888poker’s XL Eclipse consisted of 197 events over 15 days, and it wrapped this week with two tournaments, the $1.5 Million Main Event and a “Champion of Champions” tournament, both of which were won by “CllsDntMattr” of Germany. The Main Event victory paid a handsome $273,038, while the closing tournament of champions awarded a $13,000 World Series of Poker Europe and a well-deserved title.
World Wide Win
The $1,050 buy-in Event #189 ($1,500,000 Main Event) drew 1,562 entries, which created a $1,562,000 prize pool. Among the 144 players to earn a piece of it were Sergio “zcedrick” Aido (79th for $3,592.60), the red-hot Kenny “SpaceyFCB” Hallaert (36th for $5,779.40), and Niklas “tutten7” Åstedt (11th for $14,839).
“CllsDntMttr” started heads-up play with a 3-1 chip lead against Alen “thrust.” Bilic, who is Bosnia & Herzegovina’s all-time live tournament money leader. Shortlyinto their match, Bilic got it in holding A♣9♠ and was looking for an ace to overcome the K♠K♥ of “CllsDntMttr.” Unfortunately for him, the board ran out clean and he had to settle for second place and a $198,374 consolation prize.
The win marked “CllsDntMttr’s” second XL Eclipse title. Previously, 179 events earlier, he won Event #10 (the $250,000 Whale) for $64,826.50. That was on Day 1 of the series, which is also when 888poker Ambassador Parker “888tonkaaaa” Talbot won his title.
Two days after the Main Event, “CllsDntMttr” was one of 99 players to compete in the Champion of Champions, which was only open to those who won an XL Eclipse tournament. Amazingly, “CllsDntMttr” won that one too to claim the title of Champion of Champions along with a $13,000 package to the 2017 WSOPE at King’s Casino Rozvadov.
Lithuania’s “zeniok30” finished in second place to win a $2,200 888Live London Festival Package, while Russia’s “RendOss” came in third for a $1,050 Tournament Ticket.
Main Event Final Table Results
1 “CllsDntMttr” (Germany) $273,037.60
2 Alen “thrust.” Bilic (Bosnia & Herzegovina) $198,374
3 “purplegerbil” (Finland) $148,390
4 “poirierfrncs” (Canada) $110,902
5 Andreas “KURDEdersim” Samuelsson (Sweden) $78,100
6 “Sjapster” (Netherlands) $62,480
7 “KTBFFH89” (N/A) $46,860
8 “unbezieglar” (Germany) $31,240
9 “Litt_it_up” (UK) $17,963
XL Eclipse Highlights
“CllsDntMttr’s” back-to-back wins at the end gave him three XL Eclipse titles, one of only two players to earn that distinction. The other was Russia’s “Kaktus26rus,” who won Event #121 ($15,000 Breeze) for $3,134.70, Event #152 ($100,000 Quarterback) for $21,099.40, and Event #168 ($15,000 Lightning 6-Max) for $4,576.
It’s also worth noting that there were 11 others who won two titles throughout the series, which included Ukraine’s Roman “Romeopro33” Romanovskyi.
He won both Event #27 ($15,000 Tornado) for $5,332 and Event #36 ($2,100 High Roller) for $107,500 top prize. Another player to win multiples was Nicolas “PKaiser” Fierro from Chile. He who won both Event #17 ($15,000 Lightning 6-Max) for $5,564 and Event #192 ($80,000 Sunday Challenge) for $16,119.40.
There was also a slew of players who won an XL Eclipse title to go along with their XL Inferno title from May’s premiere series. The first to do it was Argentina’s Cristian “progree69” Sampaoli, who won that series’ Event #178 ($30,000 Saturday Challenge) and the XL Inferno’s Champion of Champions. In the XL Eclipse, he won Event #35 ($20,000 Monsoon) for $4,810.05.
The XL Eclipse also featured three “Chip-In” events. These tournaments directed entry fees to an REG Charity to benefit the Against Malaria Foundation, and collectively raised $40,825.
One of those tournaments was Event #126 ($5,200 XL Eclipse Super High Roller), which was won by Belarus’ “spider4444” for $170,500.
The next 888poker XL series will be the XL Blizzard Championship in January 2018.
