The PokerStars PA Bounty Builder Series, a 15-day series of progressive knockout tournaments, concluded on Monday.
The final week of the 70-event series was much like the first, with big turnouts and guarantees routinely eclipsed. Those guarantees had added up to about $1.5 million altogether for the entire series. But in the end, nearly $2 million was awarded.
$1.97 million won in 70 Bounty Builder events
A week ago, we reported that the first 40 events of the PokerStars PA Bounty Builder series had consistently seen large fields and prize pools. All but two of the events bested their guarantees, with some featuring prize pools that more than doubled the guarantees.
The last 30 events featured a similar story, with zero overlays. With 68 of 70 tournaments beating their guarantees, in the end, players won $1,968,721.25 altogether. That’s an average of more than $28,000 won per tournament.
As happened during the first week, guarantees for the smaller non-hold’em events turned out to be much lower than their ultimate prize pools. For example, both the $50 8-Game Mix (Event No. 47) and $30 PL 5-Card Omaha (Event No. 58) nearly tripled their guarantees.
There were 32,731 total entries (including re-entries) for the series, an average of 467 entries per tournament.
Big Main Event field creates almost $200K prize pool
Yesterday saw the conclusion of the two-day Main Event, a $200 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament with a $150,000 guarantee.
Ultimately, 645 players took part, re-entering 419 times to build a prize pool of close to $198,000.
There was a heads-up deal to conclude the tournament, with “RiverMeDaddy” coming away with the victory and collecting over $24,000 including bounties. “NAMUHMIL” took second, earning a handsome prize of more than $18,000 including bounties.
“RiverMeDaddy” also picked up one of the 18 Championship Belts awarded to winners in select tournaments during the series.
PokerStars NJ Bounty Builder ends well after modest start
Next door in New Jersey, PokerStars NJ concurrently ran its own 53-event Bounty Builder series. There, the events’ guarantees totaled $600,000. In the end, about $710,000 was awarded in the series.
In Pennsylvania, PokerStars PA remains the only online poker game in town — for the time being, anyway. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, the ongoing World Series of Poker Online on WSOP.com NJ provided some competition for PokerStars NJ during the Bounty Builder.
In fact, there were a number of overlays during the first week of the PokerStars NJ Bounty Builder, though only three more during the last week of the series. Ultimately ,14 of 53 events had overlays, although, as mentioned, the total amount awarded exceeded the guarantees’ totals.
The Bounty Builder Main Event on PokerStars NJ was a $300 buy-in NLHE tournament with a $70,000 guarantee. With 271 total entries, the prize pool was close to $76,000.
PokerStars PA Bounty Builder Series by the numbers
| Event | Buy-In | Guarantee | Entries | Re-Entries | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1: NLHE Series Kick-Off (8-Max)* | $100 | $40,000 | 368 | 168 | $49,204.80 |
| 2: NLHE Mini Kick-Off (8-Max) | $25 | $15,000 | 563 | 227 | $17,972.50 |
| 3: NLHE | $75 | $15,000 | 214 | 78 | $19,929.00 |
| 4: NLHE Sunday Special - Bounty Builder Edition* | $100 | $100,000 | 750 | 310 | $100,000.00** |
| 5: NLHE Mini Special (8-Max) | $20 | $15,000 | 699 | 284 | $17,890.60 |
| 6: NLHE Sunday High Roller - Bounty Builder Edition (6-Max) | $250 | $30,000 | 150 | 53 | $47,299.00 |
| 7: NLHE (8-Max) | $50 | $10,000 | 270 | 98 | $16,744.00 |
| 8: NLHE Turbo (8-Max) | $20 | $7,500 | 393 | 136 | $9,627.80 |
| 9: NLHE SuperSonic - Bounty Builder Edition | $50 | $12,500 | 211 | 67 | $13,066.00 |
| 10: NLHE Battle Royale Special Edition (6-Max)* | $50 | $25,000 | 580 | 364 | $42,952.00 |
| 11: PL Omaha (8-Max) | $100 | $10,000 | 167 | 106 | $25,061.40 |
| 12: NLHE (8-Max)* | $75 | $20,000 | 440 | 213 | $44,567.25 |
| 13: NL Omaha Hi-Lo (6-Max) | $100 | $7,500 | 110 | 45 | $14,229.00 |
| 14: NLHE Turbo (8-Max) | $50 | $12,500 | 340 | 135 | $21,612.50 |
