The €3,000 Mystery Bounty, running as part of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®️, has now wrapped up. After three days of action, a champion has been crowned.
Jeremie Zouari of France has emerged as the winner and locked up a top prize of €194,310 which, along with €8,000 in bounties, made for a total of €202,310.
Zouari outlasted a field of 678 entrants, eventually beating Anton Kraous of Belgium heads-up to earn himself the trophy and a career-best score.
The pair made a deal heads-up based on chip counts and left €15,000 to play for. After just minutes of heads-up play, Zouari made a flush against Kraous’ trips to win the battle.
Kraous earned €170,187 for finishing second, €184,187 including bounties. Antoine Labat came third for €100,050 and picked up €38,000 in bounties to make for a total of €138,050.
Keep up-to-date with all he goings on at the PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo festival.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | Bounties | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeremie Zouari | France | €194,310 | €8,000 | €202,310 |
| 2 | Anton Kraous | Bulgaria | €170,187 | €14,000 | €184,187 |
| 3 | Antoine Labat | France | €100,050 | €38,000 | €138,050 |
| 4 | Ignacio Sole Aparicio | Spain | €76,950 | €10,000 | €86,950 |
| 5 | Jon Ander Vallinas | Spain | €59,200 | €8,000 | €67,200 |
| 6 | Andrea Crobu | Italy | €45,550 | €27,000 | €72,550 |
| 7 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | €35,050 | €53,000 | €88,050 |
| 8 | Igor Yaroshevskyy | Ukraine | €26,950 | €5,000 | €31,950 |
| 9 | Fabio Peluso | Italy | €20,700 | €10,000 | €30,700 |
Bounty Madness
Aside from those who made the final table, there were plenty of other players who locked up significant cashes due to the bounties in play.
Most notably, Aurelien Russo pulled the first €100,000 bounty on Day 2, which was worth nearly as much as their total recorded live earnings. Sam Greenwood was next to pull the big one, the second and final €100,000 bounty in play.
Others who had success when it came to bounties included Aliaksei Boika and Ehsan Amiri, both of whom pulled the second prize of €40,000, along with smaller, supplementary bounties to boost their totals.
Sixth place finisher Andrea Crobu pulled one of the €25,000 tickets along with two €1,000 prizes to add €27,000 to his overall total, meaning his prize money of €72,550 totalled more than what fifth place Jon Ander Vallinas earned.
By the time action reached the final table, there were only €1,000 tickets left in the box and so the tournament took a more standard format, with players aiming to increase their position for the maximum prize money rather than bust opponents.
Rapid Bustouts and Zouari’s Rise
The day started with 15 players returning to the felt. The bustouts came thick and fast, with Florian Montes, Soraya Estrada, Bruno Lopes, Nicolas Julien and Mario Navarro all busting within the first couple of hours.
Action then reached the final table. Fabio Peluso was first to go, followed by Igor Yaroshevskyy, who was eliminated by Zouari. Aliaksei Boika was next, and shortly after Zouari made the nut straight to eliminate the Day 2 chip leader Andrea Crobu and take the chip lead.
Kraous was also accumulating chips and regained the chip lead after busting Ignacio Sole Aparicio. However, in a game changing pot, Zouari hit a full house against Kraous. Shortly after, Kraous eliminated Labat and the tournament went heads-up.
The deal was made to leave just €15,000 to play for and the heads-up commenced. After a bit of back and forth, Kraous doubled up to make chip stacks pretty much even, until Zouari made a flush against Kraous’ trips to seal the deal and win the game.
That wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the €3,000 Mystery Bounty. Stay tuned as live reporters follow the Main Event down to its conclusion.