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Axel Bayout Hunts Title After Claiming €150,000 Bounty In Day 3 of the €1,000 Mystery Bounty
The 2026 King's Million European Poker Championship at King's Resort, Rozvadov, continues today with Day 3 of the €1,000 Mystery Bounty. The field has been whittled down from 1,863 entries to just 24 players, who will return for Day 3 this afternoon after seven hours of play on Day 2.
The biggest beneficiary of the €1,583,550 prize pool so far has been Axel Bayout, who yesterday pulled the maximum bounty of €150,000 to nearly equal first-place money in one pull. Bayout sits 8th in chips as he remains in contention for the King’s Royal Scepter and the additional first-place prize of €166,100.
Coming into Day 3 with the chip lead is Xerxes I, who has been the first player to eclipse the 10,000,000 chip mark.
Start of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xerxes I | Germany | 10,550,000 | 106 |
| 2 | Somar Al-Darwich | Germany | 8,040,000 | 80 |
| 3 | David Kozma | Hungary | 7,660,000 | 77 |
| 4 | Nik | Romania | 5,915,000 | 59 |
| 5 | Martin Rapp | Germany | 5,630,000 | 56 |
| 6 | Royalsash | Serbia | 5,340,000 | 53 |
| 7 | Luca Beretta | Italy | 5,305,000 | 53 |
| 8 | Axel Bayout | France | 4,985,000 | 50 |
| 9 | Andrea Marchi | Italy | 4,500,000 | 45 |
| 10 | PREJSU | Poland | 4,170,000 | 42 |
All 24 players are guaranteed a payday of €4,475, but the €166,100 first-place prize will be the ultimate target.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €166,100 | 8 | €17,800 |
| 2 | €106,100 | 9 | €13,395 |
| 3 | €74,100 | 10-11 | €10,200 |
| 4 | €54,600 | 12-15 | €7,700 |
| 5 | €41,600 | 16-20 | €5,875 |
| 6 | €31,100 | 21-24 | €4,475 |
| 7 | €23,600 |
While the mystery bounties tend to take a backseat as the pay jumps get large, a €30,000 Mystery bounty has still yet to be claimed.
Mystery Bounty Prizes
| Mystery Prize | Remaining Bounties |
|---|---|
| €150,000 | 0/1 |
| €75,000 | 0/1 |
| €30,000 | 1/2 |
| €9,000 | 0/9 |
| €3,000 | 4/31 |
| €900 | 13/72 |
| €300 | 20/117 |
Play will recommence on Level 26 with blinds at 50,000/100,0000 with a 100,000 big blind ante. Through 45-minute left, play will conclude when a winner is crowned.
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Be sure to follow all of the action on PokerNews, as our live reporting team continues full coverage of the King's Million European Championship series.