One of the most entertaining live poker events in recent memory has found its latest winner, as Colorado's Eddy Konarske has taken down the latest edition of the Wynn Millions "Mystery Bounty" event. Konarske was named the official winner of the event after a heads-up chop with Oregon's Rambo Halpern.
Konarske, from Littleton, Colorado, earned $222,000 for the big win in the 2,013-entry event, while Halpern's official runner-up finish was worth an even $200,000. For both players, it was the largest cash of their respective poker careers. Another Colorado player, Laszlo Nagy, also logged a career-best score with his $119,863 third-place payday. Chicago pro Aaron "NeverMiss" Massey finished fourth for $90,901.
The popular $1,600 event, one of the highlights of the Wynn Millions series, offered a $3,049,350 prize pool, more than doubling its listed $1.5 million guarantee. The popular mystery-bounty tourney continues to add flair to the Wynn's tournament offerings, while the casino itself remains the fastest-growing tourney destination in Las Vegas.
Mystery bounty prizes awarded for Day 2 knockouts
The event's signature excitement comes from its mystery-bounty element, which kicked in on the event's Day 2. For each of the 228 players remaining, an envelope containing a cash-prize value from $500 up to $100,000 was inserted into a prize drum. Knocking out another player on Day 2 meant getting a chance to draw a sealed envelope from the drum. Three $100,000 prizes and five $50,000 prizes were the largest bonuses given away, though all the prizes above $25,000 had been drawn before the final table of nine was set.
Konarske was one of the players who hit a $25,000 bounty draw. It was the largest of the nine bounties he collected on the day, for another $38,000 in total, stretching his overall win in the event to $260,000.
Konarske began the final table in third place, behind Halpern, but he picked up two early knockouts to climb higher in the remaining chip counts. The defining hand, however, pitted Massey against Konarske. Massey moved all in with A-Q and Konarske, at that point the chip leader, called with A-4, then spiked a four to eliminate Massey. Had Massey's A-Q held, he would have taken the lead in the event.
Massey's exit allowed an extremely short-stacked Nagy to ladder up to third, and Nagy busted just one hand later. That led to the chop discussions, with Konarske and Halpern agreeing to the final payouts as listed.
Final-table payouts:
- Edward Konarske - $222,000
- Rambo Halpern - $200,000
- Laszlo Nagy - $119,863
- Aaron Massey - $90,901
- Z Stein - $67,327
- Josh Light - $52,223
- Dennis Wilke - $41,017
- David Yokoyama - $32,862
- Harrison Ashdown - $27,468
Featured image source: Facebook / Wynn Poker Room Las Vegas
