888poker kicked off our first live stop of the year at the Casino Gran Via in the beautiful, elegant city of Madrid! 888poker LIVE Madrid was an absolute smash, culminating with the Main Event, which crushed the €300K guarantee.

The series began on 13 January with the Opening Event and hit a high note from 20 – 23 January with the Main Event. The tournament attracted 514 entries and generated a humongous prize pool of €415,312.

With the Main Event feature table live-streamed on our 888pokerTV Twitch channel, the excitement and action were palpable from the start.

Congratulations to the ultimate winner Adrian Garcia who collected a whopping €92,000 payday for his exceptional efforts!

For 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event highlights watch the video below:

Day 1A Brings Out One Team888 Player

Day 1A of the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event burst out the gate on 20 January, attracting 108 players. Among the crowd was lone wolf Josh Manley – representing the 888poker StreamTeam. After eleven levels, 55 players bagged and tagged for Day 2.

Although Josh got off to a great start, it was not to be. He ran pocket Jacks into Ace-King, and the Anna Kournikova of poker delivered this time - sending Josh to the rail.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom the StreamTeamer. Josh quickly jumped into the Triple Threat tourney. This move turned out to be a wise one. He binked the title and the trophy!

Day 1A Brings Out One Team888 Player - Josh Manley
Day 1A Brings Out One Team888 Player - Josh Manley
 

Day 1B Ends with Ian Simpson Dominating

Day 1B of the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event went a little better for one Team888 Ambassador. The event drew another 129 players, with 61 advancing to Day 2.

Twitch streamer and 888poker ambassador Ian Simpson played like a god and bagged the chip lead on Day 1B. Here’s what he had to say at the end of the day:

"I just played brilliantly," he joked with PokerNews shortly after bagging. "No, but seriously, I never really had to bluff all day, and when that happens, it tends to be a good day."

Day 1B Ends with Ian Simpson Dominating
Day 1B Ends with Ian Simpson Dominating
 

Day 1C Sees Team888 with Game Faces On!

With one more turbo flight on the books, Day 1C of the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event attracted 198 players, with 100 advancing to Day 2.

Perhaps there was something in the air, but Team888 had their game faces on for this event. Newest 888poker Ambassador and local native, Lucia Navarro performed exceptionally well on Day 1C, bagging a top-ten stack.

Newest 888poker Ambassador Lucia Navarro Bagged Top-Ten Stack
Newest 888poker Ambassador Lucia Navarro Bagged Top-Ten Stack
 

Lucia Navarro (365,000) was joined by the following fellow 888poker teammates:

  • Vivian Saliba (273,000)
  • Alexandre Mantovani (129,000)
  • StreamTeam member Ricardo Mateus (214,000)

Quick side note – 888poker Ambassador Kara Scott also put in a fine showing on Day 1C, getting off to a hot start. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and she didn’t make Day 2.

But it was good news for one of her teammates. Day 1D Turbo added another 35 survivors – including Josh Manley, who cruised into Day 2 with a healthy 321,500 chip stack.

Day 1C Sees Team888 with Game Faces On!
Day 1C Sees Team888 with Game Faces On!
 

Day 2 Sees 4 Team888 Members Survive!

With all four Day 1s in the bag, it was time to tally the numbers and see just how massive this tournament was!

In all, the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event attracted 514 entries, generating a prize pool of €415,312. For the top 53 finishers, a min-cash was worth €1,600 apiece. A €92,000 top cash prize awaited the ultimate winner.

888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event attracted 514 entries
888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event attracted 514 entries
 

Here is a breakdown of the total payouts:

PLACE

1-10

PRIZE

 

PLACE

11-53

PRIZE

1

€ 92,000

 

11-12

€ 5,000

2

€ 60,000

 

13-15

€ 4,000

3

€ 39,600

 

16-18

€ 3,300

4

€ 27,000

 

19-21

€ 2,800

5

€ 20,700

 

22-24

€ 2,400

6

€ 16,300

 

25-27

€ 2,200

7

€ 13,000

 

28-36

€ 2,000

8

€ 10,044

 

37-45

€ 1,800

9-10

€ 7,400

 

46-53

€ 1,600

The action on Day 2 was slow initially, then quickly became a race to the bubble. It took just eleven levels to get into the money, with 39 players making it to Day 3.

