It took about 12 hours to solve the Mystery Bounty tonight and in the end, Jodie Dunfield from Moncton, NB was the winner. The final table was a bit of a roller coaster as the chip lead moved around the table a bit with both runner-up Dylan Ellis and Dunfield holding the lead for large chunks.
Ellis was the one who did most of the damage on the final table, knocking out most of the field, including third place Bruce Pine after Dunfield did the hard work of cutting hit to 25,000 chips. While Dunfield didn't get Pine's bounty, he did get an overwhelming chip lead from the aces over nines cooler and that set him up for a showdown with Ellis.
It didn't take long for the showdown to happen. Just a couple of hands into the heads-up phase, the deck was as cold as the -32c outside the casino tonight. Ellis flopped trips only to see Dunfield run out to the nut straight. This was Dunfield's first win according to Hendon Mob, and the score tonight was twice his previous lifetime earnings.
Heads up was a short affair that ended in a cooler. Dylan Ellis flopped trip sixes with 
. The money didn't get in until the river though, and by that time, the 
of Jodie Dunfield ran out to the straight on a board of 
. On the river, Ellis shoved his trips but Dunfield snapped it off and took it down with the biggest stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jody Dunfield |  |
11,300,000 | 3,100,000 |
| Dylan Ellis | |
0 | 0 |
Jody Dunfield has the lead to start heads up by about 3 to 1.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jody Dunfield | |
8,200,000 | 3,400,000 |
| Dylan Ellis | |
3,500,000 | 700,000 |
The big hand happened when Bruce Pine and Jody Dunfield got into it with pair over pair. Dunfield had aces versus nines and Pine couldn't find any help to stay alive. He actually had 25k left after the hand, but he lost it the next hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Pine | |
0 | 0 |
Jody Dunfield shoved the small blind and Dylan Ellis called in the big.
Jody Dunfield: 
Dylan Ellis: 
Ellis flopped a straight draw and turned a club draw to go with it, but bricked the river to send the double to Dunfield.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jody Dunfield | |
4,800,000 | 2,075,000 |
| Bruce Pine | |
4,200,000 | 1,600,000 |
| Dylan Ellis | |
2,800,000 | 3,650,000 |
They are down to 3 players left as they head to the break after Mike Kim shoved but ran into the juggernaut that is Dylan Ellis. Ellis had ace-seven against king-five for Kim. Both players hit the flop but Ellis' ace was best and held for the win.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Ellis | |
6,450,000 | 1,950,000 |
| Jody Dunfield | |
2,725,000 | 775,000 |
| Bruce Pine | |
2,600,000 | 600,000 |
| Mike Kim | |
0 | 0 |
Yan Chouinard shoved the small blind and Dylan Ellis called with a covering stack from the big. it was a coin flip between 
for Ellis against the Double-Orr. Ellis hit his ace on the turn, but the pocket fours turned the wheel draw. The river bricked a jack and Chouinard was off to the cage for 5th place money.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Ellis | |
4,500,000 | 1,700,000 |
| Yan Chouinard | |
0 | 0 |
Jordan Matsui was short and he shoved his button for 290k over a hijack raise from Jody Dunfield. Big blind Bruce Pine flatted and Dunfield also called to set up a possible side pot against Matsui.
Both active players checked it down through a board of 
. Matsui's ace-queen was no good against pocket deuces for Pine and Pine was also ahead of the queen-jack for Dunfield.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jody Dunfield | |
3,500,000 | 700,000 |
| Bruce Pine | |
3,200,000 | 2,200,000 |
| Jordan Matsui | |
0 | 0 |
Immediately after Juston Pennell hit the rail, Danny Bajaj followed in 7th place. I missed the action while I was writing up the last hand but it Dylan Ellis was seen stacking his chips and pulling a bounty envelope.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Ellis | |
2,800,000 | 800,000 |
| Danny Bajaj | |
0 | 0 |
They are down to 7 now after the exit of Justin Pennell. He shoved his short stack under the gun, but small blind Dylan Ellis woke up with ace-queen. Ellis hit his ace on the flop but Pennell turned an 8 for some hope, but the river bricked and he hit the rail in 8th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dylan Ellis | |
2,000,000 | 550,000 |
| Justin Pennell | |
0 | 0 |
Jody Dunfield is the big stack right now by a mile with 4.2 million. Mike Kim is the next closest with about 1.8 million. The full final 8 counts are under the chip counts tab.
