2019 888poker LIVE Festival London

£1,100 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2019 888poker LIVE Festival London

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
£100,000
Event Info
Buy-in
£1,100
Prize Pool
£512,820
Entries
518
Level Info
Level
32
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Players Info - Day 3
Entries
23
Players Left
1

£1,100 Main Event

Day 3 Completed

EXHAUSTING 888POKER LIVE LONDON MATCH FINALLY NAMES VICTOR

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Romania's Adrian Constantin gets first live poker tournament victory at 888poker LIVE London, after 12hr+ poker session - turning a €33 888poker satellite into €100k win! Tiffany Michelle is at the final table seconds after the 3:30AM finale to get his winning thoughts.

Tags: 888poker888poker liveadrian constantintiffany michelle

Adrian Constantin Wins 2019 888poker LIVE London £1,100 Main Event (£100,000)

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Adrian Constantin Wins 2019 888poker LIVE London Main Event
Adrian Constantin Wins 2019 888poker LIVE London Main Event

A marathon final day of nearly 14 hours has wrapped up at the Aspers Casino at Westfield Stratford City and a new champion has been crowned in the 2019 888poker LIVE Festival London £1,100 Main Event as Romania's Adrian-Eugen Constantin staged an incredible comeback in heads-up against Leon Louis to claim the trophy, top prize of £100,000 and package for the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas courtesy of event sponsor 888poker.

The flagship event of the festival created a field of 518 entries and the prize pool of £512,820 was split among the top 63 finishers with the lion's share being awarded on the final day, which saw 23 hopefuls return to their seats. Ultimately, Constantin prevailed with the fortune on his side after he survived six all-in showdowns against Louis, who himself doubled once for 90% of the chips in heads-up play and still came up short eventually.

Constantin's name may have particularly familiar ring to it on the 888poker LIVE circuit as fellow countryman Adrian Costin Constantin lifted the trophy for the winner shots at Casino Barcelona back in 2018. What makes the winner story even more remarkable is the fact that the 41-year-old businessman from Bucharest won his entry to the event in an €33 online satellite on 888poker.

Final Result 2019 888poker LIVE London £1,100 Main Event

PlaceWinnerCountryPrize (in GBP)Prize (in USD)
1Adrian ConstantinRomania£100,000*$129,274*
2Leon LouisUnited Kingdom£69,770$90,194
3Manuel BuenoGermany£44,920$58,070
4Egidijus AlsauskasLithuania£33,230$42,958
5Aleksandrs GolubevsUnited Kingdom£24,920$32,215
6Nikolay PonomarevRussia£20,100$25,984
7Valdir Cordeiro dos SantosBrazil£16,660$21,537
8Jose Echevarne GomezSpain£13,280$17,168
9Bhavin KhatriUnited Kingdom£10,000$12,927

*winner also receives an additional package worth $12,500 for the 2020 WSOP Main Event

Adrian Constantin Wins 2019 888poker LIVE London Main Event
Adrian Constantin Wins 2019 888poker LIVE London Main Event

For Constantin and runner-up Louis, it was the biggest payday on the live poker circuit thus far and third-place finisher Manuel Bueno even recorded his first-ever live cash. While he may have a very Spanish-sounding name, Bueno was born in Hamburg / Germany and currently lives in Brighton, just a short ride away from interesting poker evens in the British capital.

Fourth-place finisher Egidijus Alsauskas is a regular at the Aspers Casino and had several cashes in the 888poker LIVE Local Series to his name already. The Lithuanian won his Main Event ticket through an £60 live satellite at the card room and turned that into a payday of £33,230.

Three other 888poker online qualifiers reached the final day including Jose Echevarne Gomez (8th, for £13,280), Matthew Anderson (18th, for £5,120) and Teresa Purti (23rd, for £3,990). Other notables that returned to their seats for the final showdown were Ramlal Basdeo, 888poker WPT500 London champion Gary Miller, Mark Yi, Valdir Cordeiro dos Santos and Nikolay Ponomarev.

Bueno Goes From Short Stack to Chip Leader

Heading into the final day with 23 players remaining, Teresa Purti was the last woman standing and the 888poker qualifier from Spain would become the first casualty of the day when she jammed with king-queen into aces. By then, fellow short stack Manuel Bueno, who had started the day with 13 big blinds only had doubled, nearly tripled up and also emerged victorious in the perhaps most remarkable and pivotal hand of the day.

In a three-way limped pot, three straight and flush draws collided as Daniel Habib ended up at risk with ace-seven of clubs for the nut flush draw. Bueno had eight-four of clubs for an open-ended straight draw and the second-worst flush draw while Gary Miller had six-five of clubs for a pair and gutshot. Bueno turned an ace for the straight and the river came a blank.

