Last Sunday, the inaugural XL Spring Series kicked off on 888poker. The festival will run through this Sunday, June 6, is comprised of 25 events.

Buy-ins range from $5.50-$250, offering more than $1 million in combined guaranteed prize pools.

As of Wednesday night, the series passed its halfway point as 13 events have crowned winners. Through the first half of the series, a combined 10,088 entrants have competed and $319,115 in prize money has been awarded.

  • Brazilian players have captured four titles, while players from the UK are hot on their heels with three wins.
  • Meanwhile, Canada and Ukraine have two titles apiece, while other winners hail from Belarus and Russia.

Strong Performance by Brazil on R&A Day

XL Spring Strong Performance by Brazil on R&A Day

On Monday, which was Memorial Day in the United States, a trio of Rebuy & add-on (R&A) tournaments were held. In the $33 buy-in Event #5: $20,000 R&A, Brazil’s “jpsalgadocr0” topped a 560-entry field to claim a $3,981.70 first-place prize.

In the $5.50 buy-in Event #6: $8,000 Mini R&A, 647 players rebought 436 times to create a 1,063-entry field. Brazil’s “D.AQUINO92” came out on top and turned his five-dollar buy-in into a $1,306.40 payday.

Brazilian players nearly completed the clean sweep in Event #7: $8,000 Late R&A, a tournament that had 300 players rebuy 232 times.

Unfortunately, Brazil’s “BrunoZika1” came up one spot short finishing in second place for $1,172 to the UK’s “Invented21st”, who won a $1,621.60 top prize.

Canada’s “leblond1996” Wins XL Spring High Roller

On Tuesday, the $320 buy-in Event #8: $50,000 High Roller squeaked by its guarantee as 123 players rebought 45 times to generate a $50,500 prize pool.

One player to compete was 888poker Ambassador Dominik “888Dominik” Nitsche, who failed to make the money after losing a flip with his ace-king failing to overcome pocket tens.

The top 24 finishers got paid. And after “plush0292” was eliminated as the bubble boy, the in-the-money bustouts included the following players –

  • “Ove_Pipcorn” (23rd - $715.68)
  • 888poker Ambassador Vivian “Vivi.888.” Saliba (20th - $715.68)
  • “MarkBurtoni” (14th - $750.96)
  • Final table bubble boy “algsxr” (10th - $781.20)

The final table was streamed on 888pokerTV with David Tuchman and Nick Wealthall on the call. The action, kicked off with a bang when “leblond1996” scored a double elimination!

He flopped a full house holding pocket jacks against the pocket tens of “andrew_flash” and kings of “ankapupu”.

Canada’s “leblond1996” Wins XL Spring High Roller

With three players remaining, “leblond1996” once again used pocket jacks to win a big pot. He made a strong river call on a king-high board after streamer Adam “IT5PAYDAY” Neal trued to execute a bluff with nine-ten.

  • Neal took home $6,048 for his third-place finish.

“leblond1996” began heads-up play against “saudades123” holding a 3:1 chip lead. It didn’t take long for things to come to a head. It happened when “saudades123” got their stack of under 20 big blinds all-in preflop with the K♥10♥.

“leblond1996” had him at risk with the A♦5♠. The board ran out 5♦2♣J♣5♣3♠ and “leblond1996” improved to trip fives to seal the deal.

High Roller Final Table Results

1st – “leblond1996” (Canada) … $11,718

2nd – “saudades123” (N/A) … $8,392

3rd – Adam “IT5PAYDAY” Neal (United Kingdom) … $6,048

4th – “Broten” (Belarus) … $4,329

5th – “POK_33_TATOO” (Romania) … $3,044

6th – “supari69” (Canada) … $2,192

7th – “FoldestJaEh” (N/A) … $1,593

8th – “ankapupu” (Finland) … $1,164

9th – “andrew_flash” (Germany) … $852

Two other High Roller tournaments took place on Tuesday. The first was the $55 buy-in Event #9: $25,000 Mini High Roller, which attracted400 players who rebought 138 times.

  • Canada’s “Pat14” prevailed over the 538-entry field to win a $4,920 first-place prize.

