Costa Brava

Play has ended with 58 players bagging up chips after fourteen 30-minute levels of play at the Gran Casino Costa Brava.

The 888Live Main Event attracted 165 entries, a mixture of 888poker qualifiers who have had an extended poker holiday in the sun and local players no doubt attracted by the $50,000 guarantee and great structure to the two-day event. Indeed, it looks as if one of the local players, Juan Lupol, is the end of day chip leader with 238,000.

Kara Scott made it through to Day 2 with 72,100 chips with the average being 71,121. The recently appointed 888 Ambassador will be looking to make it two live cashes in a row since her third place finish in London last month.

Kara's husband Giovanni Rizzo played but he was eliminated in level 11 although he thoroughly enjoyed himself saying soon after his exit, “It was a lot of fun, it’s been a good week all around. I will play the live local event now if I can still buy in or tomorrow day 1b."

"I had a good couple of early levels, got into a couple of good spots, and then I lost a substantial pot and lost two flips.” Asked if he had a last longer bet with Scott he laughed and said, “We never have a last longer bet, we are each other’s biggest fans. I hope she takes it down”.

UK poker pro Rupert Elder busted two levels from the close of play when he called an open in the big blind with eight-nine suited and saw the flop come ace-six-seven. Elder then shoved over a continuation bet from the aggressor who called holding ace-ten and held. Elder said he was looking forward to a morning on the beach tomorrow but promised to be back to do commentary for the final table which will be live streamed on Twitch.

Cards are back in the air at 5pm again tomorrow when the tournament will play down to a winner. The first serious order of business will be the bubble for a 19th place finish when one lucky player will walk away empty handed. From there a min-cash will be worth €750 with third place getting €6,400, second place €7,950 and the winner walking away with the title, the trophy and €11,000.

The players are on a well-earned 40-minute dinner at the 888Live Main Event after eight 30-minute levels. There are 163 entries and 122 players remain.

The entertainment started early when an 888 Bad Beat can with a miniature of vodka inside was broken out as one unlucky player had his aces cracked by a pair of eights that flopped a set.

A rather more enjoyable spot prize, a pair of wireless Sony speakers, was won at the end of level 2 when Adrian Nunez Paradelo made a full house with 8s5s on a final board of 4d5c8cks8h.

In the middle of the third level Kara Scott’s husband, poker pro Giovanni Rizzo, entered the tournament and drew the seat directly to Kara’s right to her delight and horror in equal measure. The fun would only last for a level though as new tables filled up and Scott was moved with instructions from Rizzo to, “Take it down.”

Rizzo appeared to be running over the table in the early levels but lost a few pots and faced a tough decision right at the break, letting his hand and a big pot go to end on around 35,000 chips.

Scott got to the break on a similar stack of 35,000 while UK poker pro Rupert Elder has dipped just below starting stack and has 20,000.

Martin White, one of the 888poker qualifier’s guests, has got off to a storming start and has 170,000 while the average is 33,471. “I hit three sets and a full house in five hands, easy game.” White said with a modest grin on his face as he headed off to the complimentary buffet.

When play resumes there will be another six levels to go before the surviving players bag up their chips at close to 2am.

_{IMages courtesy of Fabphotos}

Before the Main Event kicked in, a fun event organized by 888poker confirmed that the 888live tournaments are - by far - the best choice for those who need more than just poker action.

On Thursday, the event's online qualifiers and some very special guests like the room's ambassador Kara Scott and poker pro Rupert Elder left the casino room to enjoy the very best Spain has to offer: the hot weather, the warm Mediterranean sea, and the oh-so-sparkling Cava.

Check out the video below to see what happened:

888Live returns to Cost Brava for four days of fun, sun and poker from 18th to 22nd May. A total of 65 online qualifiers, VIPs and specially invited guests, including UK poker pro Rupert Elder, were flown in from around Europe to enjoy a relaxing poker holiday and to play in the $50,000 guarantee Main Event.

Guests arrived at the five-star Guitart Monterrey Hotel on Wednesday and were welcomed to the event that evening by 888poker Ambassador Kara Scott at a champagne reception. The following morning there were some specially laid on beach activities for players and their guests, including Banana Boat rides and Jet Skiing, and in the evening there was a Main Event Satellite Freeroll.

The Gran Casino Costa Brava is the venue for the poker tournaments and is a short walk from the hotel. The modern casino has a spacious poker room and there was a lively atmosphere as the Freeroll tournament kicked off at 8pm with 130 runners, a competitive mix of 888poker guests and local players.

With the opportunity to re-buy and a turbo structure, there was plenty of action as everyone was eager to grab a slice of that $50,000 guarantee the next day. Play went on until the early hours when eventually nine lucky players grabbed their ticket for entry into the Main Event.
888Live Costa Brava Main Event – Day 1 on Friday, May 20.

Cards are in the air at 5pm today for the Day 1 of the Main Event with Kara Scott giving a welcome speech and issuing the traditional “Shuffle up and deal.” This is the second live event in her new Ambassador role since finishing 3rd at the 888Live London Local event in March.

The tournament is expected to attract around 200 runners including the 888 qualifiers and Freeroll winners. The buy-in is €330 for those who haven’t qualified already, and that will get you a starting stack of 25,000 chips.

There are also special prizes on offer including an iPhone 6s for making a Royal Flush and Sony speakers for making a full house, eights or better. Day 1 is expected to wrap up around 2am with the survivors reconvening at 5pm on Saturday to play down to a winner, and the final table will be streamed on twitch for the first time.

That won’t be the end of the fun and poker though. At 6pm on Saturday, there will be a Special Bounty Freeroll with a $5,000 guarantee, and to round off the four-day event there is a Farewell VIP Party at the “Disco Tropics” where the celebrations will no doubt go on into the early hours.