News ACR Poker’s New $650K Halloween Mystery PKOs Are Underway With 367 Players Already Through 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. October 20, 2026 The three events have drawn 3,215 entries, with daily starting flights continuing through November 1 and buy-ins of $109, $33 and $5.50.The first stacks are booked, but the bounty hunt is still to come. ACR Poker’s Halloween Mystery PKOs are underway, with 367 Day 2 qualifiers across three tournaments as of Tuesday morning, October 20.Starting flights opened Sunday, October 18, and the events have already attracted a combined 3,215 entries. The $5.50 tournament accounts for the biggest field so far, while the $109 event carries the largest guarantee at $500,000.There is still time to join them. Day 1 flights run daily through November 1, giving players more opportunities to qualify before all three tournaments enter their bounty phase that Sunday.The $650,000 in combined guarantees covers three separate events: $500,000 for the $109 buy-in, $100,000 for the $33 and $50,000 for the $5.50. Each offers the same new twist on knockout poker.As explained in ACR Poker’s Mystery PKO introduction, the format combines hidden mystery prizes with visible progressive bounties. It is exclusive to the Winning Poker Network, and collecting a prize can put more money on your own head.For now, the job is to bring chips into Day 2. Players can enter multiple flights and combine their qualifying stacks, so securing a place does not have to mean calling it a day. 367 qualifiers, with more flights to comeThe $109 event has recorded 622 entries, with 75 players through to its $500,000 guaranteed Day 2. The $33 tournament has drawn 536 entries and has 44 qualifiers for its $100,000 guaranteed event.At the lowest buy-in, the $5.50 event leads participation with 2,057 entries and 248 qualifiers. It gives players a shot at a $50,000 guaranteed tournament for the smallest direct entry price of the three. Buy-in Guarantee Entries Day 2 qualifiers $109 $500,000 622 75 $33 $100,000 536 44 $5.50 $50,000 2,057 248 Combined $650,000 3,215 367 Counts as of October 20, 2026, Tuesday morning. Entries include repeat participation; the combined qualifier count adds the three event fields and does not represent a count of unique players across all events.Win a mystery prize. Become a bigger target.The bounty phase begins on Day 2, Sunday, November 1. Day 1 knockouts do not award bounty money, and everyone begins Day 2 with $0 in accumulated progressive bounty.Once bounties begin, a knockout reveals a mystery prize. Half is paid immediately; half is added to the eliminator’s visible progressive bounty. Your mystery amount stays hidden until you are eliminated, while opponents can see the progressive amount growing on your head.Eliminate someone who has already built a progressive bounty and that amount gets the same 50/50 split. One knockout can therefore pay from both the newly revealed mystery prize and the money already sitting on the opponent’s head.For a hypothetical example, a $100 mystery prize plus a $40 accumulated progressive bounty means $70 paid immediately and $70 added to your own bounty. Those amounts illustrate the mechanics; they are not advertised Halloween prizes.That is what keeps a big reveal interesting for the rest of the table. The player who finds it banks half, while the other half becomes part of a visible target. A later knockout can award a portion of that money to someone else.Build the stack before the hunt beginsThe cumulative-stack structure gives returning players another decision: stick with the chips already qualified or play more flights to add to that total. Successfully qualifying again adds those chips to the stack carried into Day 2, subject to the event’s entry conditions.Qualifying again adds chips, not a starting progressive bounty. That money starts building only through Day 2 eliminations, so even a player arriving with several combined stacks begins with $0 accumulated on their head.With flights continuing daily through November 1, check the poker client for available starting times and each event’s Day 2 schedule. The three buy-ins offer different entry points into the same bounty format; choose the tournament that fits your bankroll.There are already 367 places filled across the three Day 2 fields. Open the Halloween Mystery PKO lobby, find a remaining flight and work on the stack you want when the envelopes start opening.