2020 888poker LIVE Festival Madrid

€888 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2020 888poker LIVE Festival Madrid

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q10
Prize
€150,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€888
Prize Pool
€800,000
Entries
1,067
Level Info
Level
39
Blinds
800,000 / 1,600,000
Ante
1,600,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
532
Players Left
66

€888 Main Event

Day 2 Completed

Marco D'Amico Dominates Frantic End of Day 2; Fernando Pons Among Big Stacks

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Marco D'Amico
Marco D'Amico

The first three starting days of the 2020 888poker LIVE Madrid €888 Main Event put the tournament on track for a huge turnout for the first major live poker tournament at the Casino Gran Via in the heart of Madrid. With nearly 100 entries in the turbo heat at noon and an additional two levels of late registration and re-entries, the attendance reached four digits and a field of 1,067 entries emerged.

Upon completion of level 24, the initial wave of more than 500 poker enthusiasts from near and far was culled down all the way to the final 66 hopefuls. That number is especially remarkable considering that the top 125 spots were paid and the money bubble only burst one hour prior to bagging and tagging in the early morning hours.

Marco D'Amico ran the hottest during the late stages and frequently ensured that his table ended up short-handed and in need of fresh blood. The Italian topped the leaderboard with a stack of 4,590,000, however, Spain's Alvaro Puchol is not far behind with 4,230,000.

Another name that certainly stands out among the 66 survivors is former WSOP Main Event finalist Fernando Pons, who claimed the third-biggest stack of 3,470,000. From the very start of the day, Pons built his stack and will be a threat to look out for on the final day of the tournament. The Spaniard also already had a close call in an 888poker LIVE Main Event as he finished in 13th Place in London 2018 for £8,000.

Fernando Pons
Fernando Pons

Further notables for the final day include Alex Montgomery (2,780,000), Ran Shahar (2,270,000), Adrian State (2,000,000), Daniyar Aubakirov (1,825,000), Mario Melis (1,700,000), Claudio Di Giacomo (1,405,000), Ignacio Lopez De Maturana (1,000,000), Antonios Onoufriou (710,000), and Miguel "Gandalf" Riera (540,000).

A whole armada of 888poker ambassadors returned to their seats for Day 2 of the Main Event which saw over 500 hopefuls in contention when the cards were dealt for the first time. Kara Scott and Sofia Lovgren entered with a fresh stack of 88,000, but no ambassador made the cut to take home a share of the €800,000 prize pool.

Scott lost the vast majority of her stack on a hero-call with pocket sixes against Lin Ruida, who had flopped a king-high straight and could not believe what happened. Scott, who left the table with her bright trademark smile, later took to social media to refer to this very specific hand.

Indeed it would take many more hours to get close to the money bubble and Dominik Nitsche, as well as Ana Marquez, came up short in their bid. The 2019 London runner-up Leon Louis, Younesse Oualgasi, and Chris Da-Silva were high profile eliminations without having anything to show for. Da-Silva fell two off the money when his queens ran into kings, and a very tantalizing bubble period followed.

Usually the short stacks end up at risk with pocket aces, but this time kings were involved in the first four showdowns in quick succession. Each time the player at risk held up and tournament staff even jokingly threatened to take all kings out of the decks when it happened a fifth time. Ultimately, the madness came to an end in a different kind of fashion.

Eduards Rakuss was blinded out and forced all-in from the big blind, and he could not make the cut with eight-deuce versus jack-ten. Most bubble boys would leave the tournament area with a quite upset mood but the Latvian just laughed, bumped fists with all players at his table and sat down seconds later on a nearby cash game table.

Eduards Rakuss Bubbles
Eduards Rakuss Bubbles

One more hour was to be played and as many minutes were left on the clock, almost as many players headed to the payout desk to collect their earnings. Among others, that would be the case for Abdelhadi Kondah, Byungwook Ahn, Sergio Alonso, Mehdi Hsissen, Evangelos Bechrakis, Carl Shaw and Marius Gicovanu.

