The $2 million guaranteed XL Autumn Series kicks off at 888poker on September 17, and Brazilian grinder “VirtuLOKO” has warmed up for it style by taking down the $100,000 guaranteed Mystery Bounty Main Event for $9,723.

The $109 buy-in tournament attracted 763 unique players who purchased 178 re-entries between them, taking the total attendance to 941. “VirtuLOKO” took full advantage of the re-entry system, busting two buy-ins before riding their third bullet to an impressive victory.

Day 1 took place on September 10 and saw the field cut down to the nine-handed final table. The mystery bounties came into play from the 18th level onward. “rodtrader” and “jonttis07” pulled out $3,000 bounties before they busted, but the biggest winner was Germany's “Elephant106” who pulled the jackpot bounty worth $10,000! That huge bounty payment meant “Elehant106” won the most prize money from this event despite bowing out in 24th place.

$100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Chip Counts

None of the nine finalists were particularly short-stacked, yet it took less than two hours for the champion to be crowned.

“figalex25” of Peru lost an early pot to leave them with a sub-ten big blind stack. They eventually moved all-in from under the gun for 6.4 big blinds with pocket sevents. “raw_dawg” called in the cutoff with pocket nines, with “bouillax” tossing in calling chips in the big blind with their king-eight of spades. “bouillax” flopped trip kings, and they took down the pot with a bet on the turn.

“raw_dawg” was involved in a big pot that saw three players all in. “Kuzyaev14” min-raised from the cutoff with pocket kings, “raw_dawg” three-bet shoved for 17.5 big blinds from the button with ace-jack of clubs, only for “Gulmamedov” to call off their last 14 big blinds with pocket aces in the big blind. “Kuzyaev14” also called, and a jack-high board handed the pot to “Gulmamedov,” busted “raw_dawg,” and left “Kuzyaev14” nursing eight big blinds.

After dwindling to only a couple of big blinds, “Kuzyaev14” found themselves all-in with ace-five in the big blind, and up against the dominating ace-jack of “traneren.” The five community cards provided little in the way of drama, and the final table was down to only six players.

Those six became five when the first of two British players, “BuddyLuv,” open-shoved for eight big blinds from the button with king-four, and lost to the ace-ten in the hand of “VirtuLOKO.”

888poker regular “bouillax” was tripped up by “Gulmamedov” in a battle of the blinds. “Gulmamedov” moved all-in from the small blind with ace-three of spades, and “bouillax” instantly called off their sub-10 big blind stack with pocket queens. A three on the flop did not change anything, but the ace on the river did. Game over for “bouillax.”

Denmark's “traneren” had to settle for fourth place after a clash with the UK's “Tony996” did not go to plan. “traneren” shoved from the button for 6.5 big blinds with ace-king, and “Tony996” called with pocket tens. “traneren” flopped an ace, but their opponent flopped a set then turned quads to reduce the play count further.

Heads-up was set when “Tony996” fell by the wayside in third. “Tony996” lost all but nine of big blinds with their king-jack lost a coinflip to the snowmen of “Gulmamedov,” and they went into the middle on the next hand with eight-seven, only for the pocket fives of “VirtuLOKO” to hold.

The chip counts were almost exactly even at the start of heads-up, but they did not remain that way for long. “VirtuLOKO” forged a lead for himself, then won a crucial coinflip. They min-raised with pocket seven before calling the near-19 big blind shove from “Gulmamedov,” which they made with king-ten of clubs. The flop gifted “VirtuLOKO” a set of sevens, the victory, and $9,723 in prize money.

$100,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results