888Live Barcelona Starts with 700+ Opener; €2,200 HR Awaits

The first-ever 888poker “Make it Big” festival in Barcelona took flight this past weekend and the results so far are exceeding expectations.

The 12 day, 13 event series kicked off last Friday with the Opening Event, a €220 NLHE tournament with four starting flights over three days.

720 players from 30 different countries joined the mix and battled it out until they reached the final nine. The prize pool had reached €138,240 and the lion’s share of that was to be played for at the last table.

Instead, it took the Opening Nine only a couple of minutes to discuss a deal that left all of them with a sizeable prize. 

They agreed on a 9-way deal, shook hands and walked off into the Spanish night.

888Live Barcelona Opening Event Final-Table Payouts

Alejandro Vazquez Gomez

1. Alejandro Vazquez Gomez (Spain) 11,775* 
2. Fernando Ortola Ferragud (Spain) 11,735* 
3. Eduard Munoz Martin (Spain) 10,820* 
4. Sergio Manuel Martinez Pascual (Spain) 9,950* 
5. Juan Font Espina (Spain) 9,775* 
6. Ivan Olivas Uliaque (Spain) 9,315* 
7. Angel Callen Mozos (Spain) 7,495* 
8. Andre Filipe Quelhas (Portugal) 6,870* 
9. Joachim Lob (Switzerland) 6,700*

*9-way deal

A Breeze for Barba

Meanwhile, 210 players settled in to enjoy a fresh “Breeze,” which was the next side event. It was supposed to be a 1-day event but when they were down to four on the first day they called it a night and agreed to return the next day.

This proved to be an extremely short affair as it took just over half an hour until the winner was found. Antonio Perez Vico Barba was the last man standing in this event, and that was worth €4,870.

Then came the €50 Turbo. It attracted 121 players and Hector Germino Cabus Maseda (€1,202) and Ivan Arcos Alba (€1,186) took the largest bits of the €5,228 prize pool.

€2,200 High Roller Incoming

Next up on the schedule this week are the €55 Swordfish, the €77 Turbo Deepstack and the €66 Lightning 8-max. After that there’s a highlight waiting that all players are looking forward to – the €2,200 High Roller Event on Wednesday.

Join the 888 party!

While the side events have mostly been frequented by local (but not only local) recreational players, Wednesday will see the entrance of the professionals.

The High Roller is a 2-day event with 100,000 chips to start and 45 min levels. All the top players 888poker has invited will be in it; stay tuned for the upcoming results.

On Thursday it’s finally time for the Main Event. The Casino Barcelona will be packed out and PokerListings will be on location to follow and bring you the action.

It’ll take until Monday night before we find a winner so click back to the PokerListings news section to keep track of who’s going all the way.

Meanwhile, the $7.5m XL Inferno series is running online on 888poker with another huge week in store. Get your own 888poker account via our review page for an $888 bonus and jump in or qualify for upcoming 888poker live events.