The remaining 66 players have €2,400 locked up thus far but all eyes are set on the top prize of €150,000, the trophy and the $12,500 package for the 2020 WSOP Main Event courtesy of event sponsor 888poker. As of 2 p.m. local time the following day, the PokerNews team will be back on the floor to provide all the action from start to finish, and the live stream action on a security delay of 30 minutes with hole cards displayed can be found on the 888poker social media channels.

2020 888poker LIVE Madrid Day 3 Seat Draw

TableSeatPlayerCountryChip Count
161Khalil YoussafiGermany1,100,000
162Paolo BoiItaly550,000
163Alessandro CampedelliItaly780,000
164Pere Llopis OrdinesSpain220,000
165Manuel BorgesPortugal2,320,000
166Carlos MarinaSpain1,730,000
167Reinaldo PerdomoSpain1,700,000
168Krasimir KirilovBulgaria1,475,000
     
171Gilad Yam-HodIsrael1,180,000
172Abraham SerranoSpain700,000
173Luis FalconSpain2,075,000
174Gleb NovikRussia920,000
175Amihai NecmanIsrael1,140,000
176Bruno HormigoPortugal1,955,000
177Daniel Rodriguez BuretaSpain520,000
178Mario MelisItaly1,700,000
179Carlos Herraiz MoralesSpain850,000
     
181Lin RuidaChina2,530,000
182Daniel TafurSpain1,800,000
183Stephen ElliottUnited States1,305,000
184Miguel RieraSpain540,000
185Aaron Rivero DalySpain430,000
186Marcos RochaPortugal430,000
187Juan Francesco Vega QuintanaSpain1,010,000
188Ruben De PedroSpain3,000,000
189Federico AnselmiItaly495,000
     
191Marco D'AmicoItaly4,590,000
192Alvaro PucholSpain4,230,000
193Fernando PonsSpain3,470,000
194Pablo PaezSpain1,600,000
195Salvador SoriaSpain2,100,000
196Petru TarlevSpain885,000
197Miguel Angel LopezSpain580,000
198Antonio SmeragliaItaly910,000
     
201Selim SouissiSwitzerland1,700,000
202Alex Martinez TormosSpain2,280,000
203Cristinel CostinRomania800,000
204Aleksandr SazhinovRussia780,000
205Marco BiavaschiItaly875,000
206Bruce FishmanUnited Kingdom1,675,000
207Miguel TejeroSpain1,735,000
208Juan Carlos MartinSpain860,000
     
211Pablo OsunaSpain820,000
212Emil WestmanSweden700,000
213Antonios OnoufriouCyprus710,000
214Alex MontgomeryUnited Kingdom2,780,000
215Liangle NiChina645,000
216Antonio RomeroSpain1,220,000
217Alberto BlancoSpain2,515,000
218Alejandro SanchezSpain2,005,000
     
221Lotfi BoughannaiFrance515,000
222Claudio Di GiacomoItaly1,405,000
223David Gozalez DelgadoSpain3,200,000
224Adrian StateRomania2,000,000
225Alessandro BorsaItaly615,000
226Meir AvigalIsrael525,000
227Daniyar AubakirovKazakhstan1,825,000
228Ignacio Lopez De MaturanaSpain1,000,000
     
231Ran ShaharIsrael2,270,000
232Juanba MartinSpain1,875,000
233Xiaozhe LiuChina1,670,000
234Israel AvrahamIsrael1,000,000
235Jose Luis GarridoPortugal430,000
236Israel MarmolesSpain375,000
237Tomasz BrzezinskiPoland600,000
238Juan Jose Marfil PerezSpain350,000

