Sunday was the final day of 888poker’s XL Eclipse championship online poker series and with it came one of the biggest tournaments the online site will hold all year – the $500,000 guaranteed XL Eclipse Main Event.

Not only was the XL Main Event one of the biggest, it was also one of the best. It promised players a shot at a career-defining massive five-figure score for a buy-in of just $250.

In fact, all of Sunday’s ‘Main Event’ tournament provided 888poker players with maximum value with grinders of every bankroll range finding a tournament that could take their game to the next level.

XL Eclipse #32 – $500,000 Main Event
Buy-in: $250
Entries: $1,647
Prize pool: $508,540

Grinders were quick to pick up the value in the $500,000 Main Event as pros and shot-takers alike battled for what could have been the biggest first-place prize of the entire series.

1,647 players entered with 517 rebuys creating a prize pool of $508,540 and promised the top seven players score of $10K or more and a first-place prize of over $85,000.

However, as the tournament neared its fourteenth hour, the final four players decided to reduce their own variance and strike a four-handed deal.

In the end, Brazil’s Francisco ‘chiconogue’ Nogueira became the official winner of the Main Event taking home the XL Eclipse Main Event title and a payday of $57,826.45. He defeated German grinder ‘amaze1’ who finished as the runner-up settling for a score of $49.751.05.

Russia’s ‘si1entb0b’ could easily call himself the real winner. Although he finished in third place, he secured himself the most prize money as he ended up with a $61,622.20 score.

The fourth member of the four-handed deal was Russia’s ‘Lucky_Frutti’. Currently the #71-ranked player in the world, ‘Lucky_Frutti’ earned $57,660.77 for his fourth-place effort. His finish in the Main Event marks his thirteenth career XL championship cash and it is by far his largest result on the site.

Other notables that made the money include Sweden’s ‘Inho’ (179th, $559.39), Russia’s former #1-ranked PocketFiver ‘veeea’ (167th, $559.39), ‘Farrugia_1’ (124th, $813.66), 888poker ambassador Chris ‘888Moorman’ Moorman (90th, $1,017.08) and Andreas ‘r4ndomr4gs’ Berggren (54th, $1,322.20),

XL Eclipse #33 – $50,000 Mini Main Event
Buy-in: $33
Entries: 1,901
Prize pool: $78,630

The $50,000 Mini Main Event and its $33 buy-in hit a sweet spot with mid-stakes grinders as 1,901 players fired in the tournament for an opportunity to take home a five-figure score. The $50K posted guarantee was shattered as players rebought 720 times pushing the prize pool to $78,630.

Ukraine’s ’SpielerKind’ emerged as the winner, taking home the XL Eclipse title after a three-way deal was made. Even with a deal in place, the Ukranian managed to lock up $10,886.69, settling for just over $1500 less than the original first-place prize.

Russia’s ‘1sharb’ finished as the runner up and took home $9,552.49 for his part in the deal. The #114-ranked Russian grinder added the four-figure bankroll boost to his already impressive $678,000 lifetime online career total. The score is the Russian’s largest ever on 888poker and with his earlier min-cash in the $250 Main Event, it was just his third ever result in an XL series.

It was a big day for third-place finisher ‘k29mario’ from Belarus. He was the third player involved in the chop, earning $8,065.18 for his bronze medal finish – easily his largest ever score on 888poker. But he also took home an XL title in the $5.50 Micro Main Event, resulting in a day where he made over $10,000 for under $40.

XL Eclipse #33 Final Table

1. SpielerKind – $10,886.69*
2. 1sharb – $9,552.49*
3. k29mario – $8,065.18*
4. fortunato2b – $5,071.63
5. Paquitooo – $3,727.06
6. 555ATurROI – $2,972.21
7. 1doisi3de0 – $2,217.36
8. Rabaan – $1,486.10
9. bolodocaco – $919.97

XL Eclipse #34 – $15,000 Micro Main Event
Buy-in: $5.50
Entries: 2,536
Prize pool: $17,865

In case you missed it above, ‘k29mario’ from Belarus made two of the day’s ‘Main Event’ final tables. First taking third place in the $33 Mini Main Event and then winning it all in the $15,000 Micro Main Event for the first-place prize of $2,664.26 and the XL Eclipse title. It marks his ninth career XL cash.

The micro-stake grinders turned the $5.50 buy-in Micro Main Event into one of the most popular tournaments of the entire series as 2,536 players created a guarantee-beating prize pool of $17,865.

Joining ‘k29mario’ on the podium was Brazil’s ‘guga3355’ who finished in second place and picked up a nice four-figure score of $1,947.28. Finally, Romanian grinder ‘mariusghet12’ wrapped up the tournament in third place and walked away with $1,411.33.

XL Eclipse #34 Final Table

1. k29mario – $2,664.26
2. guga3355 – $1,947.28
3. mariusghet12 – $1,411.33
4. pok3m3t4l – $1,054.03
5. Hangoover9 – $739.61
6. As_Stars_p – $535.95
7. Roda_PFC23 – $357.30
8. Heikogen – $214.38
9. ForzaMilan26 – $160.78