Just one hand later, Miller three-bet jammed with eights and Bueno isolated with pocket tens to cement his status as the chip leader. As the field was slowly but surely whittled down to the final table, online qualifier Matthew Anderson, Ion Albu and Ramlal Basdeo had already visited the payout desk.

Scott Berko busted in cruel fashion when his queens failed to hold up against the ace-queen of Egidijus Alsauskas. Berko had the three clubs on the flop covered but an off suit ace hit the river. The eliminations of Andrew Connell and Gary Bertram then set up the nine-handed final table and Bueno had almost two-times as many chips as his nearest follower Alsauskas.

Manuel Bueno
First live cash and a top three finish for Manuel Bueno

Early Eliminations on the Final Table

Leon Louis and Adrian Constantin, who would end up in 2nd and 1st place eventually, were the bottom two stacks at the start of the final table and it was Bhavin Khatri that headed to the payout desk first. Khatri took a flip with ace-queen against pocket eights and an eight on the flop destroyed all his hopes of an even deeper run.

For 888poker qualifier Jose Echevarne Gomez, the end came in 8th place. Left short after his top pair and top kicker ran into the two pair of Louis, Gomez spiked one double before he lost a flip with fours against the ace-jack of Bueno. Louis also knocked out Valdir Cordeiro dos Santos when his kings held up pocket tens and Constantin remained as the only player below one million in chips with six remaining.

Nikolay Ponomarev lost several key showdowns in half an hour to become the next casualty and Constantin upped his aggression to chip up with several successful three-bets. The next casualty was Aleksandrs Golubevs who fell in a battle of the short stacks with Egidijus Alsauskas and that suddenly left just four players in contention.

Key Double Up for Constantin; Heads-Up Drama for Louis

Bueno had not surrendered the comfortable chip lead yet until then and that would all change in a key hand against Constantin. In three-way action, Bueno flopped top two pair with king-six and Constantin invested a big portion of his stack with queen-nine suited for the flush draw. Another spade appeared on the turn and the chips went in, Constantin held up in a crucial spot and took over the lead.

With plenty of chips at his disposal, Constantin amped up his aggression and pulled away further at the top of the leaderboard. Leon Louis sent Alsauskas to the rail when he flopped a full house with pocket tens and rivered quads for the second time on the final day for good measure. First deal negotiations broke out but no agreement could be found.

Only a few hands into the three-handed action, Constantin finished the job he had started earlier and sent Bueno to the rail in third place. The German flopped trips sixes and Constantin turned a straight to enter heads-up against Louis as 3-1 chip leader. However, only 15 minutes later it was Louis that scored the double and was suddenly in the driver's seat.

Constantin was on the ropes several times and all his following seven all-in showdowns ran out in his favor. He doubled six times, some of which came in utterly dramatic and heart-breaking fashion for Louis. When the Brit ended up at risk for the second time in heads-up, he turned two pair with queen-four and Constantin looked him up with ace-jack for top pair and a gutshot. A ten on the river gave Constantin a straight and the event came to a conclusion past 3.30 a.m. local time.

Adrian Constantin Wins 2019 888poker LIVE London Main Event
Adrian Constantin Wins 2019 888poker LIVE London Main Event

888poker ambassador Sofia Lovgren wins Ladies Event

While the £1,100 Main Event played down to the final three tables on the previous day, the Ladies Event took place and the £50 buy-in attracted a field of 37 unique players, who purchased an additional 22 rebuys to create a prize pool of £2,765. The top seven spots were paid and three 888poker ambassadors finished in the money.

One year ago at the same location, Sofia Lovgren was denied the trophy when she finished second to Natalia Drytchak. This time, Lovgren defeated fellow 888poker ambassador Daria Feshchenko in heads-up to claim the trophy for her cabinet.

Final Result Ladies Event

PlaceWinnerCountryPrize (in GBP)Prize (in USD)
1Sofia LovgrenSweden£900$1,165
2Daria FeshchenkoRussia£635$822
3Helen LambUnited Kingdom£410$531
4Ana MarquezSpain£330$427
5Thanh Thom PhamUnited Kingdom£245$317
6Andrea TincombeUnited Kingdom£165$214
7Katie LindsayUnited States£80$104
Sofia Lovgren Wins Ladies Event
Sofia Lovgren Wins Ladies Event

That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting from London and the preparations for the next 888poker LIVE festival are already in full swing. At the end of January 2020, the popular mid-stakes tour will be heading to Madrid for the first time and the €888 Main Event at the Casino Gran Via will feature a guaranteed prize pool of €800,000.

