The dual Venom Mystery Bounty tournaments on ACR Poker drew to a close yesterday.
With $10M in combined guaranteed prize pools – $8M for the NLH version and $2M for the PLO version – both events drew massive fields across the multiple $2,650 buy-in Day 1 flights. The Venom NLH Mystery Bounty event garnered 3,233 entrants to eclipse the guarantee and generate a $8,082,500 prize pool while the Venom PLO Mystery Bounty event topped out at 871 entrants for a $2,177,500 prize pool.
On Tuesday, the final tables of both events played down to a winner – and there were notable names still in contention in each tournament.
ACR Pro Chris Moneymaker reached the final nine in the NLH event – his third time at a Venom final table – and started proceedings as the short stack.
Chip Leader Coaching founder Chance Kornuth battled his way to the final table in the PLO event – joined by his friend and Chip Leader Coaching instructor Alex Foxen.
All fall short
With a short stack and long odds against him, Moneymaker needed a serious spin to have a shot at the title.
Unfortunately for him, his early position shove with 
was met with a re-jam from 'Runner114's' 
. The 
flop saw Moneymaker surge into the lead with top pair, but the 
turn was a dagger as 'Runner114' regained control. The 
river didn't save the WSOP Main Event Champ and his run came to an end in ninth place.
Moneymaker took to social media in the aftermath to defend his decision to ship it in with jack-high.
"Everyone telling me my 10J ship was bad. I get it," he wrote. "Think everyone knows I don’t play via charts. I had 8 bb and I knew it was light but I choose to attack the 2nd shortest stack bb. Right or wrong it was my choice and I am fine with it."
2023 WSOP Player of the Year Ian Matakis reached the final table alongside Moneymaker and finished in sixth place. When player reached three-handed, the remaining players agreed to an ICM deal to chop up the remaining prize pool.
Foxen and Kornuth fared slightly better in the PLO event – but, like Moneymaker, neither of them were able to claim victory.
Foxen – playing under the moniker 'OutFoxenYou' – finished in fifth place while Kornuth (AKA 'LawyerDad68') battled his way to the heads-up stage of play and finished runner-up.
NLH Venom Mystery Bounty Results
| Place | Player | Placement Prize | Bounty Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 'YKOBLIUK' | $532,918* | $91,920 |
| 2 | 'KevinParCouer' | $453,040* | $219,779 |
| 3 | 'Runner114' | $446,391* | $108,924 |
| 4 | 'ZenRead' | $240,639 | $40,000 |
| 5 | 'GTS gr8 GRO' | $173,907 | $30,000 |
| 6 | 'RiverRiot72' | $125,730 | $55,000 |
| 7 | 'distxrteddd' | $90,947 | $55,000 |
| 8 | 'Rigapols81' | $65,833 | $80,000 |
| 9 | Chris Moneymaker | $47,702 | $50,000 |
*denotes final table deal
PLO Venom Mystery Bounty Results
| Place | Player | Placement Prize | Bounty Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | '4m4nhasnon4me' | $210,314 | $101,750 |
| 2 | 'LawyerDad68' | $157,924 | $25,000 |
| 3 | 'Blessed33' | $118,630 | $86,750 |
| 4 | 'FreddiUrsa' | $80,968 | $40,000 |
| 5 | 'OutFoxenYou' | $54,489 | $35,000 |
| 6 | 'vousconfus' | $34,532 | $61,750 |
| 7 | 'MatasSembolas' | $23,022 | $200,000 |
| 8 | 'Xazel303' | $15,436 | $15,000 |
| 9 | 'FADETHESNAP' | $13,217 | $0 |
