The 2021 Bounty Builder Series has reached the halfway stage and PokerStars players are reaping the rewards from the huge prize pools created across all buy-in levels. The festival features 182 numbered events with guaranteed prize pools up to $2.5 million. Here are some of the highlights so far.
"kirill1845" Wins Latest Sunday Million SE
The PokerStars Sunday Million is one of online poker's most popular weekly tournaments, but its popularity increases during festivals and series. This was the case on October 10 when 11,675 players bought in for $109 and created a $1,167,500 prize pool. Half that princely sum went into the main prize pool, which the top 1,903 finishers shared. The remaining 50% went on the heads of each entrant.
With bounty payments included, none of the nine finalists could walk away with less than a five-figure score. Brazilian "herbalerv" was the first of the nine finalists to bust, they banked a combined score worth $11,155.
"gbettes" of the Czech Republic and "florby152" of Malta were the next pair of PokerStars players to run out of steam and luck. They turned their $109 initial investment into $13,173 and $12,750 respectively.
Then came the eliminations of "SiSiFamile" (15,246), "PresenceMonday" ($23,063), and "TeddyKGB027" ($35,354. The latter's exit prompted the final three players to strike a deal to lessen the severity of the pay jumps.
When the dust finally settled on the 84th Bounty Builder Series event, "kirill1845" of Belarus was sat there with a cool $89,151 extra in their PokerStars account. "salaliitto" of Finald finished second for $64,888 with Russia's "Maestro Shao" collected $55,650 for their third place finish.
Bounty Builder Series 84-M: $109 NLHE 8-Max PKO Sunday Million SE Final Table Results
Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | kirill1845 | Belarus | $29,264 | $59,887 | $89,151* |
2 | salaliitto | Finland | $6,494 | $58,394 | $64,888* |
3 | Maestro Shao | Russia | $4,935 | $50,715 | $55,650* |
4 | TeddyKGB027 | Argentina | $7,794 | $27,560 | $35,354 |
5 | PresenceMonday | Austria | $3,418 | $19,645 | $23,063 |
6 | SiSiFamile | Slovenia | $1,242 | $14,004 | $15,246 |
7 | florby152 | Malta | $2,768 | $9,982 | $12,750 |
8 | gbettes | Czech Republic | $6,057 | $7,116 | $13,173 |
9 | herbalerv | Brazil | $6,083 | $5,072 | $11,155 |
*reflects a three-handed deal
Romania's "bunicutzu77" Walks Away With Almost $91,000
Romania has itself a Bounty Builder Series champion after "bunicutzu77" outlasted 1,320 opponents in the $530 Bounty Builder High Roller SE. Those 1,321 entrants created a $660,500 prize pool, and the Romanian champion scooped a $90,975.
The victory was made sweeter by the fact bunicutzu77 had to contend with some of the world's most talented online poker tournament players. One of them, David "davaman" Lopez, could not progress deeper than eighth place, which came with a prize tipping the scales at $7,470.
Pablo "pabritz" Brito Silva of Brazil went deeper than lopez, but came unstuck in third-place, a finish worth $28,58. Silva's exit left bunciutzu77 and the United Kingdom's "Riverbanged" heads-up for the title. Both guaranteed themselves more than $43,800 from the main prize pool, but the bounties were massive by this stage.
The British grinder fell in second and added $13,189 from the bounty prize pool to their runner-up award, resulting in a $57,025 score. The champion's bounty payment was a cool $47,138, meaning a total prize worth $90,975.
Bounty Builder Series 84-H: $530 NLHE 8-Max PKO Bounty Builder HR SE Final Table Results
Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | bunicutzu77 | Romania | $47,138 | $43,837 | $90,975 |
2 | Riverbanged | United Kingdom | $13,189 | $43,836 | $57,025 |
3 | Pablo "pabritz" Brito Silva | Brazil | $2,578 | $26,009 | $28,587 |
4 | PANIC.PLAYER | Greece | $5,787 | $18,540 | $24,327 |
5 | marjan1231 | Slovenia | $250 | $13,216 | $13,466 |
6 | Joker280789 | Switzerland | $4,175 | $9,420 | $13,595 |
7 | Ansel21 | Ukraine | $2,156 | $6,715 | $8,871 |
8 | David "davaman" Lopez | United Kingdom | $2,683 | $4,787 | $7,470 |
9 | Dudu332 | Brazil | $7,804 | $3,412 | $11,216 |
Selection of Big Bounty Builder Series Scores
The table below shows some of the highlights of the Bounty Builder Series so far, including the impressive $90,133 won by "BetHas" in the opening weekend's Sunday Million.
Event | Entrants | Prize pool | Champion | Total Prize (inc. bounties) |
---|---|---|---|---|
#02: $215 NLHE PKO, Series Kickoff | 1,477 | $295,400 | HenriquinAK | $33,665 |
#04: $109 NLHE 8-Max PKO Sunday Million SE | 11,991 | $1,199,100 | BetHas | $90,133 |
#04: $530 NLHE 8-Max PKO Bounty Builder HR SE SE | 1,340 | $670,000 | davideriksso | $77,155 |
#09: $530 NLHE 8-Max PKO Turbo Sunday Cooldown SE | 474 | $237,000 | Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira | $41,131 |
#15: $530 NLHE 8-Max PKO Bounty Builder HR SE | 466 | $233,000 | titos_03 | $40,228 |
#61: $530 NLHE 7-Max PKO Friday Night Fight HR | 418 | $250,000 | Matias "Maty25" Ruzzi | $35,395 |
#83: $215 NLHE 8-Max NLHE PKO | 1,935 | $387,000 | Eduardo "Any2vsYou" Rodrigues | $45,110 |
#86: $1,050 NLHE 8-Max PKO Sunday HR SE | 517 | $517,000 | johnnyknock | $85,957 |
Trio Of Bounty Builder Series Main Events Run October 17
This coming Sunday, October 17, sees a trio of Bounty Builder Series Main Events shuffle up and deal: two No-Limit Hold'em and one Pot-Limit Omaha.
Bounty Builder Series 164 is the $55 buy-in NLHE 8-Max PKO Main Event Low, which comes with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. It shuffles up and deals at 7:05 p.m. CET. That is the same time the first cards are pitched in the $530 NLHE 8-Max PKO Main Event High. The High Main Event boasts of a cool $2.5 million prize pool, although everything points to the final pot being larger.
PLO fans can get in on their own main event action from 8:15 p.m. CET. Their main event costs $109 to enter and has at least $100,000 to play for.
Of course, cut-price satellites for all three Bounty Builder Series Main Events run around the clock.
Time (CET) | Event |
---|---|
7:05 p.m. | Bounty Builder Series 164: $55 NLHE 8-Max PKO Main Event Low - $1M Gtd |
7:05 p.m. | Bounty Builder Series 165: $530 NLHE 8-Max PKO Main Event High - $2.5M Gtd |
8:15 p.m. | Bounty Builder Series 166: $109 PLO 6-Max PKO Main Event - $100K Gtd |