A trio of mystery bounty Main Events rounded off the PokerStars Carnival Series on February 5, paying out a combined $2,348,610. Mystery bounty tournaments may be still in their infancy at PokerStars, but it is evident the online poker giant is taking them deadly seriously and footing substantial guarantees.
Patrick “JaegsPL” Lauber came out on top of an all-star cast in the $1,050 Carnival Series NLHE Mystery Bounty Main Event. A field of 835 entrants ensured the $750,000 guarantee was smashed and a $59,904 top prize created. Inexplicably, PokerStars only shows the total value of mystery bounties the champion wins, with Lauber adding $19,177 from the mystery bounty prize pool for a total score of $79,081.
The nine-handed final table was a cosmopolitan affair, with seven nationalities represented. “Grazza” of the United Kingdom was the first to fall. South Korea’s “Junbozz” and “zelvavegas” of Belarus joined the ever-growing list of casualties before Austria’s “YannickPoker” and Vietnamese grinder “5tunt3r” were eliminated, leaving only four players in contention for the title.
“HighRiskHighReward” crashed out in fourth from their Austrian home, and Brazilian sensation Daniel “dani aziz” Aziz busted in third, leaving Lauber heads-up against Sweden’s “mamamamama70”.
You may recall that “mamamamama70” helped themselves to an $88,599 score on Sunday after taking down the $5,200 Titans Event. They had to make do with a runner-up finish this time around. Second place paid $45,166 plus whatever their seven mystery bounties weighed in at.
Carnival Series 46-H: $1,050 NLHE Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick “JaegsPL” Lauber | United Kingdom | $59,904 |
| 2 | mamamamama70 | Sweden | $45,166 |
| 3 | Daniel “dani aziz” Aziz | Brazil | $34,055 |
| 4 | HighRiskHighReward | Austria | $25,677 |
| 5 | 5tunt3r | Vietnam | $19,360 |
| 6 | YannickPoker | Austria | $14,597 |
| 7 | zelvavegas | Belarus | $11,006 |
| 8 | Junbozz | South Korea | $8,298 |
| 9 | Grazza | United Kingdom | $6,256 |
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“raphaelciafa” Takes Down the $109 Mystery Bounty Main Event
The $109 buy-in Carnival Series Mystery Bounty Main Event came with a $1,250,000 guarantee on its prize pool, but the 12,036-strong entrants list, although impressive, left PokerStars 464 buy-ins short of hitting the guarantee, or $46,400.
Brazil’s “rafaelciafa” took full advantage of the additional value by bulldozing their way to victory, sending 13 foes on their way before clinching the $68,793 top prize. Those 13 bounty payments totaled $1,673, meaning the Brazilian champions raked in $70,466 for their win.
Including the eventual champion, four of the finalists hailed from South America. Brazil’s “Londeee” bowed out in fifth, Argentina’s “mfnob” saw their tournament end in fourth place, while Peruvian “FitoPaez” was the $109 Main Event’s runner-up.
Carnival Series 46-M: $109 NLHE Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | raphaelciafa | Brazil | $68,793 |
| 2 | FitoPaez | Peru | $49,391 |
| 3 | blackprecise | Kazakhstan | $34,463 |
| 4 | mfnob | Argentina | $25,462 |
| 5 | Londee | Brazil | $18,282 |
| 6 | zoleykgb | Hungary | $13,127 |
| 7 | sidlovskiy89 | Ukraine | $9,425 |
| 8 | kingk0ng239 | Switzerland | $6,767 |
| 9 | mr.ktran | Denmark | $4,859 |
$11 Mystery Bounty Main Event Ends in a Chop
The $11 buy-in Carnival Series Mystery Bounty Main Event featured a $250,000 guarantee on its prize pool despite costing only $11 to enter. By the time late registration slammed shut, some 26,899 players had bought in, creating a $263,610 prize pool.
The final table payouts were so vast that nobody took home less than 67 buy-ins for their efforts. By the time heads-up was reached, one of the winners would take home over $11,000 or almost 1,030 buy-ins plus bounty payments.
Germany’s “nerd2121” and Brazilian “Cabao Veio” were the last two players standing. Unsurprisingly, with the difference between first and second-place payouts being approximately $3,500, the heads-up duo struck a deal. The deal split the remaining prize money straight down the middle, with both players capturing $9,572. “nerd2121” was the official champion, and they padded their winnings with $161 from the bounty prize pool for a total prize worth $9,733.
Carnival Series 46-L: $11 NLHE Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | nerd2121 | Germany | $9,572* |
| 2 | Cabao Veio | Brazil | $9,572 * |
| 3 | Deas010 | Brazil | $5,726 |
| 4 | gooooh | Belarus | $4,209 |
| 5 | mmontana01 | United Kingdom | $3,059 |
| 6 | PieTrO_925 | Brazil | $2,272 |
| 7 | ool0dun | Brazil | $1,686 |
| 8 | r4m1b093 | Finland | $1,181 |
| 9 | NLIP1 | Belarus | $740 |
*reflects a heads-up deal
Are Mystery Bounty Tournaments Here to Stay at PokerStars?
A quick search of the PokerStars tournament lobby reveals no mystery bounty tournaments are scheduled (at the time of writing), but there will be plenty more for players to enjoy in the coming weeks.
The format has proven popular with PokerStars’ tournament players, and PokerStars always gives its players what they want. It would not surprise us in the slightest of the PokerStars technical team is working hard behind the scenes to improve its mystery bounty offering following the format’s successful debut. Displaying mystery bounty amounts in the lobby would be an excellent edition, as would displaying the mystery bounties won by each player, much like the site already does for progressive knockout (PKO) events. Watch this space.
