€888 Main Event
Day 1a Started
€888 Main Event
Day 1a Started
At 1 p.m. local time, the flagship tournament of the 2019 888poker LIVE Bucharest festival in cooperation with PokerFest Romania kicks off at the five-star InterContinental Bucharest and provides high expectations with a guaranteed prize pool of €300,000. A total of four starting days are featured with a buy-in of €888 and poker enthusiasts from near and far are expected to join the action in the capital of Romania.
One year ago, back then at the JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel, it was local player Andrei Racolta that lifted the trophy after besting a field of 469 entries to take home $86,700 for his efforts. Whether or not Racolta will be back in action to defend his title remains to be seen, but there is one special incentive for all participants that makes the trip to Bucharest even more interesting. The winner of the 2019 888poker LIVE Bucharest Main Event will also receive a package for the 2019 WSOP Main Event, courtesy of WSOP sponsor 888poker.
The tournament features a 30-second shot clock and levels of 40 minutes in the first three regular heats, the turbo heat 1d provides levels of 20 minutes each. Unlimited re-entries and the late registration remains open for the first eight levels, each Day 1 will play 12 levels. On the final table, the players can look forward to a level duration of 60 minutes.
2019 888poker LIVE Bucharest Schedule
Date | Time (EET) | Event | Buy-in | Starting Stack | Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 4 | 5 p.m. | Opening Event Day 1A | €230 | 15,000 | 30 min. |
March 4 | 9 p.m. | Satellite to Main Event | €115 | 10,000 | 15 min. |
March 5 | 5 p.m. | Opening Event Day 1B | €230 | 15,000 | 30 min. |
March 5 | 9 p.m. | Satellite to Main Event | €115 | 10,000 | 15 min. |
March 6 | 1 p.m. | Main Event Day 1A | €888 | 30,000 | 40 min. |
March 6 | 2 p.m. | Opening Event Final Day | 30 min. | ||
March 6 | 5 p.m. | Satellite to Main Event | €115 | 10,000 | 15 min. |
March 6 | 8 p.m. | Turbo Bounty | €230 | 15,000 | 15 min. |
March 7 | 1 p.m. | Main Event Day 1B | €888 | 30,000 | 40 min. |
March 7 | 3 p.m. | Ladies Event | €60 | 10,000 | 15 min. |
March 7 | 5 p.m. | Satellite to Main Event | €115 | 10,000 | 15 min. |
March 7 | 8 p.m. | Satellite to High Roller | €200 | 15,000 | 15 min. |
March 8 | 1 p.m. | Main Event Day 1C | €888 | 30,000 | 40 min. |
March 8 | 4 p.m. | Satellite to Main Event | €115 | 10,000 | 15 min. |
March 8 | 9 p.m. | Main Event Day 1D | €888 | 30,000 | 20 min. |
March 9 | 1 p.m. | Main Event Day 2 | 40 min. | ||
March 9 | 2 p.m. | Deepstack Day 1 | €330 | 20,000 | 40 min. |
March 9 | 4 p.m. | Satellite to High Roller | €200 | 15,000 | 10 min. |
March 9 | 8 p.m. | High Roller Day 1 | €1,700 | 50,000 | 30 min. |
March 10 | 1 p.m. | Deepstack Day 2 | 40 min. | ||
March 10 | 1 p.m. | Turbo Deepstack | €220 | 20,000 | 15 min. |
March 10 | 1:15 p.m. | Main Event Final Day | 40 min./60 min. | ||
March 10 | 2 p.m. | High Roller Day 2 | 40 min. |
Other highlights of the festival in Bucharest include the €230 Opening Event with a guaranteed prize pool of €50,000 and the €1,700 High Roller. 888poker ambassador Ana Marquez cashed in the 2018 Main Event in 39th place and took down the High Roller title as well as €26,080 for her efforts.
Alongside Marquez, a host of 888poker ambassadors are expected to take part in the festival in Bucharest, and the PokerNews team will be there to cover all the action of the €888 Main Event until a champion is crowned on Sunday, March 10th, 2019.
The first players have arrived in the ballroom on the first floor of the InterContinental Bucharest and the clock shows 10 runners. Among those already waiting for the action to kick off is defending champion Andrei Racolta, who claimed the title in the Romanian capital one year ago.
Level: 1
Blinds: 100/100
Ante: 0
There are 15 entries so far including defending champion Andrei Racolta, and other notables include Vlad Tatu and Denis Poteras.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Vlad Tatu | 30,000 | |
Adrian Calusaru
|
30,000 | |
Denis Poteras | 30,000 | |
Andrei Racolta
|
30,000 | |
Stuart Sewell
|
30,000 | |
Razvan Cirstian
|
30,000 |
Joining the action on the heads-up turn of , Sebastian Mihai bet 300 and immediately faced a raise to 700 by Vlad Tatu from one seat over. Mihai called and checked again the on the river on their short-handed table. Tatu made it 1,000 to go and after brief table chat, Mihai released his cards.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Vlad Tatu | 31,000 | 1,000 |
Sebastian Mihai
|
29,000 |
The €230 Opening Event featured a total of four starting days and 300 entries created a prize pool of €56,400, surpassing the €50,000 guarantee. Day 2 will kick off at 2 p.m. local time with 47 players still in contention and the top 36 spots will get paid at least €410, the winner takes home €11,450.
Among those still in contention on Day 2 are Or Amitai, Manfred Sierke, Ionut Decher, Narcis Gabriel Nedelcu, Andrei Nodea, and Ramlal Basdeo.
The event is scheduled to play down to a champion in the main tournament area, and all those unfortunate to bust early can jump right into Day 1a of the €888 Main Event.
Denis Poteras raised to 300 and Andrei Grigoras wasted little time to three-bet to 1,100 from one seat over. That was enough to claim the pot, as all opponents including Poteras sent their cards into the muck.
Soon after a three-way flop of followed on the very same table and Razvan Cirstian checked out of the small blind before calling a bet of 400 by Grigoras. They checked the turn and the river, and Cirstian won the pot with for top pair.
Poteras three-bet the next hand and got most of the chips back.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Razvan Cirstian
|
31,000 | 1,000 |
Andrei Grigoras | 30,500 | |
Denis Poteras | 29,700 | -300 |
With 5,000 in the middle and the turn showing , Radu Catoui checked and called a bet of 3,000 by Adrian Calusaru. The duo then checked the on the river and Catoiu showed , which ended up second-best to Calusaru's .
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Adrian Calusaru
|
37,000 | 7,000 |
Radu Catoiu | 24,000 | 24,000 |
Ozgur Arda and 888poker ambassador Ana Marquez have joined the action and the screens show a total of 24 entries.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Ozgur Arda | 30,000 | |
Ana Marquez | 30,000 |