| 15: NLHE (6-Max) | $50 | $15,000 | 400 | 176 | $26,208.00 |
| 16: NLHE High Roller (8-Max)* | $500 | $60,000 | 124 | 50 | $81,780.00 |
| 17: NLHE Hyper-Turbo (8-Max) | $20 | $5,000 | 350 | 113 | $8,704.40 |
| 18: PL Badugi | $50 | $2,000 | 84 | 43 | $5,778.50 |
| 19: NLHE Thursday Thrill Special Edition* | $200 | $50,000 | 215 | 82 | $55,242.00 |
| 20: NLHE Mini Thrill | $25 | $17,500 | 650 | 340 | $22,522.50 |
| 21: NLHE BigStack Turbo (8-Max) | $75 | $12,500 | 237 | 79 | $21,567.00 |
| 22: NLHE Hyper-Turbo (6-Max) | $50 | $10,000 | 239 | 79 | $14,946.00 |
| 23: PL 5-Card Omaha (6-Max) | $30 | $5,000 | 216 | 171 | $10,565.10 |
| 24: NLHE Escalating Antes (8-Max)* | $50 | $20,000 | 453 | 109 | $25,571.00 |
| 25: NLHE Turbo (6-Max) | $20 | $7,500 | 427 | 211 | $11,611.60 |
| 26: NLHE DeepStack (8-Max) | $100 | $30,000 | 212 | 123 | $30,753.00 |
| 27: NLHE Turbo (8-Max) | $50 | $12,500 | 181 | 62 | $12,500.00** |
| 28: NLHE (8-Max)* | $200 | $30,000 | 148 | 82 | $42,780.00 |
| 29: NLHE (4-Max) | $20 | $10,000 | 413 | 204 | $11,229.40 |
| 30: NLHE Hyper-Turbo (8-Max) | $50 | $10,000 | 230 | 63 | $13,771.00 |
| 31: NLHE Marathon | $100 | $20,000 | 230 | 118 | $31,946.40 |
| 32: H.O.R.S.E. | $50 | $3,000 | 139 | 37 | $8,008.00 |
| 33: NLHE Warm-Up - Bounty Builder Edition | $30 | $12,500 | 392 | 161 | $15,096.90 |
| 34: NLHE Storm - Bounty Builder Edition (6-Max) | $10 | $5,000 | 467 | 209 | $6,151.60 |
| 35: NLHE Sunday Special - Bounty Builder Edition* | $100 | $100,000 | 703 | 463 | $107,038.80 |
| 36: NLHE Mini Special* | $25 | $25,000 | 752 | 399 | $26,185.25 |
| 37: Sunday High Roller - Bounty Builder Edition (6-Max) | $250 | $30,000 | 127 | 53 | $41,940.00 |
| 38: PL Omaha (8-Max) | $100 | $15,000 | 133 | 75 | $19,094.40 |
| 39: NLHE Turbo (8-Max) | $75 | $20,000 | 259 | 94 | $24,092.25 |
| 40: NLHE Hyper-Turbo SuperSonic - Bounty Builder Edition | $50 | $10,000 | 229 | 70 | $14,053.00 |
| 41: NLHE 4-Max | $20 | $10,000 | 469 | 325 | $14,450.80 |
| 42: NLHE Battle Royale Special Edition (6-Max)* | $50 | $25,000 | 455 | 277 | $33,306.00 |
| 43: NLHE BigStack Turbo (8-Max) | $100 | $15,000 | 167 | 70 | $21,756.60 |
| 44: NLHE (8-Max) | $50 | $10,000 | 254 | 114 | $16,744.00 |
| 45: NLHE Super Tuesday - Bounty Builder Edition* | $200 | $50,000 | 187 | 92 | $51,894.00 |
| 46: NLHE Mini Super Tuesday | $20 | $15,000 | 536 | 302 | $15,251.60 |
| 47: 8-Game | $50 | $2,500 | 109 | 50 | $7,234.50 |
| 48: NLHE Turbo (8-Max) | $50 | $12,500 | 238 | 101 | $15,424.50 |
| 49: NLHE Hyper-Turbo (8-Max) | $100 | $5,000 | 96 | 38 | $12,730.00 |
| 50: NLHE (8-Max) | $200 | $30,000 | 140 | 56 | $36,456.00 |
| 51: NLHE (8-Max)* | $50 | $15,000 | 407 | 172 | $26,344.50 |
| 52: PL Omaha (6-Max) | $200 | $10,000 | 75 | 50 | $23,250.00 |
| 53: NLHE Turbo (6-Max) | $100 | $17,500 | 155 | 58 | $19,553.40 |
| 54: NLHE Thursday Thrill Special Edition* | $200 | $50,000 | 194 | 87 | $52,266.00 |
| 55: NLHE Mini Thrill | $20 | $15,000 | 620 | 362 | $17,872.40 |
| 56: NLHE BigStack Turbo (6-Max) | $50 | $10,000 | 273 | 129 | $18,291.00 |
| 57: NLHE (8-Max) | $20 | $6,000 | 369 | 198 | $10,319.40 |
| 58: PL 5-Card Draw | $30 | $1,500 | 101 | 48 | $4,067.70 |
| 59: NLHE (6-Max)* | $50 | $25,000 | 392 | 190 | $26,481.00 |
| 60: NLHE Hyper-Turbo (8-Max) | $100 | $10,000 | 113 | 39 | $14,440.00 |
| 61: NLHE 25% KO (8-Max)* | $100 | $25,000 | 276 | 118 | $36,169.20 |
| 62: NLHE Turbo | $50 | $12,500 | 255 | 91 | $15,743.00 |
| 63: NLHE Turbo (8-Max) | $10 | $5,000 | 437 | 205 | $5,842.20 |
| 64: NLHE Marathon | $50 | $15,000 | 329 | 154 | $21,976.50 |
| 65: NLHE Warm-Up - Bounty Builder Edition | $30 | $12,500 | 396 | 167 | $15,369.90 |
| 66: NLHE Main Event (8-Max), 2-day event* | $200 | $150,000 | 645 | 419 | $197,904.00 |
| 67: NLHE Mini Main Event (8-Max)* | $50 | $40,000 | 732 | 354 | $49,413.00 |
| 68: NLHE (8-Max) | $100 | $20,000 | 212 | 75 | $26,346.60 |
| 69: PL Omaha Turbo (6-Max) | $50 | $10,000 | 161 | 69 | $10,465.00 |
| 70: NLHE Hyper-Turbo, Series Wrap-Up (8-Max) | $75 | $20,000 | 241 | 72 | $22,066.50 |
| TOTALS | 22,299 | 10,432 | $1,968,721.25 |
*Championship Belt event
**Event #4 had an overlay of $2,692; Event #27 had an overlay of $1,443.50
