Malta's ".RUIT.HORA." Wins the 888poker XL Blizzard Main Event ($91,847)
After more than 15.5 hours of play, Malta's ".RUIT.HORA." emerged victorious in the XL Blizzard Event #32 - $500,000 Main Event for $91,847.
The $500,000 guarantee was smashed with the 1,783 entries and 531 rebuys generating a $543,790 prize pool. A total of 207 players were paid at least a min-cash of $598 for more than double the $250 tournament buy-in.
At least five 888poker Ambassadors entered the tournament. Sofia "sofialovgren" Lovgren was out before the late registration period was over while Chris "888Moorman" Moorman and Ana "anamarquez" Marquez were also both on the rail before the money.
Dominik "888Dominik" Nitsche (87th - $1,088) and Martin "MJacobson888" Jacobson (148th - $707) both had more success than their fellow ambassadors by going deep into the money.
The final table began nearly 12 hours after the tournament kicked off after Lithuania's "Estrellittaa" bowed out in tenth place for $4,568. "MisterN411" began the final table action in the lead with almost double the chips of the second place stack of ".RUIT.HORA.".
Greece's "Gkap13" was first to go at the final table in ninth place for $5,873 when his or her ace-three didn't get there against the pocket sixes held by Brazil's "catcholao".
Shortly after, Germany's "polomichi18" was ousted in eighth place for $10,332 when this player's ace-five proved to be no good against the pocket fives held by ".RUIT.HORA.".
"DeucesofDuc0" then eliminated Bahrain's "MFA1770" in seventh place for $15,498 with king-queen holding strong against queen-jack. ".RUIT.HORA" then took the chip lead after eliminating "catcholao" in sixth place for $20,664.
Next to go was Russia's "petushki777" in fifth place for $25,830 after this player jammed a short stack with pocket nines only to run into the pocket tens held by "MisterN411".
The chip lead then changed hands several times. First, it went back to "MisterN411" before ".RUIT.HORA." reclaimed it. "DeuceofDuc0" was able to grab the lead before extending it to more than half the chips in play by eliminating Russia's "Gunning_4you" in fourth place for $35,346. The money was all-in preflop but by the end of the hand the pocket sevens held by "Gunning_4you" nailed a set only to lose to a flush with "DeuceofDuc0" connecting with his or her ace-jack suited.
"DeuceofDuc0" was able to extend his or her lead to more than double both of his or her opponents combined. This player amassed even more chips heading into heads-up battle. "DeuceofDuc0" nailed quads with pocket threes in an all-in preflop flip against king-seven to eliminate "MisterN411" in third place for $50,029.
"DeuceofDuc0" entered heads-up play with a 4:1 chip advantage but ".RUIT.HORA." was able to battle back to almost even the stacks.
The second to last hand was the game changer when ".RUIT.HORA." caught his opponent bluffing and made a big hero-call with fourth-pair to leave his opponent with about three big blinds.
".RUIT.HORA." then jammed the button the next hand with king-deuce and was able to hold against five-four to eliminated "DeuceofDuc0" in second place for $65,364.
888poker XL Blizzard Event #32: $500,000 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .RUIT.HORA. | Malta | $91,847 |
| 2 | DeuceofDuc0 | Unknown | $65,364 |
| 3 | MisterN411 | Unknown | $50,029 |
| 4 | Gunning_4you | Russia | $35,346 |
| 5 | petushki777 | Russia | $25,830 |
| 6 | catcholao | Brazil | $20,664 |
| 7 | MFA1770 | Bahrain | $15,498 |
| 8 | polomichi18 | Germany | $10,332 |
| 9 | Gkap13 | Greece | $5,873 |
This concludes the coverage of XL Blizzard. Stay tuned to PokerNews as we cover more live and online events including the World Series of Poker this summer.