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.
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.
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
| Place | Player | Prize + Bounty |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeremy Becker | $45,600 + $10,000 |
| 2 | Qin Zhao | $29,000 + $14,000 |
| 3 | John Andress | $19,300 + $6,000 |
| 4 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $14,500 + $16,000 |
| 5 | Darren Rabinowitz | $11,700 + $6,000 |
| 6 | Josh Arieh | $9,600 + $4,000 |
Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO Tour.
