“TheMoeQasem” of the United Arab Emirates is the biggest winner of the 888poker XL Winter series so far courtesy of taking down the $200,000 Mystery Bounty event. Last week, an overlay looked likely, but 1,380 entries resulted in a guarantee-busting $207,000 prize pool, and TheMoeQasem got their hands on $20,585 of that pot.
Half of the $207,000 went into the main prize pool, with the remaining 50% placed in sealed envelopes and awarded as mystery bounties. Players that made it through to Day 2 got to open one of those prize-awarded envelopes if they eliminated an opponent from the field.
Each of the mystery bounties was worth at least $200, with a cool $20,000 jackpot awaiting one lucky player.
| Bounty Amount | No. of Prizes |
|---|---|
| $20,000 | 1 |
| $6,000 | 2 |
| $2,000 | 6 |
| $600 | 20 |
| $200 | 45 |
| $216 | 162 |
Brazil’s “feldegani.ps” received one of the largest bounties, $6,000, before busting in 107th place. They walked away with $6,432 despite collecting only $321 from the main prize pool. Eventual fifth-place finisher “perrivini” also received $6,432 worth of bounties, but the biggest success story was “9salute46” of Ireland who pulled out the $20,000 mystery bounty. Their total haul weighed in at $20,553, only $3 less than the eventual champion took home!
$200,000 XL Winter #17 Mystery Bounty 8-Max Final Table
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TheMoeQasem | UAE | $3,112 | $17,473 | $20,585 |
| 2 | Sonde | Belarus | $3,064 | $12,733 | $15,797 |
| 3 | Nathjb | United Kingdom | $2,128 | $9,341 | $11,469 |
| 4 | magoooo12 | Ireland | $1,248 | $6,869 | $8,117 |
| 5 | perrivini | Brazil | $6,432 | $5,082 | $11,514 |
| 6 | NgoloforGB | Malta | $416 | $3,766 | $4,182 |
| 7 | jsj588 | Ukraine | $1,064 | $2,803 | $3,867 |
| 8 | lelecones7 | Brazil | $1,048 | $2,086 | $3,134 |
| 9 | JonEBrad | United Kingdom | $1,712 | $1,583 | $3,295 |
Each of the nine players at the final table of the $200,000 Mystery Bounty saw their $160 investment swell to more than $3,000 with bounties included. “JonEBrad” saw their time at the final table limited because they were the first player heading out of the door.
“lelecones,” “jsj588,” and “NgoloforGB” joined the ever-growing list of eliminated players. There was a significant jump in prizes from sixth to fifth-place onwards. NgoloforGB” collected $4,182 when they fell in sixth, but “perrivini” netted $11,514 thanks mostly to the $6,432 worth of scalps they opened, as mentioned earlier.
“magoooo12” of Ireland reeled in an $8,117 score for their fourth-place finish, with “Nathjb” scooping $11,469 when they fell in third. Heads-up pitted TheMoeQasem against “Sonde” of Belarus. TheMoeQasem got he job done and their hands on $20,585, leaving Sonde to win a $15,797 consolation prize.
888poker Casts The Wizard’s Spell and Gives Away $300,000
XL Winter Results So Far
Through 21 numbered events, the 888poker XL Winter series has seen 11,379 players, including re-entries, buy into those tournaments. 888poker has awarded an impressive $771,880 across those 21 tournaments, a number that is guaranteed to burst through the $1 million barrier by some distance because the $500,000 Main Event is still yet to play out!
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