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Boris Kolev won the Onyx High Roller Series $10,400 Mystery Bounty in Cyprus, taking the title and $129,000 after outlasting a 114-entry field. He beat Aleksandr Kirichenko heads-up at Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa, and the event built a $1,094,400 prize pool.

The tournament was a two-day mystery bounty with 100,000 starting stacks and late registration open through Level 12, which closed at about 10:45 p.m. local time. Once the bounty portion began, every elimination carried a shot at one of the hidden prizes.

As reported earlier, Kolev had already bagged the Day 1 chip lead and returned for Day 2 as the best-positioned player among the 17 survivors. He ended the opening day with 1.7 million chips, good for 57 big blinds, and Day 2 got underway at 1 p.m. local time on Aug. 11.

PokerNews’ recap of the run said Kolev picked up seven mystery bounties on the way to the title, although another report page put the number at eight. His path through the later stages included knockouts of Mr Teddy, Fabian Schmidt, Geoffrey Mooney and Felipe Ketzer, then a stretch where Kirichenko doubled through him more than once.

Those swings included a hand where Kirichenko rivered king-nine to beat Kolev’s pocket fours and another where queen-jack made a river jack against Kolev’s king-six. Kolev answered with pots of his own, including one where ace-high was good at showdown and another where a 1,800,000 river bet got a fold.

The finish came when Kolev shoved from the small blind with king-four and Kirichenko called off 2,000,000 with king-jack. A king-four-deuce flop gave Kolev two pair, and the board ran out 4♦ 2♥ K♥ 8♠ A♦ to end it.

There is some reporting inconsistency on the exact payout figures. One PokerNews recap page listed a $127,400 top prize and a $92,000 runner-up payout, while the main report said Kolev earned $129,000 for first.

Afterward, Kolev said Cyprus is his favourite place to play and described the venue as feeling like a holiday rather than work. He also said the series is improving and going in the right direction.

PokerNews has brought back its PowerStack leaderboard for the 2026 RunGood Poker Series fall season. Every eligible PowerStack result in the fall will earn points, and players can build those totals across multiple RGPS stops.

The payoff is a top-10 prize that sends each finisher to Thunder Valley and into the $300 Dream Seat Invitational. That invitational runs during the RunGood Dream Factory Festival from Nov. 27 through Dec. 3, and the winner earns a seat in the PGT Championship at PokerGO Studio in January 2027.

The first fall PowerStack lands at RGPS Golden Expedition at Caesars Southern Indiana in Elizabeth, Indiana. The six-day series runs Aug. 18-23, and the $400 PowerStack starts Aug. 19 with flights at noon and 6 p.m., a $50,000 guarantee, and a return on Aug. 20 for the survivors to play to a champion.

The Indiana stop itself carries 10 ring events and $260,000 in guarantees. The headline tournament is the $800 Main Event, which has a $200,000 guarantee, four starting flights from Aug. 20-22, and a final-day return on Aug. 23.

The schedule also includes a $300 Seniors Ring Event for players 50 and older, a $200 Tag Team NLH event, a $400 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, and a $300 Black Chip Bounty NLH event on the final day. Players can also chase the PowerStack through $105 turbo satellites, with one seat awarded for every five entries.

The fall reset follows the first PowerStack race earlier this year, when 11 players earned seats into the $1,200 Million Dollar Main Event at the RGPS Passport Season Finale at Thunder Valley. Nicholas Rigby finished on top of that board, while Paul Schreiner and Sean Hold both turned free Main Event entries into $5,400 cashes. JC Tran then won the 1,086-entry Main Event for $163,700, and the prize pool reached $1,140,300.

PokerStars is bringing back MicroMillions from Aug. 16 to 31 with 139 events, more than $2 million in combined guarantees, and buy-ins ranging from $1.10 to $22.

As covered in the Aug. 11 Boot Camp report, PokerStars had already put $800,000 in guarantees behind the WCOOP Boot Camp Main Events. MicroMillions begins as that warm-up concludes, and the schedule is built around low buy-ins ahead of WCOOP.

