As soon as the last card of a marathon final table was dealt, the emotions started pouring out for Ian Simpson.
Simpson burst onto the poker scene when he won the Irish Open Main Event in 2013. Since then, he’s been a popular streamer who’s amassed thousands of followers and more than $1.2 million in career earnings.
In May 2022, he decided to join the 888poker team as an Ambassador, representing the brand at live events around the world. He was well aware of the history: no team pro had ever won an 888poker Live Main Event.
He set out to change that today at the final table of the 888poker Live Madrid Main Event. It took until nearly four in the morning in the Spanish capital, but he finally did it after defeating Alvaro Murciano to cap off a day filled with audacious bluffs, wild swings in fortune, and extreme tests of patience and endurance. His fellow team pros, including Vivian Saliba, Lucia Navarro, Josh Manley, and Nick Eastwood were there to support him the entire way and cheer him on to victory.
2025 888poker Live Madrid Main Event Final Table results
| Place | Place | Country | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Simpson | United Kingdom | €62,000 |
| 2 | Alvaro Murciano | Spain | €42,000 |
| 3 | Angel Perez | Spain | €30,500 |
| 4 | Carlos Diaz | Spain | €22,500 |
| 5 | Michaelangelo Serra | Italy | €17,000 |
| 6 | Jonas ten Cate | Netherlands | €13,400 |
| 7 | Jorge Alvarez | Spain | €10,000 |
| 8 | Yakiv Syzghanov | Ukraine | €7,600 |
| 9 | Alberto Diaz | Spain | €5,985 |
“Just look. Look at them,” an emotional Simpson said about his support after securing the title.
“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.”
Simpson seemed to have the trophy secured when he had Murciano all in and dominated going to the river, only for Murciano to spike a three-outer to double up. But Simpson persevered, keeping up his aggressive style of play, reseizing the chip lead, and finally closing out the tournament to keep the trophy in the 888poker family.
“Pretty crazy. That eight on the river was something. But we kept our edge and just reset and did the best we could. Got it in good eventually and held,” Simpson said about the wild day inside the Casino Gran Via.
Day 3 Action
The day began with 23 players returning out of a starting field of 403. Jun Zhan was the first to bust, running ace-queen into Angel Perez’s aces. Lorenzo Bosco then lost a race to Alberto Diaz to fall in 22nd.
Tom-Aksel Bedell bluff-shoved the river with just four-high and was called by Tiago Peuguino as Bedell busted in 19th. Alejandro Perez then raised to 80,000 on the button and Tarmo Tammel stuck in his last 85,000 from the small blind. Roman Isaienko then reshoved and Perez called for 600,000. Perez hit a king on the flop to beat Isaienko’s jacks and Tammel’s ace-high to scoop the pot as Tammel was eliminated in 17th.
Illia Petrytsia finished in 15th after running kings into Michaelangelo Serra’s aces. Alejandro Perez was the next to fall, calling off with a pair of nines in a massive pot against Angel Perez who showed down a pair of jacks.
Peuguino was all in for 1,520,000 with ace-king and Carlos Diaz picked up kings to win a more than 3,000,000-chip pot and take the chip lead, while Peuguino was sent off to collect his 13th-place prize. EPT champion Alexander Stevic fell to Simpson in 11th, while Serra busted Justinas Fiseris on the final table bubble.
Carlos Diaz led at the start of the nine-handed final table with 3,690,000. Simpson began in third place with 3,135,000. Alberto Diaz was the first casualty, shoving for 700,000 with queen-ten as Jonas ten Cate called with ace-jack. Diaz paired his ten on the flop, but Ten Cate spiked a jack on the river to bust Diaz in ninth.
Simpson picked up aces under the gun and five-bet shoved against Serra to take the chip lead with more than 4,000,000. Murciano was then all in for 1,035,000 with ace-jack but dominated by Yakiv Syzghanov’s ace-queen. The flop gave Murciano trips and a fortunate double up, while Syzghanov suffered another bad beat when his turned two pair was counterfeited on the river against Perez as he was eliminated in eighth place.
