Seventy-three 888poker players bought into the XL Retro Super High Roller event for $2,100 and it was Ireland's "9salute46" who outlasted them all. The Irish star became an XL Retro champion, and padded his 888poker bankroll with $48,750 of the $150,000 prize pool.
The action at the final table was fast and furious, thanks to the average stack being around 20 big blinds. Brazil's "FranciscoAI" went into the eight-handed finale as the chip leader, yet his stack was still only 49 big blinds. 9salute46 was second in chips at the restart with a 27 big blind stack.
XL Retro Super High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9salute46 | Ireland | $48,750 |
| 2 | feerofeero | Ukraine | $31,500 |
| 3 | FranciscoAI | Brazil | $22,500 |
| 4 | BetBetFck | Ukraine | $15,000 |
| 5 | sk8erisz | Lithuania | $11,250 |
| 6 | matokr | $8,250 | |
| 7 | bettyordaine | United Kingdom | $6,750 |
| 8 | dadude50 | $6,000 |
"dadude50" went into the final table action as the shortest stack, but found an early double-up when his ace-deuce of diamonds held against the queen-jack of FranciscoAI. However, any thoughts of an epic comeback were soon dashed when dadude50 three-bet all-in for 8.1 big blinds from the small blind with pocket nines after "matokr" had min-raised from early position with pocket kings. Matokr called, the kings held, and the final table lost its first player.
The United Kingdom's "bettyordinarie" was the next casualty of this Super High Roller final table. The Brit raised to six big blinds, leaving themselves 3.5 big blinds behind. Matokr three-bet enough from the big blind to set bettyordinaire all-in, and they called. It was pocket nines for the all-in player versus ace-ten, one of tournament poker's many coinflips. An ace on the flop proved more than enough to reduce the player count by one.
Matokr was now the chip leader, but they were still the next player heading for the showers. They lost a handful of pots to find themselves with a 12.3 big blind stack when they were in the big blind with pocket sixes. From the button, 9salute46 decided to shove with the lowly ten-five of diamonds, and matokr called all-in. A ten on the flop sent makotr to the rail.
Each of the surviving five players were now guaranteed a five-figure score for their effort. Lithuania's "sk8erisz" was the first player to net such a prize. 9salute46 min-raised from the button with pocket nines in the hole before calling when sk8erisz jammed for 8.5 big blinds in the small blind with what turned out to be ace-queen. Pocket nines had lost two key all-ins earlier at the final table, but they held this time around, busting sk8erisz and sending 9salute46 to more than 60 big blinds, almost three times as many chips as any of his opponents.
The final four became three when Ukrainian grinder "BetBetFck" fell by the wayside. Again, it was 9salute46 who did the damage. The Irish star open-shoved with queen-ten of clubs, and BetBetFck called off their 4.9 big blind stack in the small blind with ace-nine. The hot-running 9salute46 spiked a ten on the flop and BetBetFck was gone.
Start of the day chip leader FranciscoAI busted in third, sending the tournament into the heads-up stage. FranciscoAI opened to four big blinds from a 6.8 big blind stack with ace-five of hearts, "feerofeero" called from the small blind with king-ten of hearts, and it was off to the flop. A deuce-ten-seven flop saw feerofeero bet three big blinds with their top pair, and FranciscoAI called all-in. No ace nor a runner-runner appeared, and FranciscoAI headed for the exits.
9salute46 held a 62.4 big blind to 28.9 big blind advantage over feerofeero, and it did not take too long to press that advantage home. Less than five minutes into the heads-up battle, 9salute46 jammed with ace-seven, and feerofeero called off their 15 big blind stack with pocket queens. 9salute46 caught an ace on the flop, and feerofeero failed to catch up. The runner-up banked $31,500, leaving 9salute46 to collect the $48,750 top prize in addition to the title of champion.
XL Retro Main Event Reaches Final Table
Attention now turned to the XL Retro Main Event where only nine of the 1,969 starters remain in contention for what is a $70,164 top prize. The PokerNews Live Reporting team is bringing you exclusive coverage of the Main Event final table, while the 888poker Twitch team is streaming with cards-up coverage from 8:30 p.m. BST on a 30-minute delay.
