At The Lodge Card Club in Texas, they’ve created their own wild twist on poker: the Mystery Bounty Chaos tournament. I recently made the trip to see it in action — and let me tell you, it was a blast.
In this tournament, weird things happen. At some point, one player has to switch their stack with the shortest stack in the room. That means you could be sitting comfortably with 250,000 chips and suddenly find yourself with just three big blinds.
If you watch the video below, you’ll see a room full of laughter, and disbelief. Even the unlucky player who dropped from chip leader to short stack was still smiling.
But scroll through the video comments, and the tone shifts dramatically:
- “That’s a travesty!"
- “This isn’t poker!”
- “What a stupid tournament!”
All that outrage misses the point — and here’s why.
Everyone signed up for chaos
Let’s get one thing straight. It’s not like Doug Polk, one of the owners of The Lodge, put up a banner that said, “Hey everyone, we’re running a standard $300 NLH tournament,” only to rip it down once players were in the money and start switching stacks like a maniac.
Not at all. Everybody knew what they were signing up for.
Players registered for the Mystery Bounty Chaos event fully aware that strange and funny moments would happen — and that some players might get the short end of the stick. That’s the whole point.
So, should people be allowed to play this kind of event? Some of those commenters seem to think not.
My thoughts: The fun in the gamble
This is basic human nature at work. For some reason, we love to torture ourselves — and laugh about it.
Take the jellybeans my kids eat — BeanBoozled, by Jelly Belly. They all look the same, but one might taste like delicious cotton candy… and another like a rotten egg.
You pick one, you take the risk, and you laugh (or hurl) at the result. Why? Because it’s fun.
It’s the same thrill we chase in poker. You sign up knowing you’re going to lose more often than you win. You’ll take bad beats. You’ll suffer. Yet, we do it anyway. And sometimes you win.
The Mystery Bounty Chaos ramps up the pain (and the fun)
I applaud The Lodge for its creativity and the fun atmosphere they’ve built. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to play. It’s that simple.
If you don’t want to risk the gross jellybean, don’t eat one. If you don’t want to swap stacks, don’t register.
But if you do play, embrace the madness. Everyone there seemed to be having a blast. The Lodge deserves credit for creating something fresh, unique, and lighthearted — and for remembering that poker is supposed to be fun.
The moral of the story is that poker doesn’t always have to be serious. Sometimes, the best games — and the best memories — come from leaning into the chaos.
If you signed up for fun, then don’t be surprised when fun shows up.
Want to test your rules knowledge? Got a tricky ruling you’d like my take on? Drop it in the comments — I’ll feature the best ones in future columns.
Justin Hammer is the Live Events Director for PokerAtlas, online Tournament Director for the Texas-based poker app Hijack, and a Tournament Director for Thunder Valley Casino Resort. He also brings his expertise as a consultant and minority owner of Desert Bluffs Casino in Kennewick, Washington. With years of experience across live, online, and casino operations, Justin has established himself as a trusted leader in the poker world.
For more info visit PokerAtlas.com, HijackPoker.com, and bluffs.poker. Follow Justin on X.