Simpson lost the chip lead to Diaz when he folded two kings on a queen-high flop to a raise of 1,000,000 as Diaz took the pot with just a pair of eights. Diaz still led as the final seven players went off on a 60-minute dinner break.
After play resumed, Serra doubled up off Jorge Alvarez with kings against nines. Alvarez was then all in for 995,000 with king-eight but couldn’t improve against Serra’s jacks as the start-of-day chip leader had to settle for seventh place.
Simpson began to pull away from the field with a series of creative and aggressive moves, climbing up near 6,000,000. He lost a chunk when Serra hit an ace on the river to beat his pocket jacks, falling back down to the pack.
Diaz retook the chip lead when he made the nut flush to crack Murciano’s set. Ten Cate, making his second appearance at the final table of this event in the last three years, was the most aggressive at the final table, never finding a good hand but still managing innovative ways to accumulate chips quickly. He took the chip lead during six-handed play but then paid off a big bet on the river after Diaz flopped the nut flush.
Simpson was then all in for 3,615,000 with ace-queen against Ten Cate’s queen-jack. Simpson doubled up back into the lead, while Ten Cate was left with less than a big blind and was eliminated shortly afterward in sixth place.
Murciano was all in with queens against Serra’s straight and flush draws but dodged the river to double up. Serra was then all in for 1,650,000 with five-four and Simpson called in the big blind with king-nine. Serra hit a pair on the flop to take the lead, but Simpson spiked a nine on the river to send Serra to the rail in fifth.
Former chip leader Diaz called off his last 2,560,000 with top pair of aces, but Perez had flopped two pair to win the pot and bust Diaz in fourth while taking his turn at the top of the leaderboard. Murciano then got his chance to be table captain when he shoved the river with a flush against Perez.
Murciano was the first to cross the 10,000,000 milestone as the final three players battled for nearly two hours. Simpson then cracked Perez’s queens when he flopped a pair of kings as Perez fell in third place.
Simpson led 10,800,000 to 9,350,000 at the start of heads-up. Murciano wasted little time assuming the lead, rivering a straight and calling a bet of 1,000,000 as he climbed up to 13,000,000. Simpson then made a full house and Murciano paid off his river bet of 2,100,000 to give Simpson back the lead.
Simpson continued to widen the gap until Murciano, down to 4,000,000, called all in after Simpson jammed the button. Murciano had ace-king against jack-five and hit top pair on the flop to survive and jump back into contention.
Simpson wasn’t deterred and continued applying pressure to reopen a big lead. Murciano was then all in for 7,100,000 with ace-eight and Simpson called holding ace-jack with a chance to win the tournament. Simpson remained ahead going to the river and was a card away from the title, but Murciano found a miracle eight to double up, leaving Simpson with less than 6,000,000.
Simpson then picked up a pair of tens to double up as he moved back in front. The two players were virtually even in chips before Simpson got away with a buff on the turn. With blinds now 400,000-800,000, there were less than 30 total big blinds in play and little room for maneuvering. Murciano moved all in for 7,300,000 on the button with six-five and Simpson called with ace-three.
With his fellow pros on the rail chanting his name and shouting for an ace, Simpson found top pair on the flop and Murciano was left drawing only for a chop after the turn. There would be no miracles this time, and a marathon heads-up duel that lasted another two hours came to an end.
“Simpson! Simpson! Simpson!” his rail shouted in celebration. After more than 12 hours of play, Simpson had outlasted the field and finally captured a trophy for the team. He already knows what’s next after a marathon day.
“Tired. Really goddamned tired. I’m so very ready for bed. I can’t make tomorrow’s flight, I’m staying in bed all day long,” he said.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the 888poker Live Madrid. The tour resumes with a stop in Glasgow from March 13-23.
