Don't Miss Your Chance to Become the PokerNews Online Championship Main Event Champion

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
4 min read
PokerNews Online Championship at 888

The 2026 PokerNews Online Championship is nearing its conclusion with only a handful of events waiting to crown their champions. Two of those tournaments are the $25 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed Mystery Mini Main and the huge $250,000 guaranteed Mystery Main Event.

Both Main Events' Day 2 play out on 9:30 p.m. GMT on October 26, which is when the mystery bounties become available. If you harbor dreams of becoming the champion of either of the Main Events, you'll need to get involved in the last few Day 1s that run during the afternoon and evening of October 26.

888 Ambassadors Flying High in the $250 Main Event

Aaron Barone
Aaron Barone is currently 11th in chips

The $250 buy-in Mystery Main Event has two flights remaining; they shuffle up and deal at 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. GMT. Currently, 873 entries have been processed, with 1,073 required to hit the ambitious $250,000 guarantee.

Denmark's "4KLOVER4ME" is the player to catch at the time of writing, having turned their 10,000 starting stack into 205,903. "milike11" (202,465) is the only other player with more than 200,000 chips from the 102 players who have advanced to Day 2.

Several high-profile grinders have punched their Day 2 tickets. Lithuania's "sankovski" (173,699), Peter "kiskutya23" Traply (159,477), and Chile's "Billy_Slater" (156,952) find themselves in the top 10. "Billy_Slater" seemed to be on a one-man mission to ensure the guarantee is hit. He fired 12 bullets before bagging his top 10 stack.

Ian Simpson
Ian Simpson is lurking outside the top 10

Lurking outside the top 10 are two 888 ambassadors. The in-form Aaron "abarone68" Barone (153,678) is currently in 11th place, with teammate Ian "Simpioni" Simpson (151,822) one place below in 12th.

When Day 2 begins, mystery bounties are in play, with one worth $25,000. There are also two weighing in at $7,500 and a trio of $5,000 among the many other golden envelopes.

Day 2 plays down to the eight-handed final table, with the finalists returning to the action on October 27 under the watchful eyes of the 888 Twitch stream.

$250,000 Mystery Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
14KLOVER4MEDenmark205,90382
2milike11-202,46581
3MorayEEEEELSweden192,93177
4king2309Ukraine184,54974
5sankovskiLithuania173,69970
6Nosorog1204Ukraine165,95866
7RB27.Lithuania163,33765
8Peter "kiskutya23" Traply-159,47764
9Billy_SlaterChile156,95263
10filuspl -153,920

Three 888 Ambassadors Through to Day 2 of the $50,000 Mystery Mini Main

Leo Jokura
Leo Jokura has a decent stack going into Day 2

Only four flights remain in the $50,000 Mystery Mini Main. They kick off at 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. GMT. Some 1,475 players have bought in so far, with 2,222 required to hit the $50,000 guarantee.

Day 2 currently has 179 players, including a trio of 888 Ambassadors.

Leo "KaizenStyle" Jokura is the best-placed of them, his 157,204 stack places him 20th right now. Ian "Simpioni" Simpson (115,608) returns in 42nd place of the 179 returning players, with Aaron "abrone68" Barone (62,307) in 102nd place.

Germany's "Xialeidui" (251,781) leads the way before the last four flights take place. "Nowitzki_41" (206,096), "HammHammm" (205,455), "LeetRunGoot" (201,164), and "LiHao" (200,978) each finished with over 200,000 chips during their respective flights.

Day 2 begins at 9:30 p.m. GMT on October 26. Unlike its bigger brother, the Mystery Mini Main concludes today.

$50,000 Mystery Mini Main Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Countbig Blinds
1XiaoleiduiGermany251,781101
2Nowitzki_41Brazil206,09682
3HammHammm-205,45582
4LeetRunGootCanada201,16481
5LiHaoNorthern Ireland200,97880
6Genie88-197,45679
7InterNetADDUkraine186,16975
8PsMansonGermany185,62674
9raffonsoBrazil185,37074
10Bertos23Germany183,76874

PokerNews Online Championship Results

Thirty-one of the 40 PokerNews Online Championship events have crowned their champions. Check out the table below to see which players won which events and for how much.

EventEntrantsPrize PoolChampionPrize
#01 - $16.50 Mystery Bounty1,060$15,900Aaron "abarone68" Barone$1,375
#02 - $33 Mystery Bounty Frenzy371$11,130Barth.S2$1,735
#03 - $55 Mystery Bounty400$20,000Linbabay$3,577
#04 - $8.80 Mystery Bounty935$8,000satoschi_01$777
#05 - $109 Mystery Bounty Opener730$80,000User1912$7,614
#06 - $22 Mystery Bounty Big or Small523$10,460MagicJ16$1,043
#07 - $525 High Roller52$26,000CPU0r$7,787
#08 - $55 Mystery Bounty Frenzy210$10,500davidrin21$781
#09 - $8.80 Mystery Bounty Frenzy580$5,000mvvmarcos$329
#10 - $109 Mystery Bounty Frenzy110$11,000Kassir27$2,787
#11 - $320 Super KO High Roller28$10,000PS_Raul$3,970
#12 - $8.80 Super KO355$3,000Jack5parow$391
#13 - $109 Super KO81$10,000GusHans$1,802
#14 - $8.80 Mystery Bounty505$4,040surgm$555
#15 - $55 Mystery Bounty212$10,600DimasThe1st$1,542
#16 - $109 Mystery Bounty121$12,100KellerA$2,268
#17 - $320 DeepStack High Roller29$10,000Jerry "Perrymejsen" Odeen$4,000
#18 - $8.80 DeepStack387$4,000bringhenti19$747
#19 - $109 DeepStack83$10,000Why_a_King$2,525
#20 - $22 Mystery Bounty446$10,000G.L.T$932
#21 - $55 Mystery Bounty210$10,510Antrage$1,290
#22 - $5.50 Mystery Bounty759$4,000dontcra1$520
#23 - $16.50 Mystery Bounty603$10,000Fomov$1,143
#24 - $8.80 Mystery Bounty581$5,000ELKICARAGUA$645
#25 - $55 Mystery Bounty199$10,000davidrin21$2,794
#26 - $16.50 Mystery Bounty1,038$15,570Rhuandonkao$1,263
#27 - $33 Mystery Bounty Frenzy361$10,830duquezinho$1,720
#28 - $55 Mystery Bounty423$25,000wOwRo0b$2,890
#29 - $109 PKO Rumble282$30,000MeMeRow$6,619
#30 - $5.50 Mystery Bounty Frenzy660$5,280GranaPadano$515
#31 - $525 High Roller52$26,000Flopzilla_XD$7,787

2026 PokerNews Online Championship by 888 Schedule

The penultimate day of the 2026 PokerNews Online Championship by 888 features a trio of progressive knockout events alongside the aforementioned Main Events. They come with buy-ins of $8.80, $55, and $109, with guarantees of $5,000, $10,000, and $10,000, respectively.

DateTime (GMT)EventGuarantee
Mon 26 Oct6:00 p.m.#32 - $55 PKO$10,000
 6:00 p.m.#33 - $8.80 PKO$5,000
 7:00 p.m.#34 - $109 PKO$10,000
 9:30 p.m.#35 - $25 Mystery Mini Main Day 2$50,000
 9:30 p.m.#36 - $250 Mystery Main Event Day 2$250,000
Tue 27 Oct6:00 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
Share this article
Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

More Stories

Other Stories

Recommended for you
888's Aaron Barone Wins PokerNews Online Championship Event 888's Aaron Barone Wins PokerNews Online Championship Event