The inaugural 888poker Mystery Bounty Festival Main Event concluded on March 7 in spectacular style with the crowning of the Main Event champion. The Main Event commanded a $160 buy-in, and promised an impressive $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. 888poker delivered on all counts, with 2,067 players turning out in force for one of online poker’s biggest ever mystery bounty tournaments. All those buy-ins resulted in a $310,050 prize pool!
The mystery bounties came into play on Day 2, and there were some incredible prizes on offer. No less than 20 of the mystery bounty envelopes contained $900, another six were worth $3,000, and there were a pair of $9,000 bounties in the mix. However, all eyes were on the jackpot bounty, which weighed in at a mind-boggling $30,000!
That gigantic $30,000 bounty was pulled out by none other than Costa Rica’s “Charles3rd,” who eventually fell in 14th place for $1,248, but took home a tournament-best $35,228! PokerNews will be speaking to the $30,000 winner later this week, so stay tuned!
$300,000 Mystery Bounty Festival Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | pivnoypuzec | Montenegro | $3,159 | $22,103 | $25,262 |
| 2 | Ibet1X2 | Sweden | $1,359 | $16,133 | $17,492 |
| 3 | 2paccnrw16 | $7,749 | $11,859 | $19,609 | |
| 4 | schmpfer | Germany | $679 | $8,786 | $9,466 |
| 5 | AntonTsi | Ukraine | $3,329 | $6,498 | $9,827 |
| 6 | BritiyLobok | Kazahkstan | $3,068 | $4,849 | $7,918 |
| 7 | Panxetillo | Andorra | $979 | $3,633 | $4,612 |
| 8 | VladRon13 | Ukraine | $339 | $2,752 | $3,092 |
| 9 | Zebest7r | Canada | $1,829 | $2,096 | $3,925 |
With the bounty payments included, none of the nine finalists received less than $3,000 for their efforts, each padding their bankroll with impressive sums of cold, hard cash. “Zebest7r” was the first of the finalists to bust. They sat down at the final table with only four big blinds, so the odds of them winning were stacked against them. Early into proceedings, Zebest7r opened to three times the big blind, leaving less than a big blind behind. from early position with ace-six of spades. Unfortunately, some of the other players had been dealt strong hands, so the writing was on the wall for the all-in player.
“BritiyLobok” three-bet all-in for 22.8 big blinds from middle position with the dominating ace-jack, and “VladRon13” called all-in for a little under 17 big blinds from the button with ace-queen. Zebest7r called all-in, and the five community cards came into view. VladRon13 paired their queen on the flop and improved to two pair on the river to send Zebest7r to the rail, and leave BritiyLobok with 6.6 big blinds.
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Despite winning that large early pot, VladRon13 was the next player heading for the exits. “AntonTsi” min-raised from middle position and instantly called when VladRon13 three-bet all-in for 22.8 big blinds on the button. VladRon13 turned over pocket jacks, but AntonTsi was sat there with a pair of aces in the hole! Those aces held, and VladRon13 would play no further part in the $300,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Main Event.
Seventh place and $4,612 went to “Panxetillo” of Andorra. They min-raised with ace-ten of spade from the cutoff, and Sweden’s “Ibet1X2” ripped in their 46 blind stack from the big blind with pocket sevens. Panxetillo called off the 14 big blinds they had behind, and it was off to the races. A nine-high board was no help to Panxetillo, and they headed for the exits.
BritiyLobok never recovered from losing that large pot earlier at the final table, so it was not much of a surprise to see them bow out in sixth. “2pacnrw16” moved all-in from the small blind with ace-king, and BritiyLobok called off their six big blind stack with queen-nine of clubs. An ace on the flop and another on the turn reduced the player count by one, and saw a $3,000 bounty head to 2pacnrw16.
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The final five became four when AntonTsi went from 44 big blinds to bust after a clash with “pinvoypuzec” did not go to plan. AntonTsi min-raised with pocket tens from the cut, pinvoypuzec three-bet to eight big blinds with ace-king, only for AntonTsi to move all-in for 44 big blinds in total! pinvoypuzec made the call, and it was a huge coinflip for the chip lead. An ace on the turn busted AntonTsi.
Germany’s “schimpfer” managed to double their short stack to 12 big blind, but they were still then next player heading away from the final table. They were eliminated in a battle of the blinds when pinvoypuzek raised all-in from the small blind with nine-seven, and schimpfer called off their 11.3 big blind stack with king-jack. A seven landed on the flop proved enough to leave schimpfer void of chips.
Three-handed play lasted almost an hour, and ended with 2pacnrw16 being eliminated. Ibet1X2 raised three times the big blind with king-jack of clubs from the small blind, 2pacnrw16 moved all-in for 20.7 big blinds with ace-ten of diamonds, and Ibet1X2 called. Ibet1X2 flopped a jack, and turned a king, but the turn put two diamonds on the board. The river was an offsuit ace, which was not enough to prevent the Mystery Bounty Main Event progressing to the heads-up stage.
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That hand gave Ibet1X2 an 85.2 big blind to 18.2 big blind lead over pinvoypuzec, and it looked like the Main Event title was heading to Sweden. However, pinvoypuzec had other ideas, and they embarked on an impressive comeback. pinvoypuzec drew level when their ace-six held against queen-jack, and they began forging ahead from that point.
The final hand was something of a cooler. pinvoypuzec raised to 2.1 big blinds with pocket sixes, and Ibet1X2 called with eight-six. The flop fell six-ace-ace, gifting pinvoypuzec a full house. Ibet1X2 check-called a min-bet. The turn was an eight, improving Ibet1X2 to what would turn out to be a very costly second-best two pair. They check-called a 3.5 big blind bet. A jack on the river saw Ibet1X2 check again. pinvoypuzec moved all-in for 14.8 big blinds effective, and Ibet1X2 could not find a fold, and therefore, busted in second place for $17,492 in total, leaving pinvoypuzec to become the tournament’s champion and recipient of $25,262!
Full Mystery Bounty Festival Results
The 30 numbered events and the Main Event drew in almost 34,000 entrants and paid out more than $1.2 million, which is a phenomenal result. Check out the full festival results, and remember that 888poker is still the only online poker site where you can play mystery bounty tournament every day of the week!