After entering the final day of the 888poker LIVE Coventry series second in chips, Chris Da-Silva was not ready to let another big opportunity slip away in the ￡888 Main Event.
The veteran English player was around the chip lead all day at Coventry Building Society Arena, finally defeating Mindaugas Kurlenskas heads up while denying his opponent some history to finish an exciting 11 days of poker action.
Da-Silva came out on top of the 812-entry field, earning his first 888poker LIVE gold trophy and the ￡125,000 top prize. That represents his largest career score, but he told PokerNews moments after his victory that the money is just a number. Da-Silva was much more satisfied with earning the title after several close calls in the past.
“It feels really good, actually," Da-Silva told PokerNews. "Really enjoyable, I think I’ve played a handful of 888 Main Events and it feels really good to get one over the line.”
After six opening flights that helped smash the advertised guarantee, Da-Silva earned the largest portion of the ￡617,120 prize pool. That number was also significant, as it became the biggest prize pool at an 888poker LIVE Main Event since 2020.
￡888 Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Da-Silva | United Kingdom | ￡125,000 |
| 2 | Mindaugas Kurlenskas | United Kingdom | ￡91,900 |
| 3 | Conor Odriscoll | Ireland | ￡60,720 |
| 4 | Sunil Mistri | United Kingdom | ￡37,770 |
| 5 | Jiang Pu | United Kingdom | ￡23,760 |
| 6 | Harriwin Selvarajoo | United Kingdom | ￡16,290 |
| 7 | Jack Jaeger | United Kingdom | ￡14,140 |
| 8 | Alex Todd | United Kingdom | ￡11,970 |
Action of the Day
The day began with the final 16 contenders taking their seats, but it did not take long to reach the final table. Two simultaneous eliminations left just eight players remaining to battle for the title, and Da Silva began to take control shortly after.
Da-Silva took out Alex Todd, who was the first to go on the final tableafter running into aces for an eighth-place finish. That moved to the top of the leaderboard and he would remain there until the end of the night.
Despite doubling two players up along the way, Da-Silva was able to navigate his way to three-handed action. His next knockout came against Conor Odriscoll, setting the stage for heads up play.
Denying History
Da-Silva carried a big advantage into the final stage of action, seeing Kurlenskas double up once but never gaining much ground. Kurlenskas was aiming some unique history, as this marked his fourth final table of the series.
That included two wins, one in the ￡200 UKPL Turbo Dash for ￡3,150 to start the week. That was followed by a ninth-place finish in the ￡230 UKPL Voyage before taking down the ￡440 Mystery Bounty for ￡7,120.
Kurlenskas would ultimately have to settle for second place, as Da-Silva made the only pair on the final hand of the tournament to seal the win.
As for the celebration, Da-Silva says it may take a bit to realize what he has accomplished here in Coventry.
"It probably won't hit me until I wake up tomorrow morning. I have some friends here who were on the rail, so we'll have a bit of fun tonight." Always sweet to taste victory close to home, as Da-Silva embraced his friends as he received the trophy.
That wraps up PokerNews coverage from 888poker LIVE Coventry, but be sure to check out our live reporting hub for other exciting action from around the poker world.
