XL Retro Series Hits Big Numbers for 888poker

888poker turned 20 this year, and part of the celebrations included a “retro-themed” series harkening back to the early days of online poker. The XL Retro series ran for more than two weeks and ended up awarding just shy of $1.5 million.

Running for much of October, the XL Retro series from 888poker had 27 events with just over $1.4 million guaranteed. In the end, the series easily surpassed that figure, though not all events managed to hit their guarantees. When the dust settled, the series collected about $50k over guarantees and awarded nearly $100k more than promised.

Among the top performers was the biggest prize pool of the series in the Main Event. The game needed more than 2100 entries to hit the $500k guarantee, but in the end, they got there with some room to spare, hitting 2162 entries with a prize pool of $508,070.

That accounted for more than a third of the total prizes awarded through the series, but there were a few other solid performers. Event #11, the $4k guaranteed Catfish tournament for $16.50, ended up with 487 entries for more than $7,300 in prizes, an increase of 87% over the guarantee.

XL Retro Series in Detail

2022 XL Retro Series Summary

After over two weeks of poker action in the XL Retro series on 888poker, the final numbers are in and the series came in less than $3k shy of $1.5 million in total prizes. Nearly 11,000 entries were recorded across the 27 events with the biggest turnout by far coming in the Main Event with 2162 entries. The only other event to break the four-digit entry mark was the Opening Event, which saw 1162 entries.

There were four events that did very well in terms of breaking the guarantees. While Event #11 was the standout performer with an 87% increase over the guarantee, three other games also ended up with at least 50% extra in prizes.

Of those four games, Event #17 ended up with the biggest prize pool. The $33 game had $8000 guaranteed but players ended up playing for $12,960 in prizes in that one, a guarantee boost of about 62%.

The biggest prize pool among the tournaments that did better than their guarantee came in Event #2: $45,000 Whale Opening Event. That game cost $525 to enter and saw 119 entries for a final prize pool of $59,500, about 32% above the guarantee. However, there were also three prize pools of more than $100k that did not hit their guarantees.

Brazil Wins the National Race

It is little surprise that Brazil ended up at the top of the list for national titles during the XL Retro series. The South American nation is at the heart of a Latin American poker boom and in this series, Brazilians captured seven titles, more than any other nation.

A more surprising entry on the national prizes list was Canada in second place. As a nation where only about 23 million residents could take part — in Ontario, Canada’s largest province with almost 15 million people, players play on the new 888poker Ontario, which is segregated from the global pool. So Canada’s six titles stand out as a very strong achievement.

2022 XL Retro Series National Standings

In the end, only seven events failed to meet their guarantees. However, there was only about $50k in overlay to make up, and that was easily covered by more than $100k in fees collected through the series. With the extra prizes added on top of most events, the XL Retro series was a clear success for old-school formats and 888poker.

2022 XL Retro Series Final Results