2024 Champions Club Winter Poker Open

$400 Mystery Bounty
Day: 2
Event Info

2024 Champions Club Winter Poker Open

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
75
Prize
$38,128
Event Info
Buy-in
$400
Prize Pool
$300,000
Entries
1,276
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
400,000
Players Info - Day 2
Entries
146
Players Left
1

$400 Mystery Bounty

Day 2 Completed

James Galloway Wins WPO Event #4: $400 Mystery Bounty for $38,128!

Level 31 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
James Galloway
James Galloway

After a crazy and chaotic day of wild Houston poker, the 146 players that returned from a total field of 1,276 have been whittled down to one man left standing. When the dust settled, it was James Galloway who claimed the victory in the Champions Club Winter Poker Open $400 Mystery Bounty.

Galloway completed his night with a heads-up win over runner-up Jonathan Park when his flopped pair held up against Park’s flush draw and two over cards. For the win, Galloway claimed $38,128 and the champions’ trophy, while Park took home $24,378 for his second-place finish.

Event #4: $400 Mystery Bounty Final Table Results

PlacePlayerPrize (USD)
1James Galloway$38,128
2Jonathan Park$24,378
3Mustapha Tokko$18,804
4Surrinder Ahluwalia$12,600
5Derek Normand$9,900
6Tai Vo$7,800
7Jason Gooch$6,200
8Sanad Dahbour$5,100
9Ben Thomas$4,200

Galloway is no stranger to final tables, or trophies for that matter, as the Waco native has been on quite the run. Last March he took down a $300 No-Limit event at The Lodge for $25,581, followed by a first-place finish in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Six-Max for $176,720 at the same location.

Galloway really caught momentum late in the evening when he eliminated Jeffrey Nowling on the final table bubble when his ace-kicked trumped the queen-jack of Nowling when he hit an ace on the river. Because of that hand, he came into the final table ranked third in chips and was able to maneuver his way to the finish line.

Action of the Day

The room was abuzz with excitement throughout the day as players took their shots at pulling the bounties, with all eyes set on the grand prize of $25,000. Halfway through the day, it was finally Ben Thomas who drew the big one, much to the disappointment of the room. There were also two worth $10,000, and the first was pulled by Ahmad Mohassel, and the second was chopped between Park and Galloway before heads-up play. Another hot hand belonged to Carson Wieland, who ran up an impressive stack and managed to pull not one, but two $5,000 bounties to go along with $2,300 for his 17th-place finish.

Ahmad Mohassel
Ahmad Mohassel

Another player who ran up a stack was Will Leffingwell, who was chip leading for a majority of the day until he was felted when he moved all in with pocket eights against the ace-queen and ace-queen of Park and Xiao Probst, but a queen came on the flop to send him out in 16th. He was also one of the players that pulled a $5,000 bounty, so it was a nice consolation prize.

Will Leffingwell
Will Leffingwell

Final Table

As mentioned above, the field was trimmed to the final nine when Nowling was sent to the rail by Galloway, and leading the way was Derek Normand, followed closely by Park. As with the rest of the tournament, the action stayed hot and heavy from the jump as several players were eliminated within the first level on the stream. Thomas (9th) and Sanad Dahbour (8th) were the first players to go as they both fell to Surrinder Ahluwalia who held aces against the kings of Thomas and the ace-king of Dahbour.

Surrinder Ahluwalia
Surrinder Ahluwalia

Next to go was Jason Gooch, who moved in with sevens but couldn’t fade the pesky ace of Galloway when he called with ace-eight. Coming in sixth was Tai Vo, who got it in with king-ten but failed to improve against the ace-queen of Park, who won the pot with just ace-high.

One of the more talkative players in Houston poker, Normand, met his end in fifth when he flopped an open-ended straight draw with king-six on a four-five-seven board and moved in against Galloway, who called with a pocket pair of eights. A six came on the turn to give Galloway the straight Normand was looking for and left him drawing dead to a chop that failed to come.

The action finally started to slow down, but just a hair, as the pay jumps came into effect, and it was a good 40 minutes before Ahluwalia found the door when he flopped a pair of queens and moved in, but he was in second place to Galloway who had flopped an ace.

Mustapha ‘Moe’ Tokko was eliminated in third place when he moved in with king-queen suited against the ace-jack suited that belonged to Galloway. Both an ace and a king appeared on the flop, but Tokko failed to improve on the runout and was eliminated in 3rd place.

Head-Up
Head-Up

Heads-up play between Park and Galloway lasted for only 20 minutes as Galloway quickly widened his 3:2 chip lead to almost 3:1. All of the chips then got into the middle on an all-diamond flop with Park holding ace-jack with the jack of diamonds while Galloway just had a pair of fives. No diamond, ace, or jack came on the turn or river, and Galloway scooped the pot with his pair of fives, eliminating Park as the runner-up and crowning him the champion.