While I was grabbing the counts, Yan Chouinard picked up a double to over a million when his pocket sevens held against the ace-queen for Bruce Pine.
There are now 8 players left in the game to start Level 26. Wayne Hoffert and Homer Jimenez were the first two exits from the final table and the average stack is just shy of 20 big blinds.
Here is a look at the final table faces.
They are down to 14 players left and it looks like Jody Dunfield is the chip leader right now with about 2.5 million. Dylan Ellis and Danny Bajaj are both playing around 1.4 million as well.
Ian Monahoyios was among the recent busts to bring it down to 16 remaining now. The average stack right now is about 15 bigs and there is about 10 minutes left in Level 24.
The Mystery Bounty is now down to the final two tables now with 18 players left in the game. The average stack right now 655k which is about 16 bigs, so things are likely to move relatively quickly. Payouts to 19th place are listed under the payouts tab.
They are down to 20 players left in the Mystery Bounty now with Level 23 just started. I'm finally finished up my work for Event #3 so I should be here for the rest of the night now. Payouts to date are listed in the Payouts tab.
The bounty numbers are in and the two big bounties will be worth $11,800 each. One of those will be in the mix from the start of the bounty phase, while the second one will be available when the field hits 18 players.
The prizes are up now and the winner tonight will pocket $29,193 in addition to whatever bounties they might have collected. The field is now down to 85 left with 71 players getting paid.
See the payouts tab for a full look at the paid spots tonight.
The entry desk is now closed for the Mystery Bounty with 472 unofficial entries on the board. If that holds, 71 players will be getting paid tonight and there are currently 171 players left in the game.
The prizes haven't been posted yet, but I'll update here as soon as I see them.
They are into the final level of entry in the Mystery Bounty and the field is currently at 436 entries with 249 players still in action. That puts the prizes are $224,540 right now with $87,200 in the bounty pool. Below is a look at a few of the familiar faces in the game today, courtesy of Andrew Kytsei.
The Mystery Machine is in full swing now with a bit more than an hour to enter the game. The field is just shy of 400 entries now with action in Level 7 and 264 players still at the felt.
The current prizes are $203,940, with $79,200 of that in the bounty pool. At the moment, the biggest bounty looks to be north of $15k.
The Mystery Bounty is on the first break of the day now with the end of Level 5. There are 369 entries in the game so far, putting the prizes at $187,460. There are still about 2 hours left to get into the game.
There are almost 300 entries in the Mystery Bounty now with Level 4 just beginning. They will take the first break of the day following Level 5, and entries will close at the start of Level 11.
The Mystery Bounty is up to 262 entries in Level 2 now, putting $134,940 into the combined prize pool. with $82,530 of that in prizes and $52,400 to the bounty pool so far.
The Mystery Bounty is now on in the Chrome Room with 182 entries on the board to start the game. Last year, this event saw 544 entries but given the big start it looks like this will be another event that beats 2023 numbers.
Entries for this game are open until ~7:50 pm tonight, and the bounties kick in once players are in the money.
Event #4: $600 Mystery Bounty ($515 + $85)
Jan 13, 4 pm
Start Stack: 25k
Blinds: 20 Minutes
Entries: 10 Levels (~7:50 pm)
The side event on Saturday is the Mystery Bounty, the fastest-growing new live format in poker. The game kicks off at 4 pm and players have 10 levels to enter the game or make use of unlimited rebuys.
Blinds will increase every 20 minutes with players sitting down with 25k in chips. The bountied will kick in once players are in the money, and the average bounty for the game is set at $600. In addition to the bounties, there will be bog bounties as follows:
$200 from every buy-in goes into the bounty pool, and the big bounties will be calculated once entries are closed and the field is confirmed.
I likely won't have eyes on this one until Day 1d of Event #3 bags up, but I'll be covering the endgame of the Mystery once E3 bags for the night.
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