XL Spring #23 - $500,000 Main Event
Day 1 Completed
2021 888poker XL Spring Series
XL Spring #23 - $500,000 Main Event
Day: 1
Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov Wins XL Spring Series Main Event for $69,050
Level 46
: 500,000/1,000,000, 125,000 ante
It took more than 12 hours, but Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov from Russia has emerged the winner of XL Spring #23 - $500,000 Main Event for almost $70,000. They made their way through a field of 1,654 entries to win the biggest share of the $500,000 prize pool.
Kuznetsov is no stranger to online poker cash. According to PocketFives, he has over $1 million in online winnings, nearly $500,000 of which comes from almost 9,000 cashes on 888poker. Prior to this win, his biggest previous score was $15,297 for 2nd place in the 2020 Mini EPT Online 07, followed by a 2014 third place finish worth $11,637 in the $125,000 Mega Deep on 888poker.
That makes the $69,050 he won today his biggest score ever, and pushes his total 888poker winnings over the $500,000 mark to about $557,000.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov | Russia | $69,050 |
| 2 | KiddPT | $50,400 | |
| 3 | FLRAP | Ukraine | $37,050 |
| 4 | aziz.Mancha | Brazil | $27,450 |
| 5 | Pedro "PaDiLhA10" Padilha | Brazil | $20,300 |
| 6 | RLYZacEfron | Brazil | $15,150 |
| 7 | nlfreddie | United Kingdom | $11,350 |
| 8 | notaboutlove | United Kingdom | $8,600 |
| 9 | Porto69 | Germany | $6,550 |
The Day's Action
Play got underway at 1 p.m. eastern time, and by the time registration closed 4.5 hours in, there were 1,654 total entries, composed of 1,321 unique players and 333 rebuys. That wasn't quite enough players to hit the guarantee, so they were playing for the $500,000 guarantee.
There were four members of the 888poker team in action today. The newest addition to the team, streamer Josh "PumpkinKing" Manley was playing his first series as an official streamer, but he was unable to get anything going today. Both he and ambassador Sofia "sofialovgren" Lovgren went out before the money.
Dominik "888Dominik" Nitsche and Vivian "vivi.888." Saliba had better luck however, as both players wore their 888poker badges into the money. Nitsche jumped into the game late, but was able to work his way into a couple ladders, finishing in 140th for $850. Saliba continued her ambassadorial dominance for this series with an 86th place finish for $1,050. Saliba has been the last ambassador standing in every event PokerNews has covered this week with several cashes and a final table.
It took about 3 hours to go from the end of registration to 50 players left, as action moved very quickly, and three hours later they were on the bubble for the final table. "Machidon7" ended up bubbling the final table when they shoved suited connectors blind on blind, and ran into an ace.
"Porto69" busted off the final table early with a poorly timed steal attempt, but they played eight handed for nearly 30 minutes. Kuznetsov had dropped to the shortest stack on the table, but stacks were so shallow at that point that he was able to take the lead with a single double when his aces held against the tens of "aziz.Mancha".
Three quick eliminations followed before it stalled again at five-handed play. It took nearly 45 minutes until "KiddPT" dispatched Pedro "PaDiLhA10" Padilha in 5th, during which time they amassed a massive stack of more than 33 million with barely 15 million between the other three.
Kuznetsov was the shortest stack with just 4 big blinds, but staged a huge comeback busting "aziz.Mancha" and "FLRAP" to get heads up against "KiddPT" with a bit more than half the chips of their opponent. Kuznetsov was able to even it back up again with a big hand where they called a check-raise on the flop, then bet a paired turn for the win. "KiddPT" battled back into the lead, but then lost a huge flip with ace-ten into Kuznetsov's eights to leave them very short. They survived a few more hands, but ultimately ended in 2nd place for $50,400.
Kuznetsov's $69,050 win looks to be the biggest of his career by a long shot, and it brings his lifetime 888poker winnings to almost $558,000.
"KiddPT" Eliminated in 2nd Place ($50,400)
Level 46
: 500,000/1,000,000, 125,000 ante
Shortly after taking the lead, "KiddPT" shoved over a raise from Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov and wound up in a race.
Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov: 
"KiddPT": 
Board: 
Kuznetsov won the race and left "KiddPT" very short. They doubled once but the game ended a few hands later when Kuznetsov's fives held against 
for the final 14 big blind pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
49,620,000 | 26,594,763 |
|
Busted |
"KiddPT" Back with Lead
Level 46
: 500,000/1,000,000, 125,000 ante
Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov chipped up to almost 3:2 lead, but then gave it back on an interesting hand. "KiddPT" limped, then called a raise to 3.12 million. The flop came 
and "KiddPT" check-raised from 1.232 million to 2,588,313. Kuznetsov called , then called again when "KiddPT" bet 2,827,950 on the turn. "KiddPT" shoved for more than 11 million on the 
river, and got the fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
26,594,763 | 1,091,200 |
|
|
23,025,237 | -1,091,200 |
Level: 46
Blinds: 500,000/1,000,000
Ante: 125,000
Even Stacks
Level 45
: 400,000/800,000, 100,000 ante
Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov has managed to chip back up to even, with a lot of the chips coming in a hand where they called a check-raise on the flop, then took ti down with a bet when the turn paired a ten.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
25,503,563 | -5,558,000 |
|
|
24,116,437 | 5,558,000 |
"FLRAP" Eliminated in 3rd Place ($37,050)
Level 45
: 400,000/800,000, 100,000 ante
"FLRAP" shoved less than 5 million from the small blind, and Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov called the big. "FLRAP" had jack-ten but ran into ace-jack and couldn't get there.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
31,061,563 | 4,000,000 |
|
|
18,558,437 | 1,592,261 |
|
Busted |
"aziz.Mancha" Eliminated in 4th Place ($27,450)
Level 45
: 400,000/800,000, 100,000 ante
Most of the damage done when "aziz.Mancha" doubled up Denis "_DENGER_" Kuznetsov with queen-jack into ace-queen. That left them short, and they busted two hands later.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
27,061,563 | -2,858,368 |
|
|
16,966,176 | 12,391,456 |
|
|
5,582,261 | |
|
Busted |
"aziz.Mancha" Doubles
Level 45
: 400,000/800,000, 100,000 ante
"aziz.Mancha" got it in with the worst ace, but ran out to trip deuces against the ace-nine of "KiddPT".
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
29,919,931 | -3,341,404 |
|
|
9,533,088 | 3,566,544 |
|
|
5,582,261 | -2,400,000 |
|
|
4,574,720 | 2,174,860 |
Level: 45
Blinds: 400,000/800,000
Ante: 100,000