"LODDENThinks" Gets the 888poker Mystery Bounty Festival Off to the Best Possible Start

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Mar 19, 2024 6 min read

The 888poker Mystery Bounty Festival kicked off over the weekend, and every 888poker dreamed of getting the series off to a flying start. United Kingdom-based "LODDENThinks" did precisely that, taking down the $120,000 Mystery Bounty Opening event for $9,620, boosting their bankroll, and giving their confidence a shot in the arm.

On Day 1, the 1,171-strong crowd was whittled to the final table of eight. Among the casualties were "thegreatdonk" and "Steed4321," who crashed out in 123rd and 46th place, respectively, but not before pulling a mystery bunty worth $3,600!

"FatValueBet" of Lithuania was the biggest winner in the $109 buy-in tournament, despite falling in 71st place. The Lithuanian opened a mystery bounty envelope containing $12,000, resulting in them scooping $12,235 in total, over $2,600 more than the eventual champion.

$120,000 MB Festival #3 – Mystery Bounty Opening Final Table Chip Counts

"LODDENThinks" sat down at the final table with the chip lead in tow, but their lead was not the largest. The leader had a stack worth 71 big blinds, but second-placed "AnAnnush" had 66 big blinds, with third-placed "Doomed of Germany having 62 big blinds in their arsenal.

Montenegro's "Iroquois" was the shortest stack when the final table action commenced, and they were the first casualty of Day 2. "Iroquois" couldn't get away from pocket jacks on a queen-high board showing three clubs and lost to the ace-seven of clubs in the hand of "LODDENThinks."

Seventh place went to "Blahaj" as the final table reached the half-hour stage. With blinds of 40,000/80,000/10,000a, "Doomed" min-raised from early position, "Blahaj" three-bet to 440,000 from the next seat along, "AnAnnush" flat called from the big blind, and "Doomed" got out of the way. The flop fell queen-high, and "AnAnnush" check-called a 320,000 bet, leading to a deuce on the turn. Both players checked, and an offsuit ten completed the board. "AnAnnush" checked again on the river before quickly calling the 1,396,504 shove from "Blahaj," which was less than a pot-sized bet. "Blahaj" showed king-queen for top pair, but "AnAnnush" held ace-queen for the same top pair but a better kicker.

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Less than five minutes later, another player bowed out. "LODDENThink" min-raised from under the gun with pocket aces, "back2play" three-bet to 480,000 from the big blind with pocket eights, and "LODDENThinks" made it 800,000. "back2play" jammed for 1,919,094 and was snap-called. No help arrived for "back2play" and their tournament ended.

That elimination benefited "Fox__MEF" the most because the Brazilian was nursing a sub-10 big blind stack at the time. "Fox__MEF" crashed out in fifth after shoving for 730,792 at the 80,000 big blind level with ace-jack only for "DarinaU" to wake up with ace-queen having won the previous pot with the same hand. The end result was the same again; "DarinaU" collected another scalp with ace-queen.

The final four became three when "DarinaU" crashed out at the hands of "Doomed." "DarinaU" open-shoved for a shade over ten big blinds from under the gun with pocket sixes, "Doomed" called with the superior pocket sevens in the small blind, which held to reduce the player count.

The $120,000 Mystery Bounty Opening event progressed to the heads-up stage when "AnAnnush" fell in third in a cruel hand. "AnAnnush" limped on the button with pocket kings, "Doomed" raised to 960,000 in the small blind with pocket nines, and "LODDENThinks" ducked out of the way. "Doomed" continued for 960,000 on the seven-high flop, and "AnAnnush" called. The turn put a second seven on the board, and "Doomed" shoved, covering the 2,377,353 stack of "AnAnnush." "AnAnnush" called and was one card away from becoming the chip leader, but a nine on the river claimed their tournament life and sent them to the showers.

"Doomed" held a near three-to-one chip advantage over "LODDENThinks" at the start of heads-up play, but "LODDENThinks" refused to give up without a fight. After clawing their way back level and then forging a lead for themselves, the following hand came up for "LODDENThinks."

"LODDENThinks" looked down at ace-king and immediately min-raised to 400,000. "Doomed" responded by three-betting to 1,500,000 with ace-jack. "LODDENThinks" shoved, and "Doomed" called off the 6,171,446 chips they had behind. A king on the flop left "Doomed" drawing extremely thin, and they never got there. "Doomed" busted in second place, a finish good for $8,083, while "LODDENThinks" captured the title and $9,620 in prize money.

$120,000 MB Festival #3 – Mystery Bounty Opening Final Table Results

888poker Mystery Bounty Festival Results So Far

Five Mystery Bounty Festival events have crowned their champions so far with many more yet to come. "LODDENThinks" is the biggest winner so far, as you would expect after triumphing in the $120,000 guaranteed Opening event, but there will be plenty more opportunities for that to change before the end of the series.

Remaining 888poker Mystery Bounty Festival Schedule (Numbered Events)

Check out the remaining schedule of the $1 million guaranteed Mystery Bounty Festival at 888poker, which includes the multi-day $300,000 guaranteed Main Event.

*flights for the #23 – Mystery Bounty Mini Event start March 17 and run each day

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.

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