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His Turn: Alvaro Murciano Gets Redemption in the 888poker Live Barcelona Main Event
F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously wrote that there are “no second acts,” but it took Alvaro Murciano just over a year to get a chance at disproving that adage.
In January 2025, Murciano reached heads-up of the 888poker Live Madrid Main Event against team ambassador Ian Simpson. After a lengthy battle that contained many swings of fortune, Simpson prevailed as the clock went past 4 a.m. It was a bittersweet ending for Murciano, who had to accept second place and €42,000 as a consolation prize.
Fast forward 16 months, and Murciano found himself on the same stage, with the same opportunity that eluded him in Madrid. He was chip leader at the final table of the 888poker Live Barcelona €888 Main Event, and this time he wouldn’t be denied the trophy. Murciano ended up running over the table and building an astronomical chip lead on his way to finishing off German Zafra heads-up and capturing the title.
888poker Live Barcelona Main Event Final Table results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alvaro Murciano | Spain | €50,000 |
| 2 | German Zafra | Spain | €30,000 |
| 3 | Jesus Ramos | Spain | €20,000 |
| 4 | Pol Silva | Spain | €14,500 |
| 5 | Michael Falcon | Denmark | €11,600 |
| 6 | Florens Feenstra | Netherlands | €9,880 |
| 7 | Ryan Dansie | United Kingdom | €8,400 |
| 8 | Mateo Flament | Spain | €7,100 |
| 9 | Jordi Conejos | Spain | €6,100 |
“It means a lot. I ended up heads-up last year. It means a lot to win and take that personal revenge,” Murciano said through a translator after prevailing over the 350-player field to win the €50,000 top prize and gold-plated trophy.
“It was a huge extra motivation. I already felt pretty close to winning the trophy. It was a huge point, like, I can win it.”
Simpson was among the first to greet Murciano after his win, the two former opponents sharing an embrace. “My turn, my turn,” Simpson’s fellow 888poker team member Ricardo Mateus shouted out. The joy of finishing the job this time was palpable across Murciano’s face.
He didn’t have much to worry about this time. After winning a massive pot to bust fellow big stack Michael Falcon in fifth place, Murciano controlled more than 80 percent of the chips in play. It took him just five more hands to bust Pol Silva in fourth and Jesus “el_chur” Ramos in third, setting up a heads-up match against Zafra with Murciano holding a 16-to-1 chip lead. Murciano won every pot of heads-up before finally hitting a pair of kings on the turn to complete his dream run to the trophy.
“It felt scripted. Every time I tried to bluff, the other players folded. When I had good hands, they called. It was amazing. It felt like a script,” Murciano said.
Murciano had around €70,000 in live tournament earnings before this event, according to The Hendon Mob, most of that coming from his runner-up finish to Simpson. He describes himself, though, primarily as an online professional, but he’s become a regular fixture at 888poker Live events. He’s also made the trip to the UK for their festivals there in the past year. For Murciano, playing these events is a way to escape from his usual profession.
“I play professionally online. Live events are a hobby and something to disconnect from online poker,” he said.
Final Table Action
The final nine players returned to the Casino Barcelona at 4 p.m. local time to battle for the trophy. They had each locked up at least €6,100 out of the €263,424 prize pool, but all eyes were on the €50,000 top prize.
Murciano was in pole position at the start of the day, beginning as chip leader with 4,765,000 and nearly 1,500,000 ahead of Jordi Conejos in second place. Falcon narrowed the gap on Murciano when he won a big pot off Conejos, floating the flop and hitting a pair of kings on the turn as Conejos couldn’t shake Falcon with a bet of 500,000. Falcon then took the chip lead when Ramos bluffed for 300,000 on the river with queen-high, and Falcon called him down with two pair.
Conejos’ bad day continued when he lost a big flip to Ryan Dansie, with Dansie hitting a pair of kings on the turn to beat Conejos’ jacks. Conejos then moved all in for 740,000 with two eights, and Falcon called with queen-ten. Falcon hit top pair on the flop to take the lead, and Conejos couldn’t catch up as he was sent to the rail in ninth place after starting the final table in second. Falcon, meanwhile, moved up past 6,000,000 and more than 2,000,000 ahead of Murciano.
Florens Feenstra doubled up with ace-high against Mateo Flament, dropping Flament to less than a big blind. Flament ran into Dansie’s aces the next hand to fall in eighth place. Murciano then picked up two aces and raised to 160,000 under the gun. Falcon called in the big blind, and they went heads-up to a queen-high flop. Both players checked to the turn, where Murciano bet 200,000. Falcon then raised to 500,000, and Murciano called. The river brought a second queen and Falcon bet 800,000. Murciano ripped off his sunglasses and went through multiple time banks before calling, and Falcon instantly mucked his nine-high bluff to surrender the pot and the chip lead.
Murciano continued running over the table when he and Dansie saw an ace-high flop. Dansie bet 80,000 and Murciano called to the turn, where Dansie bet another 550,000. Murciano called once more before leading out for 160,000 on the river. Dansie moved all in for 1,085,000, and Murciano snap-called. Dansie showed two pair, aces and eights, but Murciano had gone runner-runner to make the nut flush and eliminate Dansie in seventh place.
Feenstra and Zafra got all their chips in the middle on an ace-high flop, Feenstra with top pair and Zafra with a flush draw. Feenstra stayed ahead on the turn, but Zafra hit his flush on the river to double up and leave Feenstra on a short stack.
Despite the four shorter stacks and big pay jumps, Murciano and Falcon weren’t afraid to tangle with each other. They went to an ace-high flop where Murciano bet 120,000. Falcon then raised to 260,000, and Murciano called. Falcon then bet 350,000 on the turn, and Murciano came back with his own raise to 1,200,000. Falcon called, and they checked down the river. Falcon had missed a flush draw, while Murciano’s king-high was good enough for him to win another massive pot and approach 10,000,000.
After the remaining six players went off on a short break, Feenstra got in his last 255,000 with king-eight but ran right into Falcon’s queens to fall in sixth. Falcon and Murciano, far ahead of the rest of the field, then got involved in another pot that would decisvely alter the final table. Murciano called Falcon’s three-bet to 700,000 and they went heads-up to the ace-high flop. Falcon bet 500,000 and Murciano called. Falcon checked the turn, Murciano bet 700,000, and Falcon moved all in for 3,190,000. Murciano snap-called with a flopped set, while Falcon had top pair and a flush draw. The river was no help, and Falcon crashed out in fifth place.
Murciano made quick work of the rest of the short stacks. He first shoved the river against Silva, and Silva called for his last 660,000 with queens and deuces. Murciano, though, had rivered kings and fours to eliminate Silva in fourth. Ramos then got in his last 765,000 with ace-three and was up against Murciano’s king-four. But today was just Murciano’s day, and he spiked trips on the flop to send the 888poker streamer to the rail in third.
Murciano led Zafra 16,040,000 to 1,470,000 at the start of heads-up. He won the first four hands, including picking off a bluff on the river by calling down with king-high to leave Zafra with less than 1,000,000. On the 53rd hand of the final table, Murciano shoved on the button and Zafra called for 660,000. Zafra’s queen-nine was dominated by Murciano’s king-nine, but he pulled ahead on the queen-high flop. The turn was a king to give Murciano the lead, and the tournament was over a card later.
There were no dramatics in this duel, no momentum changes, no late-night endurance tests as there was against Simpson last year. Murciano was determined not to be denied this time, and he can finally call himself an 888poker Live champion.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the 888poker Live Barcelona Main Event. The tour next heads to the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London in October.