888Poker has announced the third and final leg of the triumvirate of inaugural 888Live events, and it’s time for everyone to set their Google Maps on Barcelona for a festival that caters for everyone.

A few years back I was invited to attend an 888Live Local Series event in Dublin, Ireland. It was a throwback. The poker room was no bigger than my living room. Photographs of The Hendon Mob, Doyle Brunson, and The Devilfish sat on top of the old wallpaper. The craic-filled the room with an ease of a local home game.

But this is 888Poker, the second largest online poker room in the universe. I loved the atmosphere, organisation and the connection they were making with the dustmen, postmen, and second-hand car salesmen of Dublin. But I knew that one day they would have to move into more luxurious surroundings if they were going to maintain that second largest tag, or prevent a young pretender from pinching it from under their nose.

So I was delighted when 888 announced plans to host three major live events per year under the new 888Live banner. It came at a time when 888 looked like serious contenders to the throne currently occupied by PokerStars with a series of high-profile sponsorships and hook ups with some of the most intelligent and marketable ambassadors in the world.