With 2025 just having begun, among the first live festivals of the year is 888poker LIVE Madrid, which will be played from January 12-19 at the luxurious Casino Gran Vía in the Spanish capital city. David Luzago, Poker Manager of Casino Gran Via, shared that he “hopes it will be a great festival like every year and we are very proud to continue being one of the international venues of the 888poker LIVE circuit.”

The festival will feature nine events with affordable buy-ins ranging from €100 all the way up to €2,000 for the High Roller. There will also be satellites to the Main Event costing €110. As usual, you can qualify online at 888poker with step-style satellites, which will have buy-ins ranging from $0.10 to $109.

The 2025 888poker LIVE Madrid Festival

The festival will kick off with an Opening Event on Sunday, January 12th that will feature a €220 buy-in and will have three starting days. This will be followed by the €120 Mini Shot Turbo and the always popular €330 Mystery Bounty. The Main Event will begin on Wednesday, January 15th and players can choose from any of four starting flights to try and bag chips for Day 2, which will take place on Saturday, January 18th.

This will be the Main Event schedule:

• Day 1A: Wednesday, January 15 at 3 pm
• Day 1B: Thursday, January 16 at 3 pm
• Day 1C: Friday, January 17 at 3 pm
• Day 1D Turbo: Saturday, January 18 at 1 pm (20-minute blind levels)
• Day 2: Saturday, January 18 at 5 pm
• Day 3: Sunday, January 19 at 3 pm

Main Event structure:

• Buy-In: €888
• Starting Stack: 50K
• Blind Levels: 40 minutes during Days 1 & 2, 60 minutes on Day 3
• Late Registration: 11 levels
• Ante Format: Big Blind Ante
• Shot Clock: It will be used from Day 2 and will last 30 seconds

This will be the festival schedule:

888poker Ambassador Lucía Navarro: Searching for her Next Final Table

Many of the 888poker ambassadors will be present in Madrid and among them will be the Spanish Lucía Navarro, who will play “on her home turf.” In 2023, she finished fourth in the Main Event of this festival, winning $27K. This year she notched a fifth-place finish in the Moneymaker Poker Tour Main Event in Las Vegas, earning her biggest live prize of $91K. We got in touch with her to ask her a few questions.

What are your expectations for the 888poker LIVE Madrid festival?

I’ll be there from January 15th, giving it my all at the Gran Vía Casino. I’m really looking forward to a repeat run to the final table like in 2023 and hopefully winning, so that a really cool vlog can come out 😊. I’m really looking forward to meeting up with the 888poker team and planning the coming year! The live part with the five great stops, as well as the online series and news, are going to be strong.

You had a great 2024 with your biggest live cash and a title at Estoril. How would you sum up your year?

It has been a year full of experiences and fruitful in terms of results. As you mentioned, I won my biggest prize to date live and feeling that you are growing and that each year is better than the previous one is amazing. I am very lucky and I give thanks every day.

What are your goals for 2025? Have you already determined some poker festivals that you are going to play in?

My goal for 2025 is mainly on a mental level and to improve my travel routine. I am clear about what my weaknesses are when I travel and I have decided to learn to overcome them and be able to feel better, more productive and stay healthy. Yes, this year I am going to travel a lot and I plan to play all the 888poker LIVE events, the EPTs, the WSOP in Las Vegas (I usually go for three weeks but this year I am planning to go for two months), the WSOP Europe and some events that I have yet to decide on.

Lucía at her last final table in Las Vegas / Photo: Moneymaker Poker Tour

Qualify Online for 888poker LIVE Madrid

Would you like to qualify for the 2025 888poker LIVE Madrid festival from the comfort of your home? You can do so via the satellites that are currently being played on 888poker and are being offer in step format, with buy-ins ranging from just $0.10 to $109. The final $109 satellites will be played every Sunday at 7 PM GMT. You can find the satellites in the “Live Events” section under “Tournaments”.

The final satellite will deliver packages valued at $1,800 that include the following prizes:

• $970 (€888) buy-in to the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event
• $500 for accommodation
• $330 for travel expenses

Away from the Felt: What to see and do in Madrid

Madrid is the capital of Spain and is home to more than 3 million people, making it the second-most populated city in the European Union. It is an influential cultural center with internationally renowned museums and is the fourth richest city in Europe. Some of the places that you can visit in Madrid are:

• Prado Museum 🖼️
• Royal Palace 👑
• Santiago Bernabeu Stadium ⚽️
• Reina Sofia National Museum of Art Center 🎨
• Warner Bros. Park 🎢
• Zoo Aquarium 🦈
• Atletico Madrid Stadium ⚽️
• Bullring Arena 🐂

The Venue: Gran Via Casino

The imposing Gran Vía Casino in Madrid is housed in a 100-year-old palace. Weekly and monthly tournaments are held in the Casino’s beautiful Poker Room, attracting the participation of hundreds of players. Marquee poker events such as the World Poker Tour Prime circuit, Triton Poker and 888poker LIVE have also held stops there since 2015.

In 2021, the Spanish Poker Hall of Fame was created and photos of the members can be found on one of the walls of the Casino Gran Vía. You can learn more details about the history of poker at the Casino Gran Vía in this interview with David Luzago.

The 2024 888poker LIVE Madrid Festival

Last year’s edition featured 10 events and champions from five countries: Spain, Ireland, Ukraine, Montenegro and England. The Main Event had 435 entries and distributed €333K ($363K) in prizes among the top 56 players. The champion was Manuel Ledesma Murcia of Spain, who earned the largest prize of his career: €58K ($63K).

Manuel Ledesma Murcia

The chart below details results of last year’s festival events:

Full Article

About The Author

Poker News

See author's posts