Congratulations to "Kannwas", Winner of XL Winter Series #17: $50,000 High Roller for $11,500
The 888poker Winter Series has now crowned another champion as the XL Winter Series #17: $50,000 High Roller has come to an end after just over seven hours of play. A total of 154 registration buttons were hit by the end of late registration and when the dust had settled it was "Kannwas" reigning supreme, taking home $11,500 for their victory.
"Kannwas" began the final table in the middle of the pack and it was not long before they found themselves on top of the foodchain. Just hands after the last nine hit the table it was "Kannwas" sending the first player to the rail. They took their momentum and quickly built a chip lead stack, blasting almost every pot along the way.
There were very few bumps along the road to victory but the biggest came during heads-up play. "oldskool555" smashed a double shortly after the tournament hit the final two, holding on with a pair of sevens to take the lead. "Kannwas" seemed unphased as they continued to play ultra-aggressive.
The final hand saw the ace-three of "Kannhas" overtake the pocket kings that were held by "oldskool555", sealing the win. "oldskool555" had to settle for runner-up, taking home a respectable $8,000 for the finish.
Official Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kannwas | N/A | $11,500 |
| 2 | oldskool555 | United Kingdom | $8,000 |
| 3 | mao042 | Russia | $6,075 |
| 4 | ALLINchains | Serbia | $4,500 |
| 5 | LappyPoker | Mexico | $3,000 |
| 6 | ErwannP | Peru | $2,500 |
| 7 | Octopokes | United Kingdom | $2,000 |
| 8 | pactamah23 | Germany | $1,500 |
| 9 | sllodi | United Kingdom | $1,250 |
Action of the Day
The XL Winter Series #17: $50,000 High Roller started off hot, with a bigger than expected amount of players to begin the day. The action quickly diminished, along with the rebuys and late entries. A total of 154 slips were sold, falling short of the $50,000 guarantee that was set.
Once late registration had closed it was determined that a total of 18 players were to find a min-cash of at least $1,025, with the eventual winner pulling in $11,500 for a victory. It was not long after that the bubble was reached and it was "Andrey120988" that was dubbed the bubble bot. The Russian ran their jacks into aces and queens, taking an exit on the bubble.
In a matter of minutes, it seemed the final table was reached and just moments after that it was "sllodi" dropping out first. An under the gun shove from "sllodi" with ace-two was called by none other than "Kannhas" who had a pair of snowmen. The board ran out dry, sending "sllodi" to the rail first, along with kick-starting the momentum of the eventual winner.
A short-stacked "pactamah23 found their chips go into the middle with ace-ten versus the jacks of "mao042" and the rest is history as "pactamah23" left in eighth place. "Octopokes" took a shot at doubling through the red-hot "Kannhas" when they shoved ace-queen. "Kannhas" called with a pair of kings and instantly flopped a third, sending "Octopokes" to the payout desk.
Another player elected to disrupt the winning ways of "Kannhas" when "ErwannP" raised with pocket nines, only to see "Kannhas" shove over the top. "ErwannP" called to see the jack-ten of "Kannhas" and was at risk of elimination. A turned ten brought the demise of "ErwannP", sending them to the rail in sixth place.
Another casualty of "Kannhas" was sent packing when "LarryPoker" moved their remaining chips into the middle with big slick. "Kannhas" called the small raise with jack-two and wound up finding two more ducks, giving him three to send "LarryPoker" out in fifth. The momentum started to switch over to "oldskool555" who was in the lead at the time. "ALLINchains" shoved over the top of an "oldskool555" raise wit ace-seven and was instantly called by pocket jacks. The runout changed not a thing, eliminating "ALLINchains".
"oldskool555" saw action fall on them in the small blind where they raised. "maoe042" elected to shove from the big with ace-six and "oldskool555" snap-called with their nines. An uneventful board saw "mao042" take an exit in third place.
Heads-up play was short and sweet. First "oldskool555" doubled to take the lead and then "Kannhas" put it into overdrive, completely blasting every hand. "Kannhas" whittled down the stack of "oldskool555" steadily. Once "oldskool555" was on the shorter side of things, they moved in with a pair of kings. "Kannhas" called with ace-three. An ace on the turn sealed the win for "Kannhas" who sent "oldskool555" out the door in second for a respectable $8,000.
That wraps it up for the PokerNews live coverage of this event, but tune in Sunday, December 20, for all of the XL Winter Series #32: $500,000 Main Event PKO live updates.