News ACR Poker’s $15M Dual Venoms Hit Day 1D as Venom Specials Add More Player Value Owen Gaines Owen Gaines is a professional poker player and author who has played an estimated ten million hands and written four poker strategy books. August 20, 2026 The fourth of eight starting flights begins Thursday, August 20 at 12:05 p.m. ET after the first three flights drew 1,526 NLH entries and 418 PLO entries. Venom Fever has already awarded 853 seats, while the opening Venom Specials slate produced $1.125 million in final prize pools.The $15 million Dual Mystery Bounty Venoms move into Day 1D on Thursday, August 20 at 12:05 p.m. ET, giving NLH and PLO players the fourth of eight chances to build a Day 2 stack. The two $2,650 events run side by side, with $12 million guaranteed in No Limit Hold’em and $3 million guaranteed in Pot Limit Omaha.The opening flight began Thursday, August 13, and the first three Day 1s have already produced 1,526 NLH entries and 418 PLO entries. A total of 184 NLH players and 51 PLO players have advanced so far.Sunday, August 16th supplied the largest snapshot to date: Day 1B drew 1,105 NLH entries and 238 PLO entries. Now Day 1D arrives with four flights still to come after Thursday and plenty of qualifying routes still running.There is also more on the menu than the two main events. The Venom Specials schedule spreads 91 tournaments and $10.16 million in guarantees across seven dates through August 31. $12M NLH Venom Sends 184 Players ThroughThe NLH field enters Day 1D with 1,526 entries through its first three flights. Of those, 184 players have secured a place on Day 2, where every remaining player will already be in the money.The stack to catch belongs to eko4gg, who leads the NLH qualifiers with 8,542,202 chips – 213 big blinds. That is more than a survival stack. It is the kind of starting point that can create immediate pressure once the field combines.Players can still fire the remaining Day 1s, and qualifying stacks can be combined for Day 2. That makes Thursday useful for two groups: players still chasing their first bag and qualifiers looking to add more chips before the bounty phase begins. PLO Leader Winkyface1984 Has 608 Big BlindsThe PLO Venom has recorded 418 entries through Day 1C, with 51 players advancing. The early chip leader is Winkyface1984 with a huge 17,037,699-chip stack – 608 big blinds.Four-card poker can turn a comfortable stack into a decision factory in a hurry, but 608 big blinds gives the leader room to absorb plenty of turbulence. Everyone else still has four flights after Day 1D to close the gap or build a second qualifying stack.The PLO event follows the same basic opening-stage promise as NLH: make Day 2, lock up a cash, then start hunting Mystery Bounties. The PLO tournament moves directly from Day 2 to its September 2 final table; it does not have a Day 3. Venom Fever Has Already Awarded 853 SeatsThe full $2,650 buy-in is only one way into either field. Venom Fever has awarded 853 tickets worth $2,650 each so far, with more than 1,500 seats guaranteed across the promotion before it ends Sunday, August 30.The routes cover a wide range of bankrolls and formats, including Direct and Mega Satellites, Beast tournaments, Venom Madness, Survivor Flips and Spin to Get In. Some paths begin at $0 rather than $2,650.The Venom Vault adds another route through guaranteed key prizes, ranging from Survivor Flip Step tickets to a Golden Ticket for a full Venom seat. With four starting flights remaining after Thursday, late qualifiers still have time to turn a small ticket into a very large tournament entry. The Biggest Bounties Wait for Day 2The headline prizes are not active during the starting flights. Under ACR Poker’s Mystery Bounty format the bounty hunt starts in the second phase, once the qualifiers return for Day 2.The NLH Venom carries a $500,000 top Mystery Bounty, while the biggest PLO bounty is $250,000. Both events advertise a $5,000 minimum Mystery Bounty for each successful Day 2 knockout.That changes the value of every chip collected during Day 1. A bigger stack does more than improve a player’s chance of reaching the final table; it also creates more opportunities to cover opponents when the bounty envelopes come into play. Venom Specials Open With $1.125M in Prize PoolsThe first Venom Specials date brought 15 tournaments on Monday, August 17. Those events finished with a combined $1.125 million in prize pools, giving players a strong opening result before six more Specials dates.Thursday’s supporting slate includes 11 Venom Specials with $820,000 guaranteed. Buy-ins run from $66 to $1,050, with standard events and PKOs scheduled around the 12:05 p.m. ET Venom flight.The schedule grows again on Sunday, August 23, when 12 Specials carry $1.84 million in combined guarantees. The closing weekend is larger still: August 30 offers $2.34 million across 13 events, followed by $2.45 million across 18 events on August 31.That gives players room to build a session around the Venoms instead of treating the main flights as the only table worth opening. NLH, PLO, PKO, 6-Max and additional Mystery Bounty options all appear across the seven-date lineup. Four More Flights Follow Day 1DPlayers who miss Thursday still have Day 1E on Sunday, August 23, Day 1F on Monday, August 24, Day 1G on Thursday, August 27, and Day 1H on Sunday, August 30. Every remaining flight begins at 12:05 p.m. ET.Day 2 begins Monday, August 31 at 1:05 p.m. ET. The NLH field continues to Day 3 on Tuesday, September 1, and both final tables are scheduled for Wednesday, September 2 at 4:05 p.m. ET.For now, the next decision is simpler: NLH or PLO, full buy-in or qualifier, one flight or another stack-building shot. Day 1D puts all of those choices back on the table Thursday. Play the next flight Open the ACR Poker client, choose the $12 million NLH or $3 million PLO Mystery Bounty Venom, and find the Day 1D route that fits your bankroll.