20th-anniversary celebrations are well underway at 888Poker, with the Retro Week mini-series of tournaments proving to be a hit among the players.
888poker’s Retro Week kicked off on March 20 and will see a total of 26 tournaments pay homage to the two decades of one of the longest standing online poker platforms.
A total of more than $888,000 in prize pools were scheduled for the festival, which has not disappointed thus far, with the majority of the tournaments managing to bring in more players than expected.
With the first few days of Retro Week behind us, we take a look at what’s transpired thus far and what remains on the schedule for players to look forward to.
More than a Dozen Retro Week Champions Crowned
Unlike the XL Series, Retro Week was not meant as a major poker festival, but rather a small celebration of 888Poker’s success over the decades, with 26 tournaments of varying buy-in levels on the schedule.
The series kicked off on March 20 with a total of four events, with buy-ins ranging between $16.50 and $525.
Event #1, the $25,000 Big Fish saw the prize pool of $30,000 exceeded, with a total of 846 runners and Brazilian player E.D.I.T.H taking home just over $5,300 for his efforts along with the first champion’s title.
Just two hours after the launch of the first tournament, Event #2 kicked off. The $90 Sunday Challenge guaranteed a massive prize pool of $100,000, with the guarantee safely shattered by more than $11k. By the end, it was Romanian poker player liviu_hzn who had won the gold medal along with $16,330.
The third event of the first day saw penfolds6 from Thailand win just over $2,100 after a heads-up deal in the $16.50 Catfish.
The day was concluded with a high-roller event, the $525 Whale. Hungarian player kiskutya23 won this one and $14,414 in cash. The event saw a total of 97 unique players along with 20 rebuys.
Day 2 of Retro week saw another four tournaments scheduled. The $109 Lightning PKO 6-max attracted 229 unique players and awarded the champion Kabous69 with a total of $5,743 in total with the bounties.
The two $22 Twins tournaments launched at 19:00 and 19:30 on March 21, each with a $10k guaranteed prize pool. Both titles went to the north of Europe, with Swedish player andrzn winning the first one for $2,147 and the other gold medal going to Lithuania’s VERYPOTATO along with $2,023.
The $55 Breeze PKO tournament concluded Monday’s action and 219 players entered the event with a further 40 rebuys. Romania saw its second Retro Week champion this time, with Vlaad25 winning $1,183 for his first-place finish.
The Tuesday Challenge Freezeout — the only tournament in the schedule to not allow re-entries saw 242 players buy-in to the $109 event. It eventually fell short of its $30,000 guarantee by close to $6000. UK-based Christy1979 bested the field to walk with $6081 for her first-place finish.
Five more events followed on Tuesday and Wednesday with almost all but one surpassing their guarantees. The $33 buy-in Wednesday Challenge attracted 499 players and 177 rebuys enough to go past its $20,000 guarantee by just.
More than halfway through the series, 14 events have been completed and 12 are still remaining. Across the series so far, these events have awarded $392,191 in prize money. Only three remain out of 14 overlayed.
What’s Ahead of Us in the Remaining Days of 888poker’s Retro Week?
Another three events await us on Thursday, with higher-stakes players in with a chance to play in the $109 Hurricane PKO, a $20,000 guaranteed knockout event.
A range of exciting events will be on the ticket on Friday and Saturday as well, with both days offering a $30,000 guaranteed Challenge, with buy-ins fixed at $109 and $55 respectively.
The real fun doesn’t start before Sunday, March 27, though, as the final day brings two of the most exciting events of the whole series.
At 19:00, the Retro Week Main Event, the $300,000 Mega Deep will kick-off. The tournament can be entered by ponying up the $215 entry fee or participating in one of the many satellite tourneys still running at 888Poker.
Those who prefer playing poker for slightly lower stakes have a chance at 20:00, with the $50,000 Mini-Mega Deep offering the same tournament structure with a reduced buy-in of just $33.
Finally, if all else fails, the last high-roller event of the series is reserved for Sunday evening, as another $525 Whale is on the schedule at 21:00.
Plenty more excitement awaits at 888Poker in the coming days, with many prizes to be given away and the Retro Week champion to be crowned on Monday evening when the final table of the Mega Deep will be played out.
