"Graftekkel" Wins The $80,000 Opening Event
Thursday 18 January was a good day for tournament players around the world. It marked the start of the inaugural edition of the 2018 XL Blizzard Series on one of the biggest online poker rooms, 888poker. On the first day of the series, they kicked off with the $80,000 Opening Event.
In the first four hours of play, there were 667 players and 279 rebuys for a total of 946 players. They created a total prize pool of $94,600 with the first prize of $17,736. It took a while to get towards the money but in the end, it was Argentina's "BtM4Ever" who was the last player finishing empty-handed.
After making the money it took a long time before the tournament was down to the last nine. Hours before that, Chris "888Moorman" Moorman finished in 62nd place for a cash of $302.72. After ten hours of play, the remaining nine players made the final table and went on to play for a $17,736 first prize. For "dr1zo" (ninth - $1,334), "974kWRT" (eighth - $2,129) and "gnassil" (seventh - $3,075) it wasn't a big success on the final table, because they left quite early.
After that, the tournament saw "M9yM9so" leave in sixth place. Not much later, "ilginho" was left with ten big blinds and he just lost them with 
against the 
of chip leader "BTIPPPPP". He finished in fifth place for $4,967. For "John_Doe09" the tournament ended in fourth place for $7,095 after losing all his chips in a flush over flush situation against "Graftekkel".
"BTIPPPPP" was down to his final thirteen big blinds and he was at risk with 
against the 
of "Graftekkel". The board came 
and the Dutchman rivered a straight to bust "BTIPPPPP" in third place.
The deciding heads-up between "Graftekkel" and "123magmag123" didn't last long. On a 
board, "Graftekkel" bet 1,500,000 chips and snap-called when "123magmag123" went all in for his last five million chips. The Dutch player had 
for a straight, while the Irish turned trips with 
.
The river 
didn't give "123magmag123" the help he needed and he finished in second place for $12,771. "Graftekkel" secured himself of the victory and the first prize of $17,738.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graftekkel | Netherlands | $17,738 |
| 2 | 123magmag123 | Ireland | $12,771 |
| 3 | BTIPPPPP | Canada | $9,460 |
| 4 | John_Doe09 | Malta | $7,095 |
| 5 | ilginho | Germany | $4,967 |
| 6 | M9yM9so | Russia | $4,021 |
| 7 | gnassil | Sweden | $3,075 |
| 8 | 974kWRT | Ukraine | $2,129 |
| 9 | dr1zo | Mexico | $1,334 |