Tags: Adrian ConstantinAleksandrs GolubevsAndrew ConnellBhavin KhatriDaniel HabibDaria FeshchenkoEgidijus AlsauskasGary BertramGary MillerIon AlbuJose Echevarne GomezLeon LouisManuel BuenoMark YiMatthew AndersonNatalia DrytchakNikolay PonomarevRamlal BasdeoScott BerkoSofia LovgrenTeresa PurtiValdir Cordeiro dos Santos

CELEBRITY SIT-N-GO WITH PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALLERS & POKER PROS

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Premiere League football player James Maddison and his FC friends Michail Antonio, Ryan Fredericks, Callum Elders, Michael Hector and Marvin Morgan, join 888poker's Vivi Saliba and Tiffany Michelle for a live charity sit-n-go at the 888poker LIVE London poker festival, in coordination with the 'Fresh Ego Kid' brand.

Tags: 888poker888poker livejames maddisonmichail antoniotiffany michellevivian saliba

Leon Louis Eliminated in 2nd Place (£69,770)

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Leon Louis
Leon Louis

Adrian Constantin min-raised to 400,000 with the {a-Clubs}{j-Hearts} and Leon Louis called with the {q-Clubs}{4-Spades}. On the {a-Hearts}{k-Hearts}{q-Diamonds} flop, Leon check-called a bet of 400,000 and made two pair on the {4-Clubs} turn.

Louis check-jammed his short stack and Constantin instantly called to have the cards on their backs once more.

Constantin had plenty of outs and one of them was the {10-Diamonds} that came on the river to eliminate Louis in 2nd place for £69,770.

A recap of today's action is to follow.

Player Chips Progress
Adrian Constantin ro
Adrian Constantin
15,500,000 3,200,000
Leon Louis gb
Leon Louis
Busted

Tags: Adrian ConstantinLeon Louis

Two Bigger Pots for Constantin

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Leon Louis Limped the {j-Clubs}{6-Hearts} and Adrian Constantin checked with the {a-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}. On the {a-Clubs}{5-Hearts}{3-Diamonds} flop, Constantin hit top pair and check-called a bet of 200,000.

The {q-Clubs} followed on the turn and Constantin checked once more, Louis bet 1,000,000 and instantly folded to a shove.

Constantin limped the {5-Spades}{4-Spades} and Louis raised to 600,000 with {q-Clubs}{9-Spades}, which Constantin called. The {a-Spades}{k-Spades}{k-Hearts} flop brought a bet of 400,000 by Louis and a call. Constantin hit the {q-Spades} turn and bet 1,600,000, Louis check-folded.

Player Chips Progress
Adrian Constantin ro
Adrian Constantin
12,300,000 2,300,000
Leon Louis gb
Leon Louis
3,000,000 -2,400,000

Tags: Adrian ConstantinLeon Louis

Back and Forth Commences

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Adrian Constantin min-raised to 400,000 with the {j-Diamonds}{8-Clubs} and Leon Louis called with the {a-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}. On a flop of {j-Clubs}{6-Hearts}{4-Clubs}, Louis check-called a bet of 350,000 and quickly folded the turn to a second barrel to remain ahead by just three big blinds.

Louis then raised the {k-Diamonds}{8-Clubs} and Constantin came along with the {6-Hearts}{5-Clubs}. The {q-Hearts}{9-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds} flop brought a bet of 350,000 by Constantin and a call from Louis. The lead changed on the {k-Hearts} turn and Constantin check-folded to a bet of 1,000,000.

Player Chips Progress
Leon Louis gb
Leon Louis
9,100,000 600,000
Adrian Constantin ro
Adrian Constantin
6,500,000 -600,000

Tags: Adrian ConstantinLeon Louis

Quads for Constantin

Level 32 : 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante

Adrian Constantin limped the {4-Spades}{4-Clubs} and Leon Louis checked his option with the {q-Hearts}{2-Clubs}.

They checked the {a-Hearts}{j-Spades}{4-Hearts} flop and Louis check-called a bet of 300,000 on the {4-Diamonds} turn. After the {9-Spades} river, Louis checked and eventually called a bet worth 700,000 to get shown the quads as Constantin all but closed the gap.

Player Chips Progress
Leon Louis gb
Leon Louis
8,500,000 -1,300,000
Adrian Constantin ro
Adrian Constantin
7,100,000 1,300,000

Tags: Adrian ConstantinLeon Louis