Some days at the poker table, it seems almost every move you make leads to stacking more chips. This was one of those days at Casino Gran Via for Ramon Fernandez here at 888poker LIVE Madrid. The Spanish poker player steadily built up a massive stack while knocking out opponents to bag 5,500,000 chips after an action-packed Day 2 of the €888 Main Event.
After almost completing another 11 levels of play, the field was trimmed down to the unofficial final table of nine, who will return on Day 3 to crown a champion at 3 p.m. local time on Monday, January 29. The event saw a total of 435 entries, creating a prize pool of €333,905. The winner will take home a cool €66,000 along with the 888poker LIVE title.
Fernandez carries 110 big blinds into the final day, earning a big lead over his closest competitor. That would be Italy’s Mateo Calzoni, who scored the final knockout of Day 2 to trigger the bagging process sitting in second with 4,230,000. Greg Campbell of the United Kingdom is third with 3,250,000, giving the top three an international feel in a final table otherwise dominated by the hometown Spaniards.
€888 Main Event Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ramon Fernandez | Spain | 5,500,000 | |
| 2 | Juan Lyons | Spain | 1,335,000 | |
| 3 | George Chiriac | Romania | 1,180,000 | |
| 4 | Manuel Ledesma | Spain | 495,000 | |
| 5 | Borja Diaz | Spain | 2,170,000 | |
| 6 | Greg Campbell | United Kingdom | 3,250,000 | |
| 7 | Guillermo Sánchez | Spain | 2,275,000 | |
| 8 | Mateo Calzoni | Italy | 4,230,000 | |
| 9 | Carlos Perez-Dosio | Spain | 1,550,000 |
Day 2 Action
The day began with 143 players taking their seats, 117 of whom bagged the initial three flights of the week. They were joined by the 20 survivors of today’s Day 1d turbo flight, along with six players who entered ahead of the 5 p.m. start time. Once the final Day 2 field was set, prize pool information was released to see 56 players make the money.
Play began at a blistering pace, with over half of the field sent home before the first break of the day. A pair of 888poker Ambassadors were among those that exited early, including Alexandre Mantovani hitting the rail despite flopping a full house on the opening level of play. Fellow team member Ian Simpson later called off incorrectly for his tournament life against Juan Lyons, setting up the latter for a final table run. That hand concluded just before Spanish footballer Aleix Vidal also hit the rail outside of the money.
From there, it was a race to the bubble and a shot at the €1,600 minimum cash. The only question was if the bubble would burst before or after the dinner break. With the field sitting two spots away, Vivian Saliba moved all in falling to Carlos Perez-Dosio.
Improbably, Lucía Navarro was the next to go right before the break after running into the big slick of Alberto Diaz, who went on to finish in 23rd place. The back-to-back 888poker Ambassador eliminations left the field in the money - and on dinner.
From there, it did not take long to reach the final three tables and for Fernandez to pick up the pace of building his chip lead. From the knockout of Stefan Boyarov in 21st Place to calling a big bluff from Alejandro Diaz in 18th, Fernandez was well on his way to taking a commanding lead. That only increased when he flopped quads to knock out Federico Pirodi in 15th spot.
Day 1c chip leader Nacho Martin maintained his stack for much of the day, but got unlucky against Perez-Dosio to fall late in the night in 13th position.
€888 Main Event Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|
| 1 | € 66,000 |
| 2 | € 44,000 |
| 3 | € 32,500 |
| 4 | € 24,300 |
| 5 | € 18,205 |
| 6 | € 13,700 |
| 7 | € 10,000 |
| 8 | € 8,000 |
| 9 | € 6,300 |
The final day of action will begin at 3 p.m. local time, as the returning nine players will sit down with 13:57 remaining on Level 22. Blinds resume at 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 big blind ante. The final table will be played under the lights of the 888poker LIVE stream, available on their Twitch and YouTube channels.
Keep it locked right here as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the ground at Casino Gran Via, where a new Main Event champion will be determined in the Spanish capital.
