The PokerGO Tour (PGT) Bounty Blitz series continued Thursday with final table action in Event #3: $5,100 No-Limit Hold'em Quattro. The Quattro drew a field of 51 entrants to generate a prize pool of $255,000 – $102,000 of which was set aside for the bounty prize pool – with eight places paid and $47,500 for the eventual winner.
Sam Laskowitz held a decent chip lead at the start of the final table, but Cherish Andrews, John Andress, and Landon Tice weren't far behind. Andrew Ostapchenko and Dan Shak started as the table short stacks.
When the last hand was dealt, it was Tice who held all the chips. With his eliminations along the way, Tice added $32,000 worth of bounties to his $47,500 first-place prize – a score which accounts for a little more than 30% of the tournament prize pool.
How does a Quattro Bounty format work?
Escalator. Mystery. Quattro. Progressive Knockout. There's already a long list of bounty formats and it seems as though a new variant crops up every few months.
The PGT Bounty Blitz has introduced a number of these new bounty formats to the tour's offerings, including today's Quattro Bounty format.
It's a relatively simple concept. In a Quattro Bounty tournament, each bounty prize is quadrupled – so, for instance, the bounties in the PGT Quattro were worth $8,000 apiece as $2,000 of each player's buy-in for the event went to the bounty prize pool. There's another twist, however, as these bounties only come into play when 25% of the starting field remains. In PGT Bounty Blitz Event #3, the bounties came into play when 13 players remained.
Andrews takes bad beat
While he started in a strong position in the chip counts, Andress was the first player eliminated at the final table. After sending a full double to Ostapchenko in a blind versus blind clash, Andress quickly found a promising spot to regain his chips. In the face of an under-the-gun open from Ostapchenko and a flat call from Andrews in the small blind, Andress moved all-in over the top with 
.
Ostapchenko called with 
while Andrews fled the scene. It was a fair fight and a flip for Andress' tournament life – one that he came out on the wrong end of as the 
runout left Ostapchenko with the best of it.
Andrews fell next, a victim of one of poker's most brutal coolers. From the cutoff, she raised with 
and drew a call from Shak in the small blind. On the 
flop, she connected with top pair, top kicker and looked to be in a good spot. Unbeknownst to Andrews, Shak had laid a trap by only calling from the small blind with 
and had her drawing nearly dead on the flop.
Shak check-called a small bet from Andrews to bring in the turn. Andrews bet once again and this time Shak moved all-in for the rest of her chips and she made the call – now drawing stone dead. The inconsequential 
completed the board and Andrews was sent to the rail in fifth place.
Shak finds right side again, Tice surges
Shak laid claim to a second bounty at the final table not long after his elimination of Andrews. With 
, he raised from the cutoff and both Tice and Ostapchenko called from the blinds, with 
and 
respectively. The 
flop saw both Shak and Ostapchenko connect with trips.
In the face of a bet from the pre-flop raiser, Tice cleared the way, but Ostapchenko pounced with a check-raise and Shak quickly called. On the turn 
, Ostapchenko fired again and Shak moved all-in for the rest of it. Ostapchenko quickly called – only to see the bad news. With outs to a chop and the win, Ostapchenko wasn't out of it yet, but the 
river confirmed his elimination and added another bounty to Shak's haul.
When three-handed play began, Shak was in the driver's seat while Tice was by far the shortest stack with just seven big blinds to work with. Then, a double through Laskowitz gave him breathing room and a second scoop against Shak had him right back in the running.
After a few more small pots went his way, Tice covered Laskowitz and took a shot at his bounty. Laskowitz moved all-in from the button with 
and Tice re-shoved with 
. Shak fled the scene from the big blind and the cards hit their backs. Tice had the best of it, but Laskowitz was drawing live. The 
board improved only Tice, however, and Laskowitz's day ended in a third-place finish.
Tice ends it
It was a back-and-forth battle during the heads-up portion of play as the chip lead changed hands more than once. Tice held the advantage to start, but Shak took control with an early double up. As the match wore on, though, Tice chipped away at his opponent until he held a substantial lead.
The final hand saw Shak commit the last of his chips with 
from the small blind. Tice peeled and quickly called to put his opponent at risk. The 
board changed nothing and Tice's ace-high was good enough to take down the pot and, with it, the first-place prize.
PGT Bounty Blitz Event #3 Results
| Place | Player | Prize + Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Landon Tice | $47,500 + $32,000 |
| 2 | Dan Shak | $32,200 + $16,000 |
| 3 | Sam Laskowitz | $21,400 + $0 |
| 4 | Andrew Ostapchenko | $15,300 + $16,000 |
| 5 | Cherish Andrews | $12,200 + $14,000 |
| 6 | John Andress | $9,200 + $16,000 |
Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour.
