The final table of the $500,000 guaranteed 2023 888poker XL Winter Series Main Event went like a whirlwind, taking just over an hour to complete. In the end, "AMG_people" had to come back from a huge heads-up deficit to take down the big prize in a field that saw more than 2,050 entries and 402 Day 2 players.
The winner also picked up more than $3,000 in bounties over the course of the tournament, making their final score more than $37,500. That was the highest total prize from the final table, but with $4,000 more in bounties, second place "alwaySsmilee" came close with just over $32,500.
The one player in the game who capped the winner was the 29th-place finisher "SickSlick" from Germany. That player only pocketed $900 in prizes, but they took the $50,000 top bounty plus a few more for a total of $56,333. "Sim0nK", who finished seventh, banked almost $20,000 in bounties for the third-best final table total, and "Lenny03041" scored $15,000 in bounties without even cashing.
2023 888poker XL Winter Series Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Bounty | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMG_people | Ukraine | $3,067 | $34,525 | $37,592 |
| 2 | alwaySsmilee | Ukraine | $7,367 | $25,200 | $32,567 |
| 3 | Dan "badrobot27" Charlton | United Kingdom | $3,668 | $18,525 | $22,193 |
| 4 | Mgrazziotin | Brazil | $3,867 | $13,725 | $17,592 |
| 5 | TuckaIF | United Kingdom | $1,601 | $10,150 | $11,751 |
| 6 | _zarkou_ | Finland | $1,834 | $7,575 | $9,409 |
| 7 | Sim0nK | Lithuania | $19,802 | $5,675 | $25,477 |
| 8 | RUNRANRUNIT8 | Lithuania | $1,334 | $4,300 | $5,634 |
| 9 | kellerassel0 | Germany | $1,300 | $3,275 | $4,575 |
Main Event Action
After several Day 1 flights throughout the series, there were a total of 2,059 entries, including rebuys, for the $500,000 2023 888poker XL Winter Series Main Event. That wasn't quite enough to break the $500,000 guarantee, so it meant that 240 players benefit from an overlay.
A total of 402 players bagged stacks for Day 2, which played out over five and a half hours on January 30. Three members of Team888 started the day with chips, but the best result for the sponsored players came from Ian "simpioni" Simpson in 108th.
The big $50,000 bounty went pretty early in the day, so some of the mystery bounty excitement was quelled, but that didn't stop the game from getting from 402 down to the 240 money spots within the first three levels of the final day's action. The play never really slowed down, and "alwaySsmilee" went on a late-day run to take over the lead for the final day of play.
They held that lead through nearly the whole day and looked like they'd go wire to wire on Day 3. "AMG_people" had other ideas, however. Both players were from Ukraine, but the eventual winner was out-chipped by more than six-to-one coming into the final phase after arriving on the final day seventh in chips with barely one million chips.
"AMG_people" took the lead shortly after the heads-up began after doubling with a flopped straight, then taking down a three-bet pot on a king-high flop. "alwaySsmilee" came back to take a small lead, but then it all went south, with "AMG_people" taking it down with ace-jack versus ace-king a few hands later.
That brings the PokerNews' coverage of 888poker's XL Winter Series to a close. Stay tuned for more coverage from poker series around the globe on both the real and virtual felt.
