The first global stop after 2019, the 888poker LIVE Bucharest August 16th – 22nd 2021 brought back the excitement of high level live poker in Romania
Impecable organization, hefty prizes, numerous participation and jovial atmosphere describe 888poker LIVE Bucharest 2021. The pandemic, travel restrictions, endless series of online poker and the hot holiday season: none of this could prevent the resounding success that 888poker LIVE Bucharest had at the end of this summer, between August 16th and 22nd 2021.
888poker LIVE Bucureși
February 2020 marked the beginning of a “dark” period for both people all around and for live poker: on the 17th, 888holdings announced the cancellation of the well-known 888poker LIVE festival, which was scheduled to start on March 23, 2020 in Bucharest. With it, most major live poker events were canceled as well due to the new restrictions preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic around the globe.
Fast forward a year and a half and local poker-event organizer PokerFest announced, at the end of the NetBet Open in July 2021, the return to Romania of the first international poker festival, following the relaxation of the pandemic restrictions: 888poker LIVE Bucharest was set to start on August 16th and take place during the following week.
Surprise, doubt, enthusiasm were some of the emotions that could be seen on the faces of live poker enthusiasts upon hearing this unexpected news. Holiday plans changed, computers entered sleep-mode and no less than 1344 folk walked through 5* Intercontinental Hotel’s revolving doors, host once again to the oval playing tables bearing PokerFest and 888poker LIVE logos. Of course, not before getting tested for the virus or showing proof of vaccination at the checkpoints specially made available to them in the lobby.
888poker LIVE Bucureși
At the end of the 16 scheduled tournaments, the statistical numbers stunned everyone: over €520,000 in prizes, over 300 entries in the €230 Opening Event and almost 400 entries in the “crown jewel”, the 888€ buy-in Main Event. Who knows what it could’ve been like if Israel, where there are quite a few who love Romania and the game of poker, would not have entered the red zone again. Nearly 150 Israeli players had to cancel their flights and the craving for live poker was to be satisfied at later safer times.
After a week of intense poker play the new 888poker champions were decided in the main tournaments. The Opening Event trophy went to Cluj-Napoca, in the hands of known NLH regular Alexandru Popa, accompanied by a decent sized check for €11,300. The outcome of the €1,400 High Roller needed an extremely late finish in the early morning of the 22nd.This, however, did not prevent Răzvan Sabău from picking up the 1st prize of €23,000 and the handsome 888 trophy.
We left the story of the €888 buy-in Main Event at the end because it deserves a detailed description. The expectations of the organizers were very low, to say the least: fields smaller by at least 150, previously confirmed to participate, new travel restrictions in the EU, all in all nothing predicted what was about to happen. Three starting days later, a fierce promotional campaign, many online satellites on www.888poker.ro and live ones inside the beautiful Ronda Hall, brought the total number of entries to 398. The prize pool rose to an impressive €305,664, guaranteeing 48th place finisher a payout of €1,750, and the champion of the 2021 edition, a staggering €50,000! 888poker then surprised everyone, riding the excitement of this successful turnout, announcing that the eventual champion will also be offered a complete “Road to Las Vegas” 888poker LIVE package worth $13,000 for that special Main Event everyone wants to play in when visiting the Sin City!
Pokerfest
At the end of five days of thrilling plays and strategic planning, all centered around the small plastic rectangles, the winner was decided: Răzvan “razvyqq” Belea, a 32-year-old well-known poker professional and a real “shark” in the online tournament “waters”, would pick up the beautiful golden figure-8 trophy, his future wife and the top prize of €50,000. After a well-deserved rest, he mentioned the start of planning for the ten days in Las Vegas, where he will participate with great satisfaction and countless dreams, thanks to 888poker, in the most famous Main Event of any calendar year of live poker. We believe we are talking for all poker enthusiasts when we say that we can’t wait to see what PokerFest has in store for the rest of the Romanian live poker calendar. We can only hope for a success in the least as great as that of 888poker LIVE Bucharest 2021.