Several headline events carry guarantees despite their small prices. On Aug. 16, players can jump into a guaranteed $75,000 $11 Sunday Storm and a $22 High Roller with the same guarantee. Both of those events run again on Aug. 23, while the $22 PKO Main Event starts on Aug. 30 and comes with a $250,000 guarantee.

The low buy-in structure is part of the appeal. Poker.org said the series is a good place to start with WCOOP looming, and quoted PokerStars Ambassador Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg calling MicroMillions the ideal place to start for WCOOP this September. He pointed to the low buy-ins, plenty of satellites, and packed schedule with different formats as a way for players to gain experience, try something new, and chase a title without needing a huge bankroll.

Recent editions show why the series still gets attention. In 2025, the MicroMillions Main Event drew 20,600 entrants, and Brazil’s “pretinhouva” won $25,911 including bounties. In 2024, “vinivarella22” turned a $22 investment into $28,319 after a three-way chop. MicroMillions ends a week before WCOOP action starts on Sept. 6.

ACR Poker has launched Vault Rush, an ongoing promotion built around weekly keys, a digital Vault and a sequence of player challenges. The setup lets players collect a key, use it in the client and find out what is behind the Vault, with prizes that can range from tournament tickets and staking tickets to other promotional rewards or nothing at all.

As covered on Aug. 3, ACR had already introduced the Venom Vault during its Venom Fever promotion. In Vault Rush, the weekly cycle starts in the official Telegram group, where a new free-key link is posted each week. Players then return to the poker client to finish the claim before 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, and each account can claim only one free key per week. Missed keys do not roll over, and joining Telegram once is enough as long as the player stays in the group.

According to ACR Poker, claiming that weekly key unlocks the first challenge. The sequence then asks for a qualifying deposit of at least $25 using an eligible payment method, a qualifying cryptocurrency deposit of at least $25, and finally a referral task tied to The Side Hustle, the company’s refer-a-friend program. The Side Hustle pays cash rewards for bringing in new players, and a referral only counts when the friend signs up, deposits at least $25 and generates $25 in rake.

Once a key is available, the Vault opens inside the client and the prize stays hidden until the key is used. ACR says staking-ticket percentages are assigned at random, players have to accept a staking ticket in the Staking section before using it, and if more than one ticket applies to the same eligible event and one is used to qualify for Day 2, the remaining tickets for that event lose their value. Keys earned through completed challenges can take up to 24 hours to appear, unused keys expire at the end of the promotional period, and the official Telegram group may also surface bonus links, extra keys and limited-time prizes without advance notice.

EvenBet Gaming has added two configurable cash-game mechanics to its online poker software: Straddle from any position and No-Look All-In. The company said both features are available to existing and new operator partners, and both can be switched on or off independently for individual tables through its back-office tools.

No-Look All-In lets a player go all-in before seeing their hole cards. Straddle from any position lets the first eligible player post the opening straddle, which the company said gives players greater control over how hands develop.

The update is aimed at making cash-game sessions feel less routine. EvenBet Gaming CTO Alexander Tamplon said the industry is in “a fierce race for user attention” and that if a table feels slow or predictable, players “simply switch apps.”

Tamplon said adding the two mechanics gives partners a tool to eliminate table routine, keep players deeply engaged, and ultimately drive higher revenues. Focus Gaming News framed the rollout in similar terms, saying the features are meant to add more variety, more high-intensity moments, and more opportunities for higher-value gameplay.

EvenBet said the double update is intended to strengthen player engagement, player lifetime value, and overall rake. That lines up with the company’s own rake explainer, which describes rake as a service fee that helps cover operating costs and as a lever for extending player lifetime value, keeping sessions running longer, and maintaining table liquidity.

EuropeanGaming.eu said the launch comes as cash games remain the largest segment of the online poker market by revenue and operators face pressure to differentiate their products. It also said the release extends EvenBet’s recent run of product updates, including the Spins Poker format and a five-year B2B supplier licence from Sweden’s Spelinspektionen.