Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments

Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Live Events Executive
8 min read
Mystery Bounty
Mystery Bounty

Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments - Everything You Need to Know

Mystery Bounty's are the latest poker tournament format to hit the live and online poker spheres. They’re extremely enticing to all types of poker players due to the exciting lottery aspect regarding the bounty prizes.

The first Mystery Bounty tournament took place at the 2021 Wynn Fall Classic and has since been adopted by major live tours like the World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour.

Many online operators have also adopted them, with 888poker becoming the spiritual virtual home of Mystery Bounty tournaments. The online poker room hosted the first ever Mystery Bounty Festival, where each event ran as a mystery bounty poker tournament.

Throughout this page, you’ll find everything you need about Mystery Bounty poker tournaments.

What are Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments?

In traditional bounty or progressive knockout poker tournaments, players receive a cash prize when they eliminate an opponent. When they secure a knockout in these events, they know how much their bounty prize is. In Mystery Bounty tournaments, the prize for busting a player is unknown.

The bounty prizes are in play in regular bounty tournaments from the start. However, in Mystery Bounty poker tournaments, the bounty element becomes active at a later stage, usually on Day 2 of the event’s schedule. However, if the tournament is a single-day event, bounty play tends to get underway in the late-teen levels, as seen on 888poker.

How Do Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments Work?

Mystery Bounty Envelopes

Players receive a mystery bounty token from each player they eliminate in a live mystery bounty. Those players exchange their tokens for mystery bounty envelopes at the prize chest/tombola. Each envelope contains a mystery bounty prize, where the prizes could range from a few hundred dollars to a life-changing sum of money.

At the 2022 WSOP, Matt Glantz pulled the $1 million bounty prize in the Million Dollar Bounty. The following month, Scott Ball also banked a seven-figure payday after being awarded the top mystery bounty prize in the 2022 WSOP Online.

Where Can You Play Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments?

As mentioned, you can play live Mystery Bounty poker tournaments at live tours such as the WSOP, EPT and WPT. Other tour operators have also begun to offer mystery bounty poker tournaments and are likely to continue to be added to poker schedules worldwide.

Some online poker rooms, such as 888poker and GGPoker, also host online Mystery Bounty tournaments, with the former adopting the format in their weekly tournament offering.

Play Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments at 888poker

If you regularly want to play Mystery Bounty tournaments, 888poker is your best option. The platform swapped its weekly Big Shot 109 Main Event to a $100,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Main Event and has proven to be a smash hit.

888poker was also the first online operator to run a tournament festival solely consisting of Mystery Bounty events. The site also runs daily No Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha Mystery Bounty poker tournaments.

Ontarians can also participate in Mystery Bounty tournaments on 888poker Ontario.

How to Play Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments at 888poker

To play Mystery Bounty tournaments on 888poker, you only need to open the client and head to the lobby. Once there, you can enter the term 'Mystery Bounty' into the search bar or click the Mystery Bounty box on the tournament filter. It is that simple to find the Mystery Bounty events on the site.

888poker mystery bounty

Playing Mystery Bounty poker tournaments on the mobile app is also even easier. As soon as you log in, click the Mystery Bounty tile, and you can be playing one of the events in seconds.

mobile app mystery bounty

How do 888poker Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments Work?

The first stages of Mystery Bounty tournaments on 888poker run as a normal poker tournament would. There is the late registration period, which is when players can enter and re-enter the event.

For multi-day Mystery Bounty poker tournaments on 888poker, the Mystery Bounty element usually comes into play on Day 2. This is where you will receive a Mystery Bounty prize if you knockout an opponent. In single day Mystery Bounty tournaments, bounty play begins on the start of a specified level, traditionally somewhere in the late-teens.

If you eliminate a player, an animation will automatically trigger. A golden envelope will appear on your screen and be virtually opened. Inside the envelope will be the mystery bounty prize.

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Play Mystery Bounty Tournaments on 888poker with a Welcome Bonus

Suppose you want to play daily Mystery Bounty Poker tournaments. In that case, you need to download 888poker via PokerNews. Create your free account, and 888poker will give you a free $88 worth of cash game and tournament tickets – this is a free £20 for residents of the United Kingdom – just for reaching this stage.

