The winner won’t necessarily be the recipient of the coveted bracelet
The Mystery Bounty format of poker tournaments has been grabbing the attention of the poker world for the last two years. However, a controversial change to the configuration in the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP) will see a random bounty prize awarded that usually goes to the tournament winner.
The WSOP made a surprise announcement last night that will change the Mystery Millions event and give the bounty jackpots even more importance. One random bounty at the 2024 Mystery Millions tournament will not include cash but will award the winner with the coveted WSOP bracelet instead.
This means that a player could be eliminated with a short stack on Day 2 and 1,000 entrants left and still be a legitimate bracelet winner and the official champion of the event without beating the rest of the field. After the bracelet is awarded, the remaining players will compete for the prize pool like any other tournament, but no champion will be crowned at the conclusion.
It will be the easiest way to win a WSOP bracelet and also one of the most controversial. All-time leading WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth wasn’t thrilled about the new format, saying, “This is worse than that Flip & Go thing.”
The WSOP’s $1,000 Mystery Millions event begins with four starting flights on May 30. Players are permitted one re-entry per flight, and bounties begin on Day 2, with a guaranteed top bounty of $1 million. The value of the WSOP bracelet is $1,500.
Three players have won $1 million so far from a single bounty, which would be more prize money than the tournament’s eventual champion.
