The biggest tournament series in the history of 888poker ended with one of the world's top players celebrating with a birthday win.
The $1 million guaranteed tournament drew 3,196 entries. Nitsche took home the winner's prize in the two-day event, doing so on his 30th birthday. Nitsche, who goes by the rather fitting screen name of '888Dominik' on the 888 platform, plays with a well-earned reputation as one of the best live tournament players in the world.
Nitsche currently sits at No. 26 on the all-time tournament money list with more than $18 million in earnings according to the Hendon Mob database. With the live tournament economy shut down indefinitely, Nitsche hasn't been able to add to that resume since cashing in a couple of events at the 2019 World Series of Poker.
His brand of tournament dominance clearly translates well to the virtual felt, however. Nitsche took down the 888Millions SuperStorm Main Event win after making a four-way deal at the final table.
The final four make a deal
Per the terms of the deal, the top three finishers in the 888Millions SuperStorm Main Event all ended up with six-figure paydays. Other top finishers included Malta's 'GarbinaD' (2nd - $112,609), the Russian Federation's 'Artemka186' (3rd - $106,194) and Canadian 'MrMarley83' (4th - $80,551).
Day 2 of the Main Event began with 567 players vying for 300 spots on the money ladder. The final chapter of the tournament played out in under eight hours, and by the time the final nine sat at the final table each was guaranteed at least a five-figure payday.
Those final-table finishers included Lithuania's 'joolius' (9th - $15,000) and Brazil's 'Eduardo 'franguet' Rocha (8th - $20,000). The next three finishers, all from unknown countries of origin, included 'dulek_jason' (7th - $25,000), 'DreamLikeMe' (6th - $30,000), and 'kistkutya23' $45,000.
The fourth-place finisher was slated to earn $60,000, with $75,000 put aside for third place. The final-four agreement evened out the top payouts significantly, however.
'GarbinaD' went into the final four with the chip lead at just under 25 big blinds. 'Artemka186' and Nitsche each held around 15 big blinds, with 'MrMarley83' coming in with the short stack at just over eight big blinds.
The final table deal agreed to an ICM chop for the final four players, leaving the last $20,000 in the prize pool to the winner. Nitsche emerged with the win, eliminating 'GarbinaD' on a final hand that saw Nitsche's A❤️9♦️ get the best of the K♦️T♣ of 'GarbinaD' on a Q❤️9❤️9♣J♦️Q♦️ runout.
'GarbinaD' looked poised to double up after a king-high straight completed on the turn. The river brought in a full house for Nitsche, however, clinching the win for one of poker's top tournament pros.
The 888Millions SuperStorm set new benchmarks for both guaranteed money and number of events on 888poker. The series guaranteed $8 million over 480 different events, which ran over a four-week period.
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