PokerNews Online Championship Off to a Flying Start at 888poker; First Four Champions Crowned

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After much planning, blood, sweat, and tears behind the scenes at PokerNews HQ, the inaugural PokerNews Online Championship got off to a flying start at 888poker on February 25. Four PokerNews readers became champions, while a Brazilian star looks set to walk away with top honors in the $120,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Opening Event.

February 25 saw the first five of 43 events shuffle up and deal, including the $525 buy-in, $40,000 guaranteed Opening Event High Roller. A field of 92 entrants created a $46,000 prize pool that the top 18 finishers shared.

Each of the eight finalists at least doubled their buy-in, with "Illraise8" of Canada being the first to fall, their eighth-place finish coming with $1,099 in prize money.

Lithuania's "Raise1lin." Was the next to bust ($1,504) before "beebsterizer" ($2,106), "phho86" ($2,948), and "sw2909" ($4,130) fell by the wayside.

The High Roller progressed to the heads-up stage following the untimely demise of "Svarozhits" in third. The Montenegro-based grinder will be bitterly disappointed to have not got the job done, but the $5,777 they took home should go some way to numbing the pain of defeat.

Heads-up pitted Malta's "dariotoma" against Swedish sensation Jerry "Perrymejsen" Odeen. The difference between first and second place was more than $3,000 but neither player entertained the idea of striking a deal. In the end, Odeen had to make do with a runner-up finish and the $8,091 that came with second place, leaving "dariotoma" to bank an $11,334 score and the title of champion.

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$40,000 PokerNews #5 – Opening Event High Roller Final Table Results

RankPlayerCountryPrize
1dariotomaMalta$11,334
2PerrymejsenSweden$8,091
3SvarozhitsMontenegro$5,777
4sw2909United Kingdom$4,130
5phho86 $2,948
6beebsterizerCanada$2,106
7Raise1ln.Lithuania$1,504
8Illraise8Canada$1,099

Croatia's "brainiac1" Tuuns $55 into $4,334

$40,000 was guaranteed in the $55 buy-in Opening Event Mystery Bounty, but the tournament awarded $42,500 after 850 players bought in before late registration slammed shut.
Some of the finalists were lucky in the mystery bounties they collected, with six of them taking home at least three figures worth of bounties and two scooping over $2,000.

Fourth-place finisher "Nowitzki_41" collected $1,383 for their deep run, but bounty payments worth $2,451, almost the size of the runner-up's payout, boosted their take-home pay to $3,834.

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Although Croatia's "brainiac1" came out on top and claimed a total haul worth $4,334, it was the second-place finisher who was this tournament's biggest winner. Romanian "bucurestean" fired two $55 bullets, and the second shot resulted in them claiming the $2,540 second-place prize. However, the Romanian eliminated a foe who had the $4,000 jackpot bounty on their head, so "bucurestean" took home a total prize worth $6,871.

$55 Opening Event Mystery Bounty Final Table Results

RankPlayerCountryBountiesPrizeTotal Prize
1brainiac1Croatia$851$3,483$4,334
2bucuresteanRomania$4,331$2,540$6,871
3TttrrxRomania$532$1,867$2,399
4Nowitzki_41Brazil$2,451$1,383$3,834
5DiosTeAmaCosta Rica$904$1,023$1,928
6Dixie-NormasUnited Kingdom$33$765$798
7wally2funRomania$66$576$642
8JoshManletUnited Kingdom$532$436$968

PokerNews Online Championship Results So Far

In addition to "dariotoma" and "brainiac1" becoming PokerNews Online Championship champions, "mAteus.dAne" and "KovalevEvgen" also helped themselves to titles.

"mAteus.dAne" triumphed in the $11 Opening Event Mystery Bounty for $1,931, with "KovalevEvgen" banking $1,827 for their victory in the $22 Opening Event Mystery Bounty.

EventBuy-inEntrantsPrize PoolChampionPrize
#1 – Opening Event Mystery Bounty$111,733$17,330mAteus.dAne$1,931*
#2 – Opening Event Mystery Bounty$55850$42,500brainiac1$4,334*
#3 – Opening Event Mystery Bounty$1091,118$120,000TBDTBD
#4 – Opening Event Mystery Bounty$22795$15,900KovalevEvgen$1,827*
#5 – Opening Event High Roller$52592$46,000dariotoma$11,334

888poker: Make These Adjustments For Mystery Bounty Tournaments

Remaining PokerNews Online Championship Schedule

Another four events take place on February 26, each played with a progressive knockout (PKO) format. The four events in this online poker series come with buy-ins of $11, $55, $109, and $215, and have guaranteed prize pools weighing in at $10,000, $12,000, $12,000, and $10,000, respectively.

