Ukraine’s Toptiersir Wins 888 Mystery Bounty Main for $12,130
A close final table ended with a comeback heads-up win days before the PokerNews Online Championship opens on 888.
- Ukraine’s toptiersir won 888’s $80,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event for $12,130 after buying in for $109.
- Only 21 big blinds separated the eight finalists when the final table began, and no player was eliminated for 35 minutes.
- Jwarriner11 moved from last in chips to a small heads-up lead after a double elimination, but toptiersir recovered to win.
- The 40-event PokerNews Online Championship begins on 888 on Oct. 18 with more than $780,000 guaranteed.
Ukraine’s “toptiersir” won 888’s $80,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event on Oct. 12, converting a $109 buy-in into a $12,130 payday. The victory came days before the PokerNews Online Championship begins on 888 on Oct. 18.
The eight-handed final table began unusually close, with only 21 big blinds separating chip leader “neverback” from eighth-placed “Jwarriner11.” There was no elimination for the first 35 minutes, before “jekazavod92” committed a 4.4-big-blind stack with king-queen and lost to Jwarriner11’s ace-queen of spades.
The remaining action accelerated, with a champion decided 90 minutes after that first knockout. Neverback, who had started the day with the lead, lost an eight-big-blind ace-ten stack to king-nine. Germany’s “Stago44” was eliminated with queen-jack of spades against ace-king after falling below one big blind, while Denmark’s “kojgysto888” was reduced to 1.3 big blinds when king-ten lost to pocket aces and soon departed.
Brazil’s “LRigos94” had already collected $4,669 in bounties when a three-way all-in reshaped the tournament. Jwarriner11 eliminated both LRigos94 and “YAMAHA1311,” moving from eighth in chips at the start of the final table to a 47.4-big-blind heads-up lead over toptiersir’s 43.4 big blinds.
The heads-up lead changed hands several times. Toptiersir eventually made a straight against Jwarriner11’s two pair to take control, then built a lead of more than five to one. In the final hand, toptiersir min-raised king-queen and called Jwarriner11’s 12-big-blind shove with ace-six of clubs. A king on the flop put the Ukrainian ahead; although a six later arrived, it was not enough to deny the title.
As we reported in August, kingsluvan also won the same $109, $80,000-guaranteed 888 Mystery Bounty Main Event.
The PokerNews Online Championship runs from Oct. 18 through Oct. 27 with 40 events and more than $780,000 in combined guarantees. Buy-ins range from $8.80 to $525 across traditional multi-table tournaments, deep-stack events, progressive knockouts and Mystery Bounties.
Its opening-day schedule includes a $109 Mystery Opening Event with an $80,000 guarantee. The series also includes a $25 Mystery Mini Main with a $50,000 guarantee, while the $250 Mystery Bounty Main guarantees $250,000; its final eight are due back on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. GMT.
