button in Safari888's Aaron Barone Continues Fine Run; Reaches PNOC Main Final Table
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The PokerNews Online Championship (PNOC) Mystery Main Event has reached its final table, and there's a familiar face among the final eight players. 888 ambassador Aaron "abarone68" Barone already has a title and several deep runs during the PNOC. He is now seven eliminations away from a $21,098 top prize, plus any bounties he's helped himself to.
A field of 1,091 entrants resulted in a guarantee-busting $254,203 prize pool. Only 141 of those starters advanced to Day 2, with only eight progressing to the final table. The action resumes at 7:00 p.m. GMT on October 27; play continues until a champion is crowned.
The largest mystery bounties have already been won, including a $25,000 jackpot bounty. That princely sum belongs to "d5t6y7" who fell in 12th place. Including other bounties and their payout for a deep run, "d5t6y7" walked away with $35,020.
$250,000 Mystery Main Event Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LookAround | Kazahkstan | $5,884 | 2,214,940 | 55 |
| 2 | for_science | Canada | $4,629 | 2,063,154 | 52 |
| 3 | Iperenoei13 | Montenegro | $793 | 1,531,973 | 38 |
| 4 | Aaron "abarone68" Barone | Canada | $1,461 | 1,460,290 | 37 |
| 5 | IOwnU888 | - | $2,586 | 1,359,012 | 34 |
| 6 | 01tdr | Romania | $1,586 | 913,170 | 23 |
| 7 | sankovski | Lithuania | $7,548 | 852,351 | 21 |
| 8 | UrExNewBF | Unitred Kingdom | $168 | 515,110 | 13 |
Barone takes his seat at the final table with 1,460,290 chips, the equivalent of 37 big blinds, which are enough to place him fourth at the restart. There are only 18 big blinds difference between Barone's stack and "LookAround" (2,214,940), who leads the finalists back into battle.
The 888 ambassador is joined at the final table by fellow Canadian "for_science" (2,063,154) in second place. 888 regular "IOwnU888" is one place below Barone with 1,359,012 chips.
You can follow the final table action on the 888 Twitch channel, where cards-up coverage will be streamed on an hour delay from 8:00 p.m. GMT.
Mystery Mini Main Ends in a Heads-Up Chop
The $25 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed Mystery Mini Main saw 2,118 players take to the 888-branded felt, just four shy of hitting the guarantee. When the dust settled, it was Finland's "Uivelo88" who was the victor. They collected $4,812 after a heads-up deal with Denmark's "Seberbad," who banked $3,396.
Some 436 players returned for the second and final day, including a trio of 888 ambassadors. Things didn't work out for Ian "Simpioni" Simpson, and he bowed out in 158th. Leo "KaizenStyle" Jokura reached the final three tables, bowing out in 27th for $609.
The hot-running Aaron "abarone68" Barone crashed out in 21st place, a finish good for $334.
$50,000 Mystery Mini Main Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uivelo88 | Finland | $1,878 | $2,934 | $4,812* |
| 2 | Seberbad | Denmark | $358 | $3,038 | $3,396* |
| 3 | Zhuravliov | Andorra | $539 | $1,852 | $2,391 |
| 4 | herandbear21 | Romania | $5,328 | $1,372 | $6,701 |
| 5 | raffonso | Brazil | $49 | $1,015 | $1,064 |
| 6 | tdaguiar | Brazil | $568 | $757 | $1,326 |
| 7 | DLSHOW7 | Brazil | $1,478 | $567 | $2,046 |
| 8 | deeman1823 | Canada | $0 | $430 | $430 |
All but one of the eight finalists saw a four-figure prize land in their 888 accounts. Canada's "deeman1823" didn't accumulate any bounties, so they received only the $430 eighth-place prize.
Fourth-place finisher "herandbear21" raked in the largest prize of the entire tournament thanks to opening a golden mystery bounty envelope containing the $5,000 jackpot bounty. With other bounties and their regular prize pool payout, the Romania-based grinder secured a $6,701 prize.
The tournament ended in a heads-up between "Uivelo888" and "Seberbad" with the former formally becoming the PokerNews Online Championship Mystery Mini Main champion.
PokerNews Online Championship Results
Thirty-five of the 40 PokerNews Online Championship events have crowned their champions. Check out the table below to see which players won which events and how much they won.
2026 PokerNews Online Championship by 888 Schedule
Players only have four more chances to become a 2026 PNOC champion. The final day of the series begins with the $320 Closing Big Shot, the $55 Closing Mystery Bounty, and the $25 Closing Mystery Bounty at 6:00 p.m. GMT.
An hour later, the $109 Closing Big Shot begins, running alongside the final table of the Mystery Main Event.
| Date | Time (GMT) | Event | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 27 Oct | 6:00 p.m. | #37 - $320 Closing Big Shot | $10,000 |
| 6:00 p.m. | #38 - $55 Closing Mystery Bounty | $10,000 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | #39 - $25 Closing Mystery Bounty Frenzy | $10,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | #40 - $109 Closing Big Shot | $10,000 | |
| 7:00 p.m. | #36 – Mystery Main Event Final Table | $250,000 |
