888poker kicked off its 2025 live season with a festival in Casino Gran Via in Madrid. The festival featured a rich and versatile schedule consisting of fun and affordable tournaments, crowned by the €888 Main Event.
The Main Event turned out to be a great success, attracting an impressive 403 entries, which translated into a rather juicy prize pool of €306,280. As is usually the case with tournaments, the lion’s share of that prize pool, €62,000 to be exact, was reserved for the eventual winner.
After several days of play, the title and the €62k prize ended up in the hands of none other than Ian Simpson, an 888poker ambassador who successfully represented the site and bagged his very first 888poker LIVE title to kick off 2025 in style.
Simpson Makes History
The Main Event triumph wasn’t just a big personal achievement for Simpson; it was also a momentous occasion for the operator as this was the first time that one of the ambassadors managed to run away with a LIVE Main Event title.
After outlasting the big field of over 400 entries, Simpson was within reach of victory, but he still had one final obstacle to overcome. Alvaro Murciano from Spain was the last remaining opponent, and he had no intentions of making things easy for Simpson.
Two players entered a long and difficult heads-up battle, which saw chips go back and forth. Eventually, though, Ian managed to secure the win, and Murciano had to be content with the runner-up finish, which netted him €42,000.
It was an emotional moment for Simpson, who had this to say in his winner’s interview:
“I don’t have words. It’s the best. I’ve always wanted to run deep in a Main Event, and then when it’s like final 20 you’re like, okay, maybe I’ll final table. Then it’s like final 13 or 14 and you’re like, I’m really hoping I don’t get like ninth, 11th. Then you get to the final table, and you’ve got the chip lead. It’s a lot of emotions, and they’re all good ones.”
888poker LIVE Off to a Flying Start in 2025
This was a great start for the new season of 888poker LIVE, announcing a great year ahead. The Madrid Main Event saw a great turnout, with 48 players making money and taking home at least €1,765 for their efforts.
The top seven finishers in the tournament made five figures, which is a very respectable score in a three-figure buy-in event, but it’s something we’ve become used to with 888poker LIVE festivals. The operator strives to offer affordable tournaments for everyone, giving all players and fans a chance to compete in a live setting and battle for big prizes without breaking the bank.
After a short break, the series will be visiting Glasgow in March, bringing with ten days filled with poker action and once again attracting players from all over Europe.
If you’d like to be a part of the next event, make sure to join the 888poker online platform where you’ll find many satellites available around the clock, including monthly freerolls awarding LIVE Passports to play any event of your choosing!
