888poker XL Winter Day 2: Belarus Dominates with Two PKO Winners

The inaugural XL Winter Series has been off to a great start at 888poker with six events in the books after the first two days including three winners on Friday in progressive knockout (PKO) events.

As the title of this article mentions, two of the three winners hailed from Belarus. Let’s check out to see who all the big winners were.

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XL Winter #4 – $30,000 PKO

The XL Winter #4 – $30,000 PKO, featuring a $55 buy-in, was the biggest of the three events on Friday. The $30,000 guarantee was smashed by 10 percent after 660 entries got into the action to generate a $33,000 prize pool.

The flag of Belarus was waving strong at the final table with four of the final table residing in this eastern European country. One of the four in “Undervit” was crowned the winner after nearly nine hours of play to collect $5,235 ($2,468 prize + $2,767 in bounties).

“Kubiszek” also collected the same prize of $2,468 for their runner-up performance but the difference in the top spots was the bounties with “Kubiszek” collected just $279 to bring their total haul up to $2,747.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s Victor “V.F.A” Faria dos Anjos made his first final table in the XL Winter festival with a seventh-place finish worth $638.

888poker XL Winter #4 – $30,000 PKO Final Table Results

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XL Winter #5 – $15,000 Mini PKO

Another event, another winner from Belarus. This time it was “MarshallMatt” defeating a big field of 1,031 entrants to win the XL Winter #5 – $15,000 Mini PKO for $2,788 after nearly 8 1/2 hours of play.

Also on the podium were Estonia’s “__BMW__” (second – $1,565) and United Kingdom’s “Andydonald65” (third – $944).

888poker XL Winter #5 – $15,000 Mini PKO Final Table Results

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XL Winter #6 – $10,000 Late PKO

The final XL Winter event of the day crushed its $10,000 guarantee with 525 entries ponying up the $33 buy-in in the XL Winter #6 – $10,000 Late PKO to generate a $15,750.

Unlike the previous two events, there wasn’t a Belarussian player in the winner’s circle. In fact, no players from this country appeared at the final table.

Instead, it was “Ivanov259” waving the Union Jack flag to victory after winning the tournament to collect $2,744 ($1,243 prize + $1,502 bounties) after around 6 1/2 hours of play.

Russia’s “aka.plan4ik” managed to collect $1 less in prize money for their runner-up performance but missed out on the big bounty payday to collect $324 in bounties for $1,566 in total winnings.

888poker XL Winter #6 – $10,000 Late PKO Final Table Results

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Full 888 XL Winter Schedule

See How Much You Can Earn with Early Bird Rakeback

Freeroll Your Way Into The XL Winter Series Main Event

One cent satellites aside, you can play your way into the XL Winter Series for free thanks to the XL Winter Main Event Freerolls. These run every day and are open to 888poker players who have recently made a deposit into their accounts.

There are plenty of other opportunities to secure freebies from 888poker, too. The site is hitting random tables with gift drops throughout the XL Winter Series that grant special prizes and XL tournament tickets.

Claim Your $888 Welcome Bonus Today

Head to 888poker between Dec. 10-20 if you want to get your teeth into the XL Winter Series events.

If you don’t have an account simply download 888poker through our links and you will be awarded an $88 bonus (£20 in the UK) without making a deposit. Once you are ready to make your first deposit, it will be matched in the form of a bonus up to $888, or more than twice as much advertised on the site.