntis "luffEEE" Aleskins (Latvia) $6,687.15
2 "zedonato" (Brazil) $4,905
3 "acesup56" (Japan) $3,695.10
4 "AkH0lic" (Sweden) $2,779.50
5 "Zluka2010" (Latvia) $1,896.60
6 "Chopy5" (N/A) $1,471.50
7 "dkb4714" (UK) $1,144.50
8 "NVladislav78" (Russia) $817.50
9 "tutti404" (Russia) $621.30

Here's a look at our XL Champions from Day 1.

All these guys will be automatically registered to the XL Champion of Champions Tournament, where three lucky winners will take home a package to the WSOP Las Vegas 2017!

  • Event #1 $30,000 Sunday Lightning (470 players/$71,800)
    “SteveyBG” (Mexico) wins $13,893.30
  • Event #2 $45,000 Sunday Breeze (1,223/$61,150)
    “zumo444” (Argentina) wins $10,554.49
  • Event #3 $30,000 Sunday Deepstack Swordfish (1,597 players/$43,917.50)
    “Ciprian_Rau” (UK) wins $7,417.66
  • Event #4 $150,000 Mega Deep (902 players/$180,400)
    “Binkasaurus” (UK) wins $32,472
  • Event #5 $40,000 Mini Mega Deep (1,852 players/$50,420)
    “hooy2all” (Lithuania) wins $7,966.36
  • Event #6 $20,000 Sunday Swordfish (1,029 players/$28,297.50)
    “DiMag1a” (Brazil) wins $5,093.55
  • Event #7 $300,000 Opening Event (1,447 players/$311,850)
    “Xandee1991” (Brazil) wins $53,014.50
  • Event #8 $50,000 Mini Opening Event (4,311 players/$64,331.80)
    “TOP1LTU” (Lithuania) wins $9,006.45
  • Event #9 $45,000 Sunday Monsoon (1,035 players/$51,750)
    “thompson199” (Romania) wins $9,315
  • Event #10 $200,000 Whale (334 players/$200,000)
    “anteen” (Sweden) wins $38,700
  • Event #11 $100,000 Sunday Challenge (892 players/$103,834)
    “omgsickklife” (Romania) wins $18,690.12
  • Event #12 $30,000 Sunday Tornado (264 players/$32,700)
    Guntis “luffEEE” Aleskins (Latvia) wins $6,687.15
  • Event #13 $50,000 Turbo Mega Deep (241 players/$50,000)
    “T54_IS_A_FAG” (Canada) wins $10,225
  • Event #14 $20,000 Mini Turbo Mega Deep (1,018 players/$26,840)
    “badlucktou” (Russia) wins $4,831.20
  • Event #15 $30,000 Turbo Opening Event (456 players/$30,000)
    “sajtgul” (Sweden) wins $5,700
  • Event #16 $10,000 Super Turbo Opening Event (172 players/$14,892)
    “oyvindbe” (Norway) wins $3,201.78

The XL Inferno runs for 14 days, so be sure to check back tomorrow for a full recap of the Day 2 action.

Day#2 – Omaha? Snap? 6-Max? Today we have it all!

Day 2 of the XL Inferno is providing us with 13 high-value tournaments in a various different formats suitable for all. From Omaha poker through Snap Poker to 6-max and Classic 9-max poker – Day #2 of 888poker’s BIGGEST series to date has it all!

Don’t miss your chance to win BIG and make sure you register to Monday’s Flush + Royal. Achievements in both poker tournaments will be rewarded with special prizes!

Click here for more info.

Chad Holloway is a 2013 WSOP Bracelet winner who has previously worked for PokerNews as a managing editor and live reporter