DateTime (GMT)EventBuy-inGuarantee
Mon 26 Feb5:00 p.m.PokerNews #6 – PKO Mini$11$10,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #7 – PKO High Roller$215$10,000
 6:30 p.m.PokerNews #8 – PKO Mid$55$12,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #9 – PKO$109$12,000
Tue 27 Feb5:00 p.m.PokerNews #10 – PKO 6-Max Mini$11$10,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #11 – PKO 6-Max High Roller$320$15,000
 6:30 p.m.PokerNews #12 – PKO 6-Max Mid$55$12,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #13 – PKO 6-Max$109$12,000
Wed 28 Feb5:00 p.m.PokerNews #14 – Deep Stack Mini$8.80$5,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #15 – Deep Stack Mid$33$10,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #16 – Deep Stack$109$12,000
Thu 29 Feb5:00 p.m.PokerNews #17 – Super KO Mini$11$10,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #18 – Super KO High Roller$320$15,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #19 – Super KO$109$15,000
 7:30 p.m.PokerNews #20 – SNAP PKO$16.50$2,000
Fri 1 Mar5:00 p.m.PokerNews #21 – Mystery Bounty 6-Max Mini$11$10,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #22 – Mystery Bounty 6-Max Micro$5.50$5,000
 6:30 p.m.PokerNews #23 – Mystery Bounty 6-Max Mid$22$10,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #24 – Mystery Bounty 6-Max$109$12,000
 7:30 p.m.PokerNews #25 – Cut to the Chase$11$2,000
Sat 2 Mar5:00 p.m.PokerNews #26 – Deep Stack PKO Mini$11$10,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #27 – Deep Stack PKO Mid$55$12,000
 6:30 p.m.PokerNews #28 – PLO Mystery Bounty$11$2,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #29 – Deep Stack PKO$109$12,000
Sun 3 Mar5:00 p.m.PokerNews #30 – Mystery Bounty Mini$11$12,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #31 – Mystery Bounty$55$40,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #32 – Mystery Bounty Mid$22$15,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #33 – The PKO Rumble$109$50,000
 7:30 p.m.PokerNews #34 – The PKO Rumble High Roller$525$50,000
Mon 4 Mar5:00 p.m.PokerNews #35 – Big Shot Mini$16.50$10,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #36 – Big Shot Mid$55$12,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #37 – Big Shot$109$12,000
 9:00 p.m.PokerNews #38 – Mystery Bounty Mini Main Event Day 2$25$50,000
 9:00 p.m.PokerNews #39 – Mystery Bounty Main Event Day 2$215$300,000
Tue 5 Mar5:00 p.m.PokerNews #40 – Closing Event PKO Mini$11$10,000
 6:00 p.m.PokerNews #41 – Closing Event PKO High Roller$320$15,000
 6:30 p.m.PokerNews #42 – Closing Event PKO Mid$55$12,000
 7:00 p.m.PokerNews #43 – Closing Event PKO$109$12,000
 7:00 p.m.pokerNews #39 – Main Event Final Table  

February 26 also sees the conclusion of the $120,000 guaranteed Opening Event Mystery Bounty. The 1,118 starters in this $109 buy-in tournament have been cut down to only six. Usually, the final table of this event has eight players seated, but a dramatic end to Day 1 proceedings saw the field cut to only six, with Brazilian "andrey59" bagging up a colossal 6,606,011 stack, or 165 big blinds.

You can watch the final table action unfold, with cards-up coverage, via the 888poker Twitch channel from 8:00 p.m. GMT.

RankPlayerCountryChipsBig Blinds
1andrey59Brazil6,606,011165
2TitovSerjUkraine2,794,11970
3RazvyBRomania2,468,46562
4Babychill377Ukraine2,335,25058
5yriy3Ukraine1,854,30046
6Lahdo15Sweden708,85518
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  • Check out the biggest winners from the opening night of the PokerNews Online Championship.

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