An action packed Day 2 of the $3,000 Mystery Bounty, running at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa as part of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus, has reached its conclusion, the field reduced from 305 players at the start of the day to the final 15.
A total of 128 players made the money after two players, Lukas Zaskodny and Fabian Schmidt, both bust on the bubble to split the min-cash.
By the end of Day 2, Uladzimir Zhyharau of Belarus is out in front in first place with 4,920,000 chips. Zhyharau started the day as chip leader and doubled with pocket tens to take most of Krum Polihronov's stack late on before getting his pocket eights in good against Aren Bezhanyen to further his lead.
It wasn't all smooth sailing, but it was about as close as it gets to a perfect run for Zhyharau, who will be well-positioned to make a deep run and secure his biggest-ever cash in live tournament poker.
His closest competitor is Ryhor Karapanau, who bagged up second place for 3,225,000 after busting several players towards the end of the day, including Konstantin Voronin in 23rd and Henok Tekle in 21st place.
Nicolae Paunescu is the only other player who bagged over 3,000,000, closing out in third position. Marius Kudzmanas bagged in fourth and Matthias Lipp, who has already had an excellent run when it comes to Mystery Bounty prizes, rounds out the top five.
End of Day 2 Chip Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uladzimir Zhyharau | Belarus | 4,920,000 | 98 |
| 2 | Ryhor Karapanau | Latvia | 3,225,000 | 65 |
| 3 | Nicolae Paunescu | Romania | 3,020,000 | 60 |
| 4 | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | 2,735,000 | 55 |
| 5 | Matthias Lipp | Austria | 2,325,000 | 47 |
| 6 | Valeriu Rosca | Romania | 1,340,000 | 27 |
| 7 | Stoyan Obreshkov | Bulgaria | 1,295,000 | 26 |
| 8 | Karen Nazarian | Russia | 1,300,000 | 26 |
| 9 | Guo Liang Wei | Hong Kong | 1,155,000 | 23 |
| 10 | Hadi Khordbin | Iran | 1,050,000 | 21 |
| 11 | Aziz Efe | Turkey | 1,005,000 | 20 |
| 12 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | 1,000,000 | 20 |
| 13 | Morten Klein | Norway | 965,000 | 19 |
| 14 | Anze Smajd | Slovenia | 905,000 | 18 |
| 15 | Maroun Jazzar | Lebanon | 490,000 | 10 |
Mystery Bounty Madness
Part of the appeal of playing Mystery Bounties is the opportunity the format presents to win prizes many times the buy-in simply by eliminating players. The bounty tokens came into play at Level 15, and three top prizes of $75,000 were announced, as well as the second-highest prizes of two $40,000 envelopes.
The first player to win one of the $75,000 prizes was Alik Zazian, who pulled his during the bubble. Zazian eventually finished in 116th place for a payout of $3,400, but he'll be more than happy with the result.
That was one top prize down, and still all to play for in terms of bustouts. But just as the tournament went on break for dinner, Matthias Lipp made his way to the bounty chest. Roars and cheers could be heard moments later as Lipp pulled out a $75,000 prize, much to the delight of both himself and his friends on the rail.
The fun didn't stop there. Incredibly, the next envelope Lipp pulled contained yet another $75,000 prize. This time, the cheers were of both celebration and disbelief. Lipp was holding two of the most valuable prizes in the tournament, and along with the $5,000 and $1,000 bounties he had pulled, he had already locked up more than the second-place payout.
Lipp is still in the runnings and sits fifth with 2,325,000 chips.
The $40,000 second prizes went to Stefan Uebber and Alessandro Pichierri. Alexey Losev, Hamza Nasir, Hadi Khordbin, Azamat Tulepbergenov, Omar Del Pino, Bernat Capdevilla Montes and Patrick Leonard were among those to claim one of the $25,000 envelopes.
When action resumes for Day 3, the highest bounty still in play is a single $5,000 prize, along with several $1,000s.
Remaining Payouts
Given that the significant Mystery Bounty prizes are already out of the chest, the event is expected to play more like a freezeout when action resumes for Day 3. Still, two-thirds of the prize pool, $1,509,072 went to payouts and most of that money is up for grabs on the final table.
Here are the remaining payouts.
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $265,972 | 8 | $31,990 |
| 2 | $166,330 | 9 | $24,610 |
| 3 | $118,810 | 10 – 11 | $19,800 |
| 4 | $91,390 | 12 – 13 | $16,490 |
| 5 | $70,310 | 14 – 15 | $13,750 |
| 6 | $54,090 | 16 | $11,950 |
| 7 | $41,590 |
Day 3 will resume at midday local time, with blinds on 25,000/50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante. There will be a 15-minute break every three levels, but no dinner break is scheduled.
It could be a rapid affair, with players returning to average stacks of over 30 big blinds and many of those chips sitting with the current leaders.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor as the event plays down to a winner on Day 3.
