Online poker operator 888poker has announced details of its next XL Series. Under the title Autumn Series, the new festival guarantees $2 million across 44 events, by far the largest XL event in recent history.
The series is supersized in almost every way. The biggest increase is the total guarantees, up double on the last spring series and 62% on XL Winter Series held last December.
In fact, it is the largest XL series guarantee since September 2018, suggesting the operator is finally confident to start putting on big-ticket festivals for players after years of being much more modest in its scheduling.
The number of events has also grown—to 44, the most in four years—but the average guarantee per event of over $45,000 still makes it one of its most prestigious in recent years.
$1 Million Main Event Already Underway
In particular, the Main Event stands out: The operator has ambitiously put on a $1 million guaranteed tournament, double the usual size of a Main for an XL Series.
The tournament costs $1,050 to enter and will have various Day 1 flights allowing players multiple ways of entry. These are already underway and will run all the way until Day 2, which will take place on November 1.
A slate of satellites is also spread to help players with smaller bankrolls get in on the action. The operator is also organizing a number of freeroll satellites, through which it will give away thousands of dollars in free entries into $27.50 Main Event satellites. This way, all players at the site will have a good shot of getting into the Main Event.
The freerolls are already underway, as are the buyin satellites, so you can head over to 888poker and jump into those every single day for the rest of October.
888 XL Autumn Series: Full Schedule
| Date | Event | Buyin |
|---|---|---|
| 17/10 | XL Autumn #1 – $100,000 Opening Event | $55 |
| 17/10 | XL Autumn #2 – $20,000 Mini Opening Event | $16.50 |
| 17/10 | XL Autumn #3 – $15,000 Late Opening | $33 |
| 18/10 | XL Autumn #4 – $30,000 PKO 6-Max | $88 |
| 18/10 | XL Autumn #5 – $15,000 Mini PKO 6-Max | $44 |
| 18/10 | XL Autumn #6 – $10,000 Late PKO 6-Max | $22 |
| 19/10 | XL Autumn #7 – $30,000 Freezeout | $215 |
| 19/10 | XL Autumn #8 – $20,000 Mini Freezeout | $55 |
| 19/10 | XL Autumn #9 – $15,000 Late Freezeout | $109 |
| 20/10 | XL Autumn #10 – $30,000 PKO | $109 |
| 20/10 | XL Autumn #11 – $15,000 Mini PKO | $16.50 |
| 20/10 | XL Autumn #12 – $10,000 Late PKO | $33 |
| 21/10 | XL Autumn #13 – $40,000 PKO 8-Max | $160 |
| 21/10 | XL Autumn #14 – $20,000 Mini PKO 8-Max | $55 |
| 21/10 | XL Autumn #15 – $10,000 Late PKO 8-Max | $22 |
| 22/10 | XL Autumn #16 – $30,000 DeepStack | $55 |
| 22/10 | XL Autumn #17 – $15,000 Mini DeepStack | $16.50 |
| 22/10 | XL Autumn #18 – $10,000 Late DeepStack | $33 |
| 23/10 | XL Autumn #19 – $30,000 6-Max | $109 |
| 23/10 | XL Autumn #20 – $15,000 Mini 6-Max | $16.50 |
| 23/10 | XL Autumn #21 – $15,000 Late 6-Max | $55 |
| 24/10 | XL Autumn #22 – $200,000 Tune Up | $109 |
| 24/10 | XL Autumn #23 – $20,000 Mini Tune Up | $16.50 |
| 24/10 | XL Autumn #24 – $15,000 Late Tune Up | $33 |
| 25/10 | XL Autumn #25 – $10,000 Omaha 8-Max | $55 |
| 25/10 | XL Autumn #26 – $5,000 Mini Omaha 8-Max | $22 |
| 25/10 | XL Autumn #27 – $3,000 Late Omaha 8-Max | $11 |
| 26/10 | XL Autumn #28 – $50,000 PKO | $320 |
| 26/10 | XL Autumn #29 – $25,000 Mini PKO | $55 |
| 26/10 | XL Autumn #30 – $20,000 Late PKO | $109 |
| 27/10 | XL Autumn #31 – $30,000 PKO 8-Max | $109 |
| 27/10 | XL Autumn #32 – $15,000 Mini PKO 8-Max | $16.50 |
| 27/10 | XL Autumn #33 – $10,000 Late PKO 8-Max | $33 |
| 28/10 | XL Autumn #34 – $40,000 PKO 6-Max | $215 |
| 28/10 | XL Autumn #35 – $15,000 Mini PKO 6-Max | $55 |
| 28/10 | XL Autumn #36 – $10,000 Late PKO 6-Max | $22 |
| 29/10 | XL Autumn #37 – $30,000 DeepStack | $55 |
| 29/10 | XL Autumn #38 – $15,000 Mini DeepStack | $16.50 |
| 29/10 | XL Autumn #39 – $10,000 Late DeepStack | $33 |
| 30/10 | XL Autumn #40 – $30,000 Knockout | $109 |
| 30/10 | XL Autumn #41 – $15,000 Mini Knockout | $16.50 |
| 30/10 | XL Autumn #42 – $15,000 Late Knockout | $55 |
| 31/10 | XL Autumn #44 – $50,000 Mini Main Event | $33 |
| 01/11 | XL Autumn #43 – $1,000,000 Main Event (Day 2) | $1,050 |
888poker Growing in Confidence in the Last Year
888poker has slowly but surely grown in stature and in confidence over the last couple of years, bolstered by a new online poker desktop client and suite of mobile apps that modernize the online poker experience.
In the last year, the operator has invested heavily in marketing. It launched a new stream team and new Twitch channel, and also recently signed Sam Abernathy as a brand ambassador, the first new addition to this roster in two years.
Confidence in putting on competitive tournament series is also growing. It ran an ambitious $1 million, $109 tournament last month and put on a low stakes, high-guarantee ChampionChip Games in the summer.
Last year during the surge of interest in online poker during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, it ran the one-off Millions SuperStorm, one of its largest festivals ever, with total guarantees of $8 million.
XL Series is 888’s flagship tournament series brand and was thus ripe for extra investment. Back in the 2016-2017 period, the operator put on massive festivals with guarantees of $7 million or more. But it changed strategy in 2018 through to the present, substantially cutting the scope of the series with lower buy-in tournaments and lower guarantees.
While this new XL Autumn Series might not be a full return to the heyday of its series half a decade ago, it is a big step in that direction.
XL Autumn Series Main Events are running now through to the end of the series. The first events get underway on the 17th. The festival concludes with Day 2 of the Main Event on November 1.
