The PokerStars EPT Paris 2024 adventure got off to a flyer last night when Duco ten Haven not only claimed top prize in the €10,200 Mystery Bounty, but also one of the €50,000 top bounty envelopes along the way.
Dutch pro ten Haven, who now calls Paris home, was one of 103 entries as the EPT festival got underway, with heavyweights such as Stephen Chidwick, Steve O’Dwyer, Chris Brewer and Mike Watson among the notables.
It was another high roller MTT crusher who would finally bust on the money bubble on day two, when Artur Martirosian fell to Quan Zhou, leaving the Chinese pro among the 13 paid spots.
Winner takes it all
Mike 'SirWatts' Watson was first to depart from the final table and news came in that Zhou had bagged one of the top $50k bounties during the dinner break, leaving another still to be claimed.
As we know, ten Haven scooped that one and he later revealed the thinking behind the Mystery Bounty format: “When you start a mystery bounty, you should gamble way more at that point, especially if there are short stacks that you cover. But as the tournament goes towards the end, they are worth less and less, so it plays out more or less like a normal format.”
Whatever the correct strategy, it seemed to work out for players like Sergei Reixach, who tripled his winnings.
Before that, however, the biggest hand of the tournament took place, a monster all-in shove and call between Zhou and ten Haven, that left the former lucky to have any chips left.
Duco ten Haven: A♠A❤️
Quan Zhou: A♦️️K❤️
Flop: 5♦️️7♣8♣
Turn: 4♣
River: Q♠
Zhou fought back well, however, and eventually found himself heads-up for the title against his Dutch opponent, although he was unable to fully recover from the massive chip deficit.
The end came quietly when Zhou shoved Robbi Jade Lew’s famous hand, J4o, but ran into ten Haven’s K3o, which hit trips on the river to seal the win.
“That’s great. I didn’t even want to play this tournament,” ten Haven told reporters at Le Palais des Congrès. “It’s amazing. My first EPT. My best live score. Can’t get any better.
€10,200 EPT Paris Mystery Bounty results
| Place | Player | Prize(inc. bounties) |
| 1 | Duco ten Haven | €126,500 (€244,000) |
| 2 | Quan Zhou | €81,500 (€154,000) |
| 3 | Thomas Boivin | €58,200 (€83,200) |
| 4 | Sirzat Hissou | €44,800 (€92,300) |
| 5 | Sergei Reixach | €35,800 (€98,300) |
| 6 | Adrian Mateos | €28,700 (€36,200) |
| 7 | Elias Gutierrez | €22,900 (€37,900) |
| 8 | Aurelien Russo | €18,300 (€25,800) |
| 9 | Mike Watson | €14,700 (€49,700) |
