"HSV_Gandi" Ships the XL Inferno High Roller ($20,450)
After nearly eight hours of play, Germany's "HSV_Gandi" outlasted a field of 255 entrants plus 71 rebuys to win the XL Inferno Event #17: $100,000 High Roller at 888poker for $20,450.
Also joining this player on the podium were "Rocket_Aces" (second $15,000) and XL Inferno Event #1: $75,000 Opening Event champion "MorayEEEEEL" (third - $11,300).
The $320 tournament provided an extra $2,200 in added value to those that cashed thanks to the lofty $100,000 not being met with the buy-ins.
2020 XL Inferno High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HSV_Gandi | Germany | $20,450 |
| 2 | Rocket_Aces | Unknown | $15,000 |
| 3 | MorayEEEEEL | Sweden | $11,300 |
| 4 | popsnpoker | Canada | $8,500 |
| 5 | _chalukyas | India | $5,800 |
| 6 | cuadrado12 | Sweden | $4,500 |
| 7 | Emilioteck | United Arab Emirates | $3,500 |
| 8 | PolMarine | Canada | $2,500 |
| 9 | resilience32 | Germany | $1,900 |
High Roller Recap
The tournament guaranteed 36 players at least a min-cash of $750. It took approximately 6 1/2 hours for players to reach the money after "ContaSagrada eliminated Brazil's Felipe "mr.salgado" Salgado when their ace-king held against his opponent's king-queen.
Among the players not to cash were 888poker Ambassadors Sofia "sofialovgren" Lovgren, Ana "AnaMarquez." Marquez, Vivian "vivi.888." Saliba, and Dominik "888Dominik" Nitsche. Lovgren, Marquez, and Saliba didn't make it past late registration closing, while Nitsche finished 10 spots off the money in 46th place.
The final table was reached nearly 6 1/2 hours into the tournament after Alexandru “alexos888” Baron was eliminated in 10th place for $1,600.
"HSV_Gandi" held a commanding chip lead with more than double their nearest competitor to start the final table, one they would hold on until heads-up play.
Three eliminations took place before the first blind level of the final table was in the books.
First to go was Germany's "resilience32" in ninth place for $1,900 when their ace-king suited didn't outrace the pocket tens held by "Rocket_Aces".
Soon after, "PolMarine" hit the rail in eighth place for $2,500 when their sixes couldn't win a flip against the ace-seven suited held by "MorayEEEEEL".
A few minutes later, United Arab Emirates' "Emilioteck" (seventh - $3,500) ran their ace-queen into the cowboys held by "Rocket_Aces".
Another blind level passed before the next trio of eliminations occurred.
Sweden's "cuadrado12" (sixth - $4,500) hit the showers after they jammed their short-stack with tens and couldn't hold against the ace-trey held by "HSV_Gandi".
Soon after India's "_chalukyas" (fifth - $5,800) couldn't get there with ace-ten against the queens held by "popsnpoker".
Despite just winning a hand, "popsnpoker" was eliminated in fourth place for $8,500 when their ace-queen suited couldn't outrace the treys held by "HSV_Gandi".
"MorayEEEEEL" was gunning for two big wins in XL Inferno events. Luck ran out as this player couldn't win a flip with nines against the ace-queen suited held by "Rocket_Aces". It has been a sick series thus far for this player as third place in the High Roller was worth $15,000 after already collecting $16,585 for winning the XL Inferno Opening Event.
"Rocket_Aces" held a small chip lead to start heads-up play against "HSV_Gandi". It appeared it was going to be over fairly quickly when "Rocket_Aces" four-bet jammed with ace-queen suited and was called by queen-jack suited. However, a jack spiked the board to give "HSV_Gandi" a double up and this player held a 4:1 chip advantage after the hand.
"Rocket_Aces" then lost the final race of the day when their ace-ten didn't get there against the fours held by their opponent to collect the runner-up prize of $15,000.
Meanwhile, "HSV_Gandi" became the latest big winner during the 2020 XL Inferno with a haul of $20,450.
This wraps up the coverage of Event #17, stay tuned to PokerNews throughout the rest of the series for updates on all of the events.