The other tournament was the $109 buy-in Event #10: $20,000 Late High Roller, which saw 134 players rebuy 51 times to create a 185-entry field.

  • Belarus’ “Smartestcat” emerged as the last player standing to claim a $4,650 top prize.

Bounty Hunters Battle in Wednesday PKOs

Bounty Hunters Battle in Wednesday PKOs

On Wednesday, a trio of Progressive Knockout (PKO) tournaments were held. First up was the $109 buy-in Event #11: $30,000 PKO, which cruised by its guarantee as 288 players rebought 88 times to create a $37,600 prize pool.

The top 48 finishers got a piece of the regular prize pool including the following players –

  • “cherrywine” (19th for $139.12 + $225 in bounties)
  • “algsxr” (12th for $223.72 + $450.01 in bounties)
  • 888poker Ambassador Vivian “888.” Saliba (7th for $560.24 + $413.67 in bounties)

The final two players, a pair of Brazilians, locked up $3,282.48 in prize money but were battling for the nearly-equal $3,270.84 PKO bounty.

After 7 hours and 45 minutes, it was “GoldHand2077” beating out his fellow countryman “mywifesT7i” to win the title for a total payday of $6,553.32.

Next up was the $16.50 buy-in Event #12: $15,000 Mini PKO, which drew an 1,159-entry field and offered up a $17,385 prize pool.

  • After nearly 10 hours of play, it was Russia’s “ZDmitryS” coming out on top to the tune of $2,389.12.

Finally, the $33 buy-in Event #13: $10,000 Late PKO saw Ukraine’s “Nzol888” top a 418-entry field to win the tournament. He took home $1,042.97 plus a $1,089.57 PKO bounty for a combined payout of $2,132.54.

What’s Coming Up

The XL Spring Series runs through Sunday, June 6, and there are plenty of great events on the schedule. That includes the $250 buy-in Event #23: $500,000 Main Event at 5 p.m. GMT on Sunday, June 6.

Click here for a look at the full schedule.

XL Spring $250 buy-in Event #23: $500,000 Main Event

XL Spring Winners Thus Far

Date

Buy-in / Tournament

Entries

Prize Pool

Winner/ Country

Prize

Sunday,

May 30

$55 Event #1:

$50,000 Opening Event

1,353

$67,650

Christopher "MAKKAPAKKK"    Johnson (UK)

$9,884

Sunday,

May 30

$16.50 Event #2:

$25,000 Mini Opening

1,520

$25,000

“Sultanhcik” (Ukraine)

$3,652.50

Sunday,

May 30

$5.50 Event #3:

$10,000 Micro Opening

1,735

$10,000

“lourimar” (Brazil)

$1,221.16

Sunday,

May 30

$33 Event #4:

$15,000 Late Opening

481

$15,000

“godfatheR2AA” (UK)

$2,743.50

Monday,

May 31

$33 Event #5:

$20,000 R&A Event

560

$20,640

“jpsalgadocr0” (Brazil)

$3,981.70

Monday,

May 31

$5.50 Event #6:

$8,000 Mini R&A

1,063

$8,000

“D.AQUINO92 (Brazil)

$1,306.40

Monday,

May 31

$11 Event #7:

$8,000 Late R&A

532

$8,000

“Invented21st” (UK)

$1,621.60

Tuesday,

June 1

$320 Event #8:

50,000 High Roller

168

$50,400

“leblond1996” (Canada)

$11,718

Tuesday,

June 1

$55 Event #9:

$25,000 Mini High Roller

538

$26,900

“Pat14” (Canada)

$4,920.01

Tuesday,

June 1

$109 Event #10:

$20,000 Late High Roller

185

$20,000

“Smartestcat” (Belarus)

$4,650

Wednesday,

June 2

$109 Event #11:

$30,000 PKO

376

$37,600 

“GoldHand2077” (Brazil)

$6,553.32

Wednesday,

June 2

$16.50 Event #12:

$15,000 Mini PKO

1,159

$17,385

“ZDmitryS” (Russia)

$2,389.12

Wednesday,

June 2

$33 Event #13:

$10,000 Late PKO

418

$12,540

“Nzol888” (Ukraine)

$2,132.54