Short-stacked Jeremy Becker battles back in PGT Bounty Blitz opener

The inaugural PokerGO Tour Bounty Blitz kicked off on Monday with the first of six $5K buy-in bounty events at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas. The Bounty Blitz series adds a new dynamic as each of the events has a different bounty format – including a Mystery Bounty, a Progressive Knockout, and an Escalator. 

Event #1: $5,100 Knockout Bounty drew a field of 46 entrants, generating a prize pool of $230,000 with $45,600 plus bounties for the eventual winner. After Day 1 play came to a close, only six players remained in the hunt for the first title of the series. Qin Zhao held the chip lead to begin the final table, but was followed closely by Darren Rabinowitz and PGT regular Andrew Lichtenberger. Josh Arieh, John Andress, and Jeremy Becker rounded out the rest of the field. 

While he started the final table with the shortest stack in the field, Becker managed to navigate his way to a victory – laying claim to the first-ever PGT Bounty Blitz trophy and the $45,600 first-place prize. 

Arieh runs into it, Rabinowitz whittled down 

Arieh was the first to fall at the final table when he ran into Zhao's . Arieh three-bet in the face of an open from the chip leader with his premium pair and Zhao opted for a sneaky call. With about a pot-sized bet left behind on the flop, Arieh's chips went in and Zhao quickly called. The turn left Arieh drawing dead and sent him to the payout desk to collect his sixth-place prize. 

Josh Arieh was the first to fall at the final table of Event #1 in the PGT Bounty Blitz.

Becker then scored a double through Rabinowitz in a blind versus blind confrontation to climb out of the immediate danger zone. With a few small pickups along the way, he found breathing room. 

Rabinowitz, on the other hand, was left gasping for air as he lost pot after pot and fell further down the chip counts. It all came to an end when he called off the rest of his chips with against Andress' in a blind versus blind confrontation. The flop paired both players and Rabinowitz had outs to survive, but the turn card left him drawing dead – just like Arieh – and ended his run in fifth place. 

Lichtenberger swings and misses, Andress flopped dead

Lichtenberger took a big swing at the chip leader when he three-bet jammed with from the big blind. Zhao had the goods this time, though, and quickly called with . Lichtenberger vaulted into the lead on the flop, but the turn restored Zhao's command on the hand. Lichtenberger failed to improve on the river and his day ended in a fourth-place finish. 

Becker notched the next elimination when he called off an all-in from Andress with . Andress had live cards with , but the flop left him drawing stone dead and ended his run in third place. 

Andrew Lichtenberger took a shot at the chip leader, but came up empty.

Becker runs away with it

When heads-up play began, Zhao held a slim chip advantage, but Becker quickly drew even. As he won several key pots, Becker surged into the chip lead before the two players collided in a tournament-deciding hand. 

Zhao limped in from the button with and Becker checked his option with . On the flop, the action went check-check to bring in the turn and Becker improved to a straight while Zhao improved to two pair. 

Zhao's bet drew a check-raise from Becker and he responded with an all-in. Becker quickly called and in an instant all of the chips were in the middle with the title on the line. The river completed the board to give Becker the victory. 

PGT Bounty Blitz Event #1 Results

^{Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour.}