Tags: 888poker LIVEAlex MontgomeryAlvaro PucholAna MarquezAntonios OnoufriouByungwook AhnCarl ShawCasino Gran ViaChris Da SilvaClaudio Di GiacomoDaniyar AubakirovDominik NitscheEduards RakussEvangelos BechrakisFernando PonsIgnacio Lopez De MaturanaKara ScottLeon LouisLin RuidaMarco D'AmicoMario MelisMarius GicovanuMehdi HsissenRan ShaharSergio AlonsoSofia LovgrenYounesse Oualgasi

End of Day 2 Chip Counts (full)

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Marco D'Amico it
Marco D'Amico
4,590,000
590,000
590,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Alvaro Puchol es
Alvaro Puchol
4,230,000
3,940,000
3,940,000
Profile photo of Fernando Pons es
Fernando Pons
3,470,000
1,370,000
1,370,000
Profile photo of David Gonzalez Delgado es
David Gonzalez Delgado
3,200,000
3,200,000
3,200,000
Profile photo of Ruben De Pedro es
Ruben De Pedro
3,000,000
100,000
100,000
Profile photo of Alex Montgomery gb
Alex Montgomery
2,780,000
-20,000
-20,000
Profile photo of Lin Ruida cn
Lin Ruida
2,530,000
-270,000
-270,000
Day 1C Chip Leader
Profile photo of Alberto Blanco es
Alberto Blanco
2,515,000
15,000
15,000
Profile photo of Manuel Borges pt
Manuel Borges
2,320,000
-80,000
-80,000
Profile photo of Alex Martinez Tormos es
Alex Martinez Tormos
2,280,000
2,219,000
2,219,000
Profile photo of Ran Shahar il
Ran Shahar
2,270,000
770,000
770,000
Profile photo of Salvador Soria es
Salvador Soria
2,100,000
-200,000
-200,000
Profile photo of Luis Falcon es
Luis Falcon
2,075,000
2,075,000
2,075,000
Profile photo of Alejandro Sanchez es
Alejandro Sanchez
2,005,000
1,822,700
1,822,700
Profile photo of Adrian State ro
Adrian State
2,000,000
1,800,000
1,800,000
Profile photo of Bruno Hormigo pt
Bruno Hormigo
1,955,000
-545,000
-545,000
Profile photo of Juanba Martin es
Juanba Martin
1,875,000
1,515,000
1,515,000
Profile photo of Daniyar Aubakirov kz
Daniyar Aubakirov
1,825,000
1,250,000
1,250,000
Profile photo of Daniel Tafur es
Daniel Tafur
1,800,000
500,000
500,000
Profile photo of Miguel Tejero es
Miguel Tejero
1,735,000
1,620,000
1,620,000
Profile photo of Carlos Marina es
Carlos Marina
1,730,000
230,000
230,000
Profile photo of Selim Souissi tn
Selim Souissi
1,700,000
1,050,000
1,050,000
Profile photo of Mario Melis it
Mario Melis
1,700,000
1,426,400
1,426,400
Profile photo of Reinaldo Perdomo es
Reinaldo Perdomo
1,700,000
400,000
400,000
Profile photo of Bruce Fishman gb
Bruce Fishman
1,675,000
-25,000
-25,000

Read full

Day 2 Completed

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

After a marathon session at the tables until the end of level 24, only 66 players have bagged up for the night. Arie Zilberman, who finished 3rd in the High Roller, had gone all-in blind for several hands in a row after losing the massive pot not long ago. He bagged close to one million in chips and opted to surrender, thus finishing in 67th position.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Arie Zilberman il
Arie Zilberman
Busted

Tags: Arie Zilberman

The Last Hands of the Night

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Irena Macesovic
Irena Macesovic

Irena Macesovic had grinded a stack well below the average for a long time and saw dozens of players walk past her on the way to the payout desk. However, it all ended for the Lithuanian eventually as the field was cut down to fewer than 70 hopefuls with Macesovic out in 69th place.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Endrit Geci gb
Endrit Geci
Busted
Profile photo of Irena Macesovic lt
Irena Macesovic
Busted
Profile photo of Paul van Oort nl
Paul van Oort
Busted
Profile photo of Axel Orellana us
Axel Orellana
Busted

Yang Celebrates Too Early

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Yimin Yang
Yimin Yang

Yimin Yang was all in for more than 900,000 and initial raiser Alex Montgomery called to create a pot worth well above the average stack size.

