The 888poker player known as "IOwnU888" warmed up for the XL Autumn Series in style on the evening of September 16 with an impressive double-whammy. The online tournament specialist not only chopped the $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event but also pulled out over $12,000 worth of mystery bounties along the way, including the jackpot of $10,000.
Their total haul of $19,103 is one of the largest prizes awarded in this event in recent times and arms them with plenty of ammunition for the XL Autumn Series.
This weekend's $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event saw 980 entrants cut to only eight on Day 1, with those finalists returning to the action under the watchful eyes of the 888poker Twitch channel viewers.
More often than not, the biggest mystery bounty sum has already been plucked from its golden envelope before the final table is set, but not this week, adding another layer of complexity to proceedings.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | dmg34 | Finland | 5,086,453 | 85 |
| 2 | RonIrishMofo | Canada | 3,684,348 | 61 |
| 3 | UnBandit | Romania | 2,741,462 | 46 |
| 4 | silkauskas | Lithuania | 1,562,097 | 26 |
| 5 | pafgaming1 | Romania | 593,916 | 10 |
| 6 | IOwnU888 | 501,380 | 8 | |
| 7 | RicUema | Brazil | 469,878 | 8 |
| 8 | Macabre72 | Germany | 60,466 | 1 |
"RicUema" doubled up on the first hand when "dmg34" inexplicably opened from under the gun with seven-deuce offsuit before calling an eight big blind shove from "RicUema" on the button. The worst hand in No-Limit Texas Hold'em was against the second best, and the pocket kings held.
Moments later, "Macabre72" fell by the wayside. They sat down at the final table with a solitary big blind, and was forced all-in in the big blind, causing a multi-way pot to build. "RonIrishMofo," "UnBandit," and "pafgaming1" all limped in with less-than-stellar hand, only for "dmg34" to spoil the party with a chunky raise. Everyone folded, leaving the kings of "dmg34" to clash with the al-in player's king-jack. As in the opening hand, the pocket kings held, and "Macabre72" busted; they did not have the $10,000 bounty on their head.
The final table lost another player as the tenth minute began. The active "dmg34" min-raised to 140,000 under the gun with pocket nines and called the 438,916 shove from "pafgaming1" in the small blind, made with ace-seven. A double-paired board without an ace sent "pafgaming1" to the showers.
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Another 12 minutes passed without an elimination; that passage in play was broken by "RicUema" biting the dust. Down to only 3.5 big blinds, "RicUema" open-shoved with ace-five, "IOwnU888" three-bet all-in for around 2.5 million chips, folding out the other players. The all-spade flop gave "IOwnU888" top pair but "RicUema" a flush draw. The turn and river bricked, and "RicUema" bowed out. "IOwnU888" got to open the busted player's golden envelope, which revealed the monster-sized $10,000 jackpot!
With the huge bounty no longer affecting the surviving players' decision-making, play loosened up, and it took less than an hour to whittle the final five down to a champion.
The first post-jackpot bust out was that of "UnBandit," who got their last nine big blinds into the middle of the felt with pocket sixes only to run into the pocket kings of "IOwnU888." The five community cards provided little in the way of drama, and the final table was down to four players.
Those four became three with the demise of one-time chip leader "dmg34." The Finn got a little frisky with king-queen offsuit against "RonIrishMofo." They min-raised to 200,000 on the button, "silkauskas" called in the small blind, "RonIrishMofo" three-bet to 800,000 in the big blind, "dmg34" opted to jam all-in for 3,418,566. "silkauskas" folded but "RonIrishMofo" called with the dominating ace-king. An ace on the flop spelled curtains for the all-in player, whose jam with king-queen was correct, according to GTO Wizard. The GTO tool suggested moving all-in 77.1% of the time and calling the three-bet remaining 22.9%.
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Heads-up was set during the 70,000/140,000/17,500 level. "RonIrishMofo" min-raised to 280,000 and only "silkauskas" called in the big blind. Both players checked the four-five-eight flop. "silkauskas" led for 348,075 on the nine turn, and was called. The river put a seven on the draw-heavy board, and "silkauskas" bet 454,954 only for "RonIrishMofo" to move all-in. "silkauskas" called off the 1,467,017 chips they had behind, and turned over seven-five of clubs for two pair. Unfortunately, "RonIrishMofo" held jack-ten of hearts for a straight.
"IOwn888" went into the heads-up clash with "RonIrishMofo" holding an 8,525,932 to 6,174,068 chip lead and with over $10,000 worth of mystery bounties padding their bankroll. Despite the sizeable lead, "IOwnU888" agreed to a deal to lessen the pay-jump between first and second place.
Once the tournament restarted, the players began flipping for the win. "RonIrishMofo" won the first hand to double, then their pocket seven flopped a set to crush the lowly four-deuce of "IOwnU888" thus becoming the latest 888poker $100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event champion, but "IOwnU888" was the biggest winner on the night.
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RonIrishMofo | Canada | $1,085 | $6,365 | $7,450 |
| 2 | IOwnU888 | $12,824 | $6,279 | $19,103 | |
| 3 | silkauskas | Lithuania | $98 | $3,925 | $4,023 |
| 4 | dmg32 | Finland | $1,023 | $2,885 | $3,908 |
| 5 | UnBandit | Romania | $1,074 | $2,135 | $3,209 |
| 6 | RicUema | Brazil | $238 | $1,590 | $1,828 |
| 7 | pafgaming1 | Romania | $189 | $1,195 | $1,384 |
| 8 | Macabre72 | Germany | $200 | $905 | $1,105 |
The XL Autumn Series, complete with its $500,000 guaranteed mystery bounty Main Event, runs at 888poker from September 22 through October 1. Now is as good a time as any to use thePokerNews Online Tournament Calendar (OTC), a free-to-use tool that enables you to find upcoming and in-play tournaments at 888poker.
