The 888poker Live Madrid poker event has officially concluded. Between January 12-19, the flop’s been hot at the Casino Gran Vía in the Spanish capital. The €888 Main Event was, of course, the star of the show, and the 403 entrants fought it out over three days, all competing for eternal poker glory and the biggest slice of the €306,280 prize pool.
When the dust settled, history had been made as an 888poker team pro had won one of their own live main events for the first time. Let’s recap Ian Simpson’s way to a title he will forever remember.
Simpson Sets Standard
Simpson’s story is an exciting one. The former teacher in natural sciences transitioned to poker a couple of years ago, and in 2022, he became an 888poker ambassador. Simpson had made a name for himself long before that, though; the big breakthrough came in 2013 when he won the Irish Open Main Event for €265,000. He hasn’t looked back since, and his Hendonmob profile has become an impressive resume ever since he decided to pursue poker.
Simpson entered the final table being third most in chips. Fairly early into the final table action though, he picked up pocket aces and a five-bet shove resulted in him taking over the chip lead. After briefly losing it to Carlos Diaz, Simpson took the number one spot back after putting his great aggressive skills on display.
888poker delivered great live coverage of the event in general, and one can tell it was quite the rollercoaster final day to cover. The chip lead switched back and forth, but Simpson always seemed to climb back to the top of the rankings. When heads-up play against Alvaro Murciano began, Simpson was the chip leader with around one million more in chips.
Simpson chewed away at Murciano bit by bit, and eventually, he found himself in a very fortunate position. He called off Murciano’s all-in holding A♣J♥, while Murciano had A♦8♦. One can only imagine what Simpson felt when the board ran out Q♠3♥2♣5♣8♠; it was back to the drawing board.
The Brit kept his cool, though, and eventually, the two players clashed all-in pre-flop again. Simpson this time held A♦3♦ while Murciano revealed 6♦5♦. The board A♠K♦J♣10♦5♠ let Simpson breathe out as his rail chanted his name; he finally came out on top. The trophy and the first-place payout of €62,000 belonged to him.
888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event 2025 – Final Table Payouts:
| Position | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  Ian Simpson | Great Britain | €62,000 |
| 2. |  Alvaro Murciano | Spain | €42,000 |
| 3. | Angel Perez | Spain | €30,500 |
| 4. | Carkis Duaz | 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 Fiaz | Spain | €5,985 |
That concludes the first 888poker live event of 2025. The next stop for the tour is in Glasgow March 13-23; presumably, Simpson will be there trying for the back-to-back. We’ll have to wait and see if he can pull it off.