Your first deposit is matched 100% up to $400 as a releasable bonus. You have 90 days to release as much bonus as you can. Contact 888poker support for more details.

Play Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments at GGPoker

GGPoker was the first online operator to host a Mystery Bounty poker tournament and has continually offered these events in their online poker festivals.

While GGPoker doesn't run daily Mystery Bounty tournaments, there will often be a Mystery Bounty event in their special online festivals. They are the only other major online poker room to offer the format.

How to Play Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments at GGPoker

Like 888poker, Mystery Bounty tournaments hosted by GGPoker are just a few clicks away. Open the client or mobile app and enter the term 'mystery' into the search bar, and all the Mystery Bounty events available to play will be shown.

Click the tournament of your choice, pay the buy-in and then you'll be ready to play.

GGPoker MB

How Do GGPoker Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments Work?

The Mystery Bounty poker tournaments on GGPoker run as explained on this page. The tournament's first phase runs as normal, and then the mystery bounties begin in the event's final stage.

Mystery Bounty prize pools on GGPoker are usually the biggest online poker rooms offer, with guarantees usually in the millions. Due to this, the Mystery Bounty tournaments offer a plethora of 'First Stage' flights before the fields combine for the tournament's final phase.

Can You Play Mystery Bounty Tournaments on PokerStars?

At the moment, PokerStars has yet to run an online mystery bounty tournament. However, PokerStars host Mystery Bounty tournaments at their EPT live events. It is currently unknown if PokerStars will decide to incorporate Mystery Bounty tournaments into their online tournament offering.

Can You Play Mystery Bounty Tournaments on PartyPoker?

Currently, there are no Mystery Bounty tournaments available to play online at PartyPoker. It is unknown whether the platform will host them.

Which Poker Site has the Best Mystery Bounty Tournaments?

888poker and GGPoker offer the best mystery bounty poker tournaments. These are currently the only major online poker rooms to offer them.

If you want to play daily Mystery Bounty tournaments, then 888poker is the best online poker site. If you prefer to play Mystery Bounty tournaments with the biggest prize pools, then GGPoker would be the preferred destination.

How to Find Mystery Bounty Poker Tournaments

You can now find online poker tournaments on PokerNews. Using the Online Tournament Calendar below, click the 888poker filter and look through the tournament offering to find Mystery Bounty tournaments.

In addition to Mystery Bounty tournaments, you can use the tournament calendar to discover regular bounty and progressive knockout tournaments.

Mystery Bounty Tournaments FAQs

Which sites have mystery bounty poker tournaments?

Online poker rooms such as 888poker and GGPoker host Mystery Bounty tournaments. However, 888poker run the most regular mystery bounty events in online poker.

Does the WSOP have a mystery bounty poker tournament?

Yes, the first Mystery Bounty event under the WSOP umbrella occurred in 2022, and the same tournament was confirmed for the 2023 WSOP.

How much can you win from a mystery bounty poker tournament?

How much a player can win from a mystery bounty poker tournament varies. However, the biggest mystery bounty prize awarded is $1 million. Matt Glantz and Scott Ball are the only players to have won the seven-figure bounty prize.

How do you win a mystery bounty in a mystery bounty poker tournament?

Players receive a mystery bounty token for each opponent they eliminate. Those tokens are exchanged at a mystery bounty prize chest, where players pull envelopes containing a cash prize.

How do you win a mystery bounty poker tournament?

Mystery Bounty tournaments operate like regular other poker tournaments. To win a mystery bounty tournament, you must be the last player standing to win a mystery bounty event officially.

What is the best mystery bounty poker tournament strategy?

The best strategy for Mystery Bounty tournaments is to build as big of a stack as possible before the mystery bounty element comes into play. This will allow you to win more bounties as you will cover more players.

What is the GGPoker mystery bounty jackpot?

The top mystery bounty prize on GGPoker varies as the jackpot prize depends on the buy-in, number of players and other factors.

What is the 888poker mystery bounty jackpot?

The top mystery bounty prize on 888poker varies as the jackpot prize depends on the buy-in, number of players and other factors.

Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Live Events Executive

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).