Start Your Quest for PokerNews Online Championship Main Event Glory

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

The 2026 PokerNews Online Championship on 888 concludes on October 27 with the crowning of the $250,000 guaranteed Mystery Main Event champion. Flights for this $250 buy-in extravaganza have been running all week, but only seven Day 1s remain.

At the time of writing, 466 players had either bought in for $250 or won their way into the Mystery Main Event via the plentiful satellites that run around the clock. Of those starters, only 54 have advanced to Day 2 and will be in with a shot of capturing a jackpot mystery bounty payment worth $25,000.

The current chip leader is "milikie11," who has turned their 10,000 starting stack into a tournament-leading 202,465. They are the only Mystery Main Event player to return to the action on October 26 with more than 200,000 chips.

Some familiar names find themselves in the top 10. Hungarian ace Peter "kiskutya23" Traply bagged 159,477 chips during his Day 1, enough for sixth place currently.

One place below him is 888 ambassador Aaron "abrone68" Barone. You may recall that Barone won the first event of the 2026 PokerNews Online Championship last weekend. He has now put himself in a solid position to claim a large slice of this event's $250,000 guaranteed prize pool.

$250,000 PokerNews Mystery Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Countbig Blinds
1milike11-202,46581
2king2309Ukraine184,54974
3sankovskiLithuania173,69970
4Nosorog1204Ukraine165,95866
5RB27.Lithuhania163,33765
6Peter "kiskutya23" Traply-159,47764
7Aaron "abarone68" BaroneCanada153,67862
8silentfridgeSweden144,07058
9Ssv117Kazahkstan136,61655
10OrvianMontenegro132,51153

Turn $25 Into a Share of $50,000 Guaranteed

888 is running a Mystery Mini Main that guarantees a $50,000 prize pool for only a $25 buy-in. Six more flights remain on the schedule, and they'll need to be busy because the current attendance stands at 665, with 80 players advancing. Some 2,222 entries are required to hit the guarantee.

Germany's "Xiaoleidui" is one player who doesn't have to worry about playing their way into Day 2. They are the overall chip leader right now, having amassed 251,781 chips during their starting flight, the equivalent of 101 big blinds.

"HammHammm" (205,455) and "LiHao" (200,978) both sit down on Day 2 with more than 200,000 chips from a 10,000-chip starting position.

Occupying ninth place is "IOwnU888," who is a regular at the 888 tables. In 2023, they finished second in the XL Autumn Series Main Event and took home $27,630. They have also previously won the weekly Mystery Bounty Main Event, doing so after pulling the largest bounty from its golden envelope.

$50,000 PokerNews Mystery Mini Main Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1XiaoleiduiGermany251,781101
2HammHammm-205,45582
3LiHaoNorthern Ireland200,97880
4Genie88-197,45679
5PsMansonGermany185,62674
6Heberto1988Argentina183,10873
7Dejavu.turnArgentina181,44573
8deeman1823Canada180,73372
9IOwnU888-170,20368
10maki_makichUkraine162,91465

PokerNews Online Championship Results

Sixteen 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

2026 PokerNews Online Championship by 888 Schedule

Another three PokerNews Online Championship events take place on October 22. All three are DeepStack tournaments, which give you more room to maneuver.

They come with buy-ins of $8.80, $109, and $320 for a High Roller, and feature guarantees of $4,000, $10,000, and $10,000, respectively.

Expanding the table reveals the full, remaining schedule of this exciting series. Check it out, plan your schedule, and see if you can become a poker champion.

DateTime (GMT)EventGuarantee
Thu 22 Oct5:00 p.m.#17 - $320 DeepStack High Roller$10,000
 5:00 p.m.#18 - $8.80 DeepStack$4,000
 6:00 p.m.#19 - $109 DeepStack$10,000
Fri 23 Oct5:00 p.m.#20 - $22 Mystery Bounty$10,000
 5:00 p.m.#21 - $55 Mystery Bounty$10,000
 6:00 p.m.#22 - $5.50 Mystery Bounty$4,000
Sat 24 Oct5:00 p.m.#23 - $16.50 Mystery Bounty 6-Max$10,000
 5:00 p.m.#24 - $8.80 Mystery Bounty 6-Max$5,000
 5:00 p.m.#25 - $55 Mystery Bounty 6-Max$10,000
Sun 25 Oct4:00 p.m.#26 - $16.50 Mystery Bounty$15,000
 5:30 p.m.#27 - $33 MB Frenzy$10,000
 6:00 p.m.#28 - $55 Mystery Bounty$25,000
 6:00 p.m.#29 - $109 PKO Rumble$30,000
 6:00 p.m.#30 - $8.80 MB Frenzy$5,000
 7:00 p.m.#31 - $525 High Roller$25,000
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
User1912 Survives Early Scare to Win the PNOC Mystery Opening Event User1912 Survives Early Scare to Win the PNOC Mystery Opening Event