Up Next: Main Event!

With this win, another tournament here at Champions Club in Houston, Texas, is in the books, but there is still much more in store as the $1,500- $1 Million GTD Main Event kicked off today with Day 1a and will be running until the 19th. As always, stay tuned into PokerNews, as we will be the only place to get all of the action at the Champions Club Winter Poker Open!

Tags: Ahmad MohasselBen ThomasCarson WielandDerek NormandJames GallowayJason GoochJeffrey NowlingJonathan ParkMustapha TokkoSanad DahbourSurrinder AhluwaliaTai VoWill LeffingwellXiao Probst

Jonathan Park Eliminated in 2nd Place ($24,378)

Level 31 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante
Jonathan Park
Jonathan Park

Jonathan Park opened to 1,700,000 with AJ and James Galloway called with 75.

The flop came out 295 and Park continued for 1,500,000 but then Galloway raised to 4,100,000.

After some time in the tank, Park moved all in and it was Galloway's turn to go into the tank. After nearly a minute, he set out chips to make the call and Park now needed to improve.

Park needed to hit any ace, jack, or diamond to win, but the 64 runout failed to do it and he was eliminated in second place.

Luckily for park, he pulled a good number of bounties throughout the day, including Houston Texans Season Tickets.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of James Galloway us
James Galloway
38,280,000
15,780,000
15,780,000
Profile photo of Jonathan Park us
Jonathan Park
Busted

Tags: James GallowayJonathan Park

Galloway Extends His Lead

Level 31 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

James Galloway opened to 1,100,000 with AK and Jonathan Park called from the big blind with Q8.

Both players checked through the 653 flop and went to the turn A.

Galloway bet 1,500,000 with his top pair and Park quickly tossed in his cards to award him the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jonathan Park us
Jonathan Park
81,000,000
67,000,000
67,000,000
Profile photo of James Galloway us
James Galloway
22,500,000
-1,800,000
-1,800,000

Tags: James GallowayJonathan Park

Park and Galloway Battle Begins (full)

Level 31 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

After a quick break, Jonathan Park and James Galloway are back on the felt, playing for the title, trophy, and $38,128 first-place prize. Galloway returns with a 3:2 chip lead, but at these blinds that can quickly change.

There was a $10,000 bounty still yet to be pulled so they decided to chop that between them before play resumed.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of James Galloway us
James Galloway
24,500,000
1,500,000
1,500,000
Profile photo of Jonathan Park us
Jonathan Park
14,800,000
800,000
800,000

Read full

Mustapha Tokko Eliminated in 3rd Place ($18,804)

Level 31 : Blinds 200,000/400,000, 400,000 ante

Mustapha Tokko moved all in preflop for 4,750,000 with K8 and James Galloway made the call to put him at risk with AJ.

The board ran out AKQ54 for Galloway's pair of aces to scoop the pot and Tokko was eliminated in third place.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of James Galloway us
James Galloway
23,000,000
8,200,000
8,200,000
Profile photo of Jonathan Park us
Jonathan Park
14,000,000
-1,200,000
-1,200,000
Profile photo of Mustapha Tokko us
Mustapha Tokko
Busted

Tags: James GallowayMustapha Tokko

Level: 31

Blinds: 200,000/400,000

Ante: 400,000

Tokko Doubles with Treys

Level 30 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante

Mustapha Tokko moved all in preflop for 2,900,000 with 33 and Jonathan Park called with K10 to put him at risk.

The board ran out 549QA for Tokko's threes to hold and he was awarded the pot for the double.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Jonathan Park us
Jonathan Park
15,200,000
2,100,000
2,100,000
Profile photo of Mustapha Tokko us
Mustapha Tokko
5,600,000
-1,800,000
-1,800,000

Tags: Jonathan ParkMustapha Tokko

Surrinder Ahluwalia Eliminated in 4th Place ($12,600)

Level 30 : Blinds 150,000/300,000, 300,000 ante
Surrinder Ahluwalia
Surrinder Ahluwalia

James Galloway opened to 1,200,000 with AJ and is called by Surrinder Ahluwalia with KQ.

On the flop of A3Q Galloway moved all in and Ahluwalia called, putting himself at risk.

The turn A left Ahluwalia drawing dead and the 2 on the river sealed his fate for a fourth-place finish.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of James Galloway us
James Galloway
14,800,000
1,400,000
1,400,000
Profile photo of Surrinder Ahluwalia us
Surrinder Ahluwalia
Busted

Tags: James GallowaySurrinder Ahluwalia