888poker's XL Winter Series kicks off on December 10.

Hot on the heels of their recently released “Made To Play” mobile poker app, more changes are in store for 888poker as they announced a rebranding of their championship online poker series from XL Blizzard to XL Winter Series.

While the name may have changed the concept is the same, an 11-day series which kicks off on December 10 is filled with value-heavy tournaments for low-to-mid stakes players. The 2020 XL Winter series features 34 events with the majority of buy-ins ranging from $5-$50 and over $1 million in total prize money guaranteed.

The Main Event

The bulk of that guaranteed money is wrapped up in the highlight of the entire series, the $250 buy-in, $500,000 GTD Main Event. The Main Event takes place on Sunday, December 20 and for the first time in the history of the XL Championship series, it will be played out as a Progressive Knockout.

The XL Winter Main Event follows a similar structure that has turned these championship events into the biggest tournaments of 888poker’s calendar year. Players are given a 30,000 chip starting stack and 15-minute levels. There is plenty of late registration time (270 minutes) and up to four reentries should things not go according to plan. In the end, whether the tournament hits the guarantee or not, the first-place prize will be in the high-five figures allowing a player to turn their modest buy-in into a potential career-high score.

Spotlight Events

In addition to the Main Event, the XL Winter Series schedule boasts a number of spotlight events that offer players prime bankroll building opportunities.

Four different tournaments have guarantees of $50,000. On December 10, the first tournament of the series is the $109 buy-in $50,000 GTD Opening Event, an event which historically has been one of the biggest prelim events of a series. On December 13, the $55 buy-in $50K Tune Up promises players who make a deep run a nice payday as does the December 15 $320 buy-in $50,000 High Roller.

Finally, at the very end of the series, running at the same time as the Main Event, the $33 buy-in Mini Main Event PKO gives players one last shot at a big-time payday for a modest buy-in.

Livestream Freerolls

Another new addition for the XL series is 888poker integrating their social media channels more than they have in the past. Like they did during their recently completed Millions Superstorm, players and fans can follow some of the biggest tournaments in the series in a series of livestreams hosted by David Tuchman and Nick Wealthall. Some of the 888poker ambassadors will also be sitting in on the broadcasts to break down the poker action.

During each of the livestreams, 888poker will be giving away $109 and $33 tournament tickets and dishing out the information on three XL Winter Streaming Freerolls that take place alongside the livestream.

888poker Live Stream Schedule

DateEventTime (GMT)
12-10XL Winter #1 - $50,000 Opening Event22:30
12-13XL Winter #10 - $50,000 Tune Up22:30
12-20XL Winter #32 - $500,000 Main Event PKO22:30

Of course, players looking to get into XL Winter events for the absolute minimum can win their tickets through 888poker’s satellite system, which offers entry for as little as $0.01. All XL Winter satellites can be found in the XL Winter lobby under the Tournament tab in the client.

In addition to satellites and freerolls, XL Winter tickets are being given away throughout the entire series via 888poker’s new ‘Gift Drops’ which debuted along with their new mobile client.

888poker Full XL Winter Schedule

DATETIME (GMT)EVENTBUY-IN
12-1018:00XL Winter #1 - $50,000 Opening Event$109.00

18:00XL Winter #2 - $15,000 Mini Opening Event$16.50

20:00XL Winter #3 - $15,000 Late Opening Event$55.00
12-1118:00XL Winter #4 - $30,000 PKO$55.00

18:00XL Winter #5 - $15,000 Mini PKO$22.00

20:00XL Winter #6 - $10,000 Late PKO$33.00
12-1218:00XL Winter #7 - $30,000 8-Max$109.00

18:00XL Winter #8 - $10,000 Mini 8-Max$12.00

20:00XL Winter #9 - $15,000 Late 8-Max$55.00
12-1318:00XL Winter #10 - $50,000 Tune Up$55.00

18:00XL Winter #11 - $30,000 Mini Tune Up$16.50

18:30XL Winter #12 - $10,000 Micro Tune Up$5.50

20:00XL Winter #13 - $20,000 Late Tune Up$55.00
12-1418:00XL Winter #14 - $20,000 R&A Event$33.00

18:00XL Winter #15 - $10,000 Mini R&A$5.50

19:00XL Winter #16 - $10,000 Late R&A$12.00
12-1518:00XL Winter #17 - $50,000 High Roller$320.00

18:00XL Winter #18 - $25,000 Mini High Roller$55.00

20:00XL Winter #19 - $20,000 Late High Roller$109.00
12-1618:00XL Winter #20 - $30,000 PKO$109.00

18:00XL Winter #21 - $15,000 Mini PKO$16.50

20:00XL Winter #22 - $10,000 Late PKO$33.00
12-1718:00XL Winter #23 - $40,000 PKO 8-Max$160.00

18:00XL Winter #24 - $15,000 Mini PKO 8-Max$22.00

20:00XL Winter #25 - $15,000 Late PKO 8-Max$55.00
12-1817:00XL Winter #26 - $25,000 PKO DeepStack$55.00

17:00XL Winter #27 - $15,000 Mini DeepStack$16.50

19:00XL Winter #28 - $10,000 Late DeepStack$33.00
12-1918:00XL Winter #29 - $25,000 PKO 6-Max$109.00

18:00XL Winter #30 - $15,000 Mini PKO 6-Max$16.50

20:00XL Winter #31- $15,000 Late PKO 6-Max$55.00
12-2017:00XL Winter #32- $500,000 Main Event PKO$250.00

17:30XL Winter #33- $50,000 Mini Main Event PKO$33.00

18:00XL Winter #34- $15,000 Late Main Event PKO$5.50