Yimin Yang: {a-Spades}{j-Diamonds}
Alex Montgomery: {a-Hearts}{k-Diamonds}

Yang loudly celebrated on the {j-Clubs}{4-Diamonds}{2-Spades} flop but it was Montgomery that came out with the best of it on the {10-Clubs} turn and {q-Clubs} river. Montgomery himself took offense to Yang's celebration and returned the favor, both then traded some words before Yang headed to the payout desk.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Alex Montgomery gb
Alex Montgomery
2,800,000
2,050,000
2,050,000
Profile photo of Yimin Yang gb
Yimin Yang
Busted

Tags: Alex MontgomeryYimin Yang

Huge Double for De Pedro

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

If the move had run out in his favor, Lin Ruida would have been the overwhelming chipleader. Instead, the Chinese is still a big stack but had to fork over massive 1,360,000 to Ruben De Pedro.

What started with an innocent limp eventually ended in a big jam by De Pedro and Ruida somehow called the shove for a huge overbet to leave the table aghast once the cards were turned over.

Ruben De Pedro: {10-Spades}{10-Hearts}
Lin Ruida: {j-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}

The {7-Spades}{6-Spades}{4-Clubs}{7-Diamonds}{a-Diamonds} board kept pocket tens in the lead to take a chunk out of Ruida's stack.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Ruben De Pedro es
Ruben De Pedro
2,900,000
2,705,900
2,705,900
Profile photo of Lin Ruida cn
Lin Ruida
2,800,000
700,000
700,000
Day 1C Chip Leader

Tags: Lin RuidaRuben de Pedro

D'Amico Steaming Further Away

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Oscar Gironella, Javier Romero and Sergio Gonzalez Alvarez have been sent to the payout desk just shy of the pay jump and the table of Marco D'Amico is once again waiting for opponents as the Italian has cleaned up and further boosted his already almighty stack.

Gonzalez Alvarez was the latest victim when his {q-Diamonds}{9-Spades} ended up second-best versus {j-Diamonds}{10-Hearts} on a board of {a-Diamonds}{j-Hearts}{7-Spades}{8-Clubs}{2-Diamonds}.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Marco D'Amico it
Marco D'Amico
4,000,000
900,000
900,000
Day 2 Chip Leader
Profile photo of Sergio Gonzalez Alvarez es
Sergio Gonzalez Alvarez
Busted
Profile photo of Javier Romero es
Javier Romero
Busted
Profile photo of Chris Cajochen ch
Chris Cajochen
Busted
Profile photo of Oscar Gironella es
Oscar Gironella
Busted

Tags: Javier RomeroMarco D'AmicoOscar GironellaSergio Gonzalez

Fishman Strikes Again

Level 23 : 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante

Valeriu Rosca was all-in for what appeared to be 650,000 and Bruce Fishman took the risk, he had previously pointed out that he'd have a flight to catch. Those travel plans may need to be adjusted, however, as the Brit won the flip with {a-Clubs}{10-Clubs} versus {8-Diamonds}{8-Hearts} on a board of {9-Clubs}{6-Clubs}{2-Clubs}{5-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}.

Also no longer in contention: Marius Gicovanu and Gonzalo Huerta.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Bruce Fishman gb
Bruce Fishman
1,700,000
500,000
500,000
Profile photo of Marius Gicovanu ro
Marius Gicovanu
Busted
Profile photo of Valeriu Rosca ro
Valeriu Rosca
Busted
Profile photo of Gonzalo Huerta es
Gonzalo Huerta
Busted

Tags: Bruce FishmanValeriu Rosca