Of the 39 survivors, Team888 comprised 10% of the field, with two ambassadors and two streamers still in the running:

  • Lucia Navarro on 850K (ambassador)
  • Alexandre “Cavalito” Mantovani on 375K (ambassador)
  • Ricardo Mateus on 1.09M (streamer)
  • Josh Manley on 380K (streamer)

Day 3 and Final Table Action!

Day 3 888poker LIVE Madrid Action
Day 3 888poker LIVE Madrid Action
 

Day 3 started great for Team 888, with Cavalito doubling on his first hand. Although on life support, Josh Manley managed to stay alive long enough to make it to the money. He ran pocket Tens into Jacks and, ultimately, finished 35th for a €2,000 payday.

Shortly after, Alexandre “Cavalito” Mantovani lost his battle to stay in the running. He finished in 20th place for €2,800… and then there were two…

Team888’s Lucia Navarro and Ricardo Mateus held on – even flourishing occasionally.

After a sluggish start to the action on Day 3, in no time at all, we had a final table!

888poker LIVE Madrid Final Nine
888poker LIVE Madrid Final Nine
 

And what a final table this proved to be! With fan favourite Ricardo Mateus being rabidly railed by his Twitch stream followers, it seemed that this might be his day.

Lucia was severely short-stacked but managed a double-up to keep her tournament on life support. Her tight and timely-aggressive play allowed her to ladder up from 6th place at the start of final table play to a 4th place finish.

She walked away with a very respectable €27,000.

Ricardo held on, managing to work his way into three-way action, sitting in second place. Massive chip leader, Adrian Garcia, called 3rd in chips player Oleg Bystrenin's all-in. Garcias’ AQ dominated Oleg’s AT, and things looked sweet for Ricardo for heads-up play.

With an ace on the flop and river ten, Oleg grabbed success from the jaws of defeat and lived to fight another hand.

Ricardo quickly picked up A7 and shoved for his tournament life. Adrian called with Q5. It was a clean flop – 9c6d4c., but the 7s on the turn gave Adrian a straight draw. The 8s on the river sealed the deal, sending Ricardo to the rail in third.

He bagged €39,000 for a valiant effort!

Ricardo Mateus Bagged 3rd Place
Ricardo Mateus Bagged 3rd Place
 

888poker LIVE Madrid Heads-Up for Title

Heads-up play started with Garcia having a massive 4:1 chip lead over Bystrenin. After a lot of tip-toeing around, the players finally decided to get aggressive.

Oleg sat on a 14M stack versus Adrian’s 31M when he decided to shove from the button with QJ. Adrian swiftly called him with K6.

The flop brought a sweat with Oleg flopping an up-and-down straight draw – Ks5cTc. The turn did Oleg no favours with a Td, and the brick 6h on the river did the trick.

Bystrenin went out in second place for €60,000.

The Spaniard Adrian Garcia took home the title, trophy and the very tidy sum of €92,000!

Spaniard Adrian Garcia Took Home the Title and Trophy
Spaniard Adrian Garcia Took Home the Title and Trophy
 

888poker LIVE Madrid Final Table Payouts

PLACE

PLAYER

COUNTRY

PAYOUT (EUR)

1

Adrian Garcia

Spain

€ 92,000

2

Oleg Bystrenin

Russia

€ 60,000

3

Ricardo Mateus

Portugal

€ 39,600

4

Lucia Navarro

Spain

€ 27,000

5

Jonas Ten Cate

Netherlands

€ 20,700

6

Saam Pishvaie

France

€ 16,300

7

Tom Orpaz

Israel

€ 13,000

8

Jaime Pedraza

Spain

€ 10,044

9

Mario Sousa

Portugal

€ 7,400

Hyacinth Swanson is a part-time live and online poker player who enjoys writing and editing poker content. She currently runs marketing firm PurpleGob.com.