Most people like surprises, and you’d be hard pressed to find a poker player who doesn’t enjoy the thrill of pulling a mystery bounty envelope.
With late registration still open until the start of Day 2, 184 players will return to Hilton Prague today, December 12, at 12:30 p.m. local time for Day 2 of the €3,000 Mystery Bounty at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague.
The returning players navigated a Day 1 field of 716 entrants, which generated a current prize pool of €1,228,656, although those numbers are expected to increase further before registration closes.
They are led by Mats Ullereng of Norway (410,000), the only player to bag over 400,000, followed by Candido Cappiello of Italy (377,000), while Gerald Karlic of Austria (360,500) sits in third.
Karlic is seeking his second final table of the festival, having finished runner-up in the Eureka Main Event for €327,390. Ullereng is seeking his second EPT title of the year, having taken victory in a €1,100 buy-in event at EPT Paris for €144,520 earlier this year.
End of Day 1 Top Ten Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mats Ullereng | Norway | 410,000 | 205 |
| 2 | Candido Cappiello | Italy | 377,000 | 188 |
| 3 | Gerald Karlic | Austria | 360,500 | 180 |
| 4 | Alejandro Peinado Guillen | Spain | 329,000 | 164 |
| 5 | Hrayr Grigoryan | Armenia | 326,000 | 163 |
| 6 | Oleh Okhotskyi | Ukraine | 308,500 | 154 |
| 7 | Michel Molenaar | Netherlands | 291,000 | 145 |
| 8 | Jari Mahonen | Finland | 264,500 | 132 |
| 9 | Chengzhou Zhou | Italy | 263,500 | 131 |
| 10 | Thierry Gogniat | France | 251,000 | 125 |
PokerStars Ambassadors Marle Spragg and Simon Wiciak fired a bullet each but did not find a bag, and will have to consider whether to take advantage of Day 2 late registration.
Notables who remain in the mix include Michel Molenaar (291,000), Tom Middleton (244,500) and Robin Ylitalo (210,500).
Players will return to blind Level 13 with blinds of 1,000/2,000, with a 2,000 big blind ante. Bounties will come into play at Level 15, and it is expected at least fourteen 40-minute levels will be played on Day 2 to whittle the field down for the final day.
Prize pool, payout and bounty information will be confirmed after late registration closes.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage to see who can bag the biggest bounties and navigate their way to Day 3.