�10,200 Mystery Bounty
Day 2 Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Paris
�10,200 Mystery Bounty
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2023 PokerStars EPT Paris
Buy-in
€10,200
Prize Pool
€1,027,200
Entries
107
Level
27
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000
Entries
81
Players Left
1
Level 27
: Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
The first high-roller event of the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris has closed its curtains and it was Andre Marques who captured the title in the �10,200 Mystery Bounty. A total of 107 entries were recorded in this event which generated a prize pool of over �1,000,000 in cash and bounty prizes.
Marques earned the largest career tournament score of his career and his first six-figure payday of �128,500. He will also add �47,500 in bounty prizes to his total to kick off the festival being held at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile. It's been a fine start to the 2023 campaign for the Portuguese poker player who also earned two of his biggest scores at the 2023 PCA in The Bahamas just a couple of weeks ago.
Marques out-lasted a feisty Kayhan Mokri who is also one of the hottest players on the tour right now. Mokri has quickly become a big fan of the mystery bounty format after earning two $100,000 bounties in separate deep runs at the 2023 PCA. The Norwegian will actually go home tonight as the biggest winner, pocketing �82,950 for second place and accumulating a whopping �105,000 with at least 10 bounties.
Going into the heads-up match, both players were extremely satisfied with their performance thus far and had acknowledged that they thought it was going to be the two of them earlier on in the day. With only the smallest bounties still up for grabs at the end of the night, it was sheerly the trophy that Marques had his sights set on.
"I just want the Spade," Marques pointed to the illustrious PokerStars trophy on the table. "I want first place!"
Final Table Payouts and Bounties
| Place | Winner | Country | Cash Prize (in EUR) | Bounty Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andre Marques | Portugal | �128,500 | �47,500 |
| 2 | Kayhan Mokri | Norway | �82,950 | �105,000 |
| 3 | Pedro Garagnani | Brazil | �59,250 | �17,500 |
| 4 | Pablo Navarro | Spain | �45,600 | �12,500 |
| 5 | Ren Lin | United States | �35,050 | �30,000 |
| 6 | Tom Orpaz | Israel | �26,950 | �10,000 |
| 7 | Mauricio Ferreira Pais | Germany | �21,550 | �72,500 |
| 8 | Nikita Kuznetsov | Russia | �17,250 | �65,000 |
| 9 | Zhi Yi Ning | Malaysia | �14,400 | �0 |
Day 2 Action
There were 45 players who returned to their seats for Day 2 but late registration was still open for another two levels. That led to an abundance of players joining or re-joining the field in the first hour. A total of 81 entries were recorded for this event, including 36 who registered on Day 2.
The mystery bounty portion of the tournament began at the start of Level 13 and it didn't take any encouragement for the big stacks to go bounty-hunting whenever possible. That included the unimaginable quadruple elimination by Mauricio Ferreira Pais where he turned the nut straight to eliminate four shorter stacks in the blink of an eye.
Adrian Mateos was one of those players that busted short of the money but still had a bounty chip to redeem. After reaching into the treasure chest, Mateos pulled out the �75,000 bounty which was the largest on the board. The second largest bounty of �50,000 was awarded to Nikita Kuznetsov, who also collected over �17,000 for his eighth-place finish today.
The tournament excelled at a rapid pace en route to the final table, including the hand-for-hand portion which saw Erik Seidel fall to eventual third-place finisher Pedro Garagnani on the stone bubble. That allowed Stephen Chidwick and Jonas Hagstrom to squeak into the money with just a few big blinds apiece. Jamil Wakil, Julien Sitbon, and Bruno Volkmann were other notables who bowed out just shy of the final nine players.
Once gathered at one table, the first couple of eliminations came in quick succession with Zhi Yi Ning finishing up in ninth place and Kuznetsov being forced to settle for eighth. That was where the stalemate began with each of the final seven players grabbing a hold of the chip lead at one point in time.
Nearly two hours later and over 15 consecutive double-ups, the final seven were exhausted and it was evident that a massive cooler was the only way to break the deadlock. That it was when Ferreira Pais saw his pocket aces cracked by Pablo Navarro holding ace-jack. Navarro made a runner-runner straight to eliminate Ferreira Pais and take over the lead.
In a timely manner, the short stacks of Tom Orpaz and Ren Lin quickly filed out of the room, leaving just four players on the final break of the night. Once they returned, it was Navarro who was on the wrong side of the deck, sending over back-to-back double-ups to Marques and eventually succumbing to the blinds in fourth place. Garagnani held on to a short stack for much of the final table but managed to ladder his way up to third place for nearly �60,000 plus bounties.
That left Marques and Mokri to duke it out for the title and it was a short-lived heads-up match after Marques took a key pot in the early going. Marques continued to extend his lead in the next few hands and it all came to an end when he made a full house with rags against Mokri's seven-big blind stack.
That wraps up the coverage for this event from the PokerNews live reporting team, but things are just heating up at EPT Paris and there will be plenty of more tournaments to keep an eye on in the coming days.
Level 27
: Blinds 100,000/200,000, 200,000 ante
Andre Marques limped the button and Kayhan Mokri checked. There was no betting action on the 
flop and the 
turn. Mokri bet the 
river for 200,000 and Marques used one time bank before jamming, after which Mokri sigh-folded with a smirk on the face.
Down to 775,000, which was just shy of four blinds in the new level, Mokri then pushed all-in from the button in the next hand and Marques called.
Kayhan Mokri: 
Andre Marques: 
The 
flop gave Mokri the top pair, yet he was in need of help facing two pair by Marques. Nothing changed with the 
turn and the 
river only improved Marques to a full house.
Mokri finished as the runner-up once more and collected �82,950 in cash prizes along with �105,000 in bounties, while Marques recorded a career-high score of �128,500. On top of that, Marques added another �47,500 in bounty prizes to his resume for the day along with a shiny PokerStars spadie trophy.
A recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
10,700,000
1,375,000
|
1,375,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 27
Blinds: 100,000/200,000
Ante: 200,000
Level 26
: Blinds 100,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Kayhan Mokri limped the button and called a raise to 500,000 by Andre Marques in the big blind.
On the 
flop, Marques continued for 300,000 and Mokri folded.
The Norwegian then gave Mokri a walk before the latter limped the his button again. Marques knuckled it back and they checked to the 
river. The 300,000 bet by Marques was paid off by Mokri, who couldn't beat 
for a pair of sixes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
9,325,000
825,000
|
825,000 |
|
|
1,375,000
-825,000
|
-825,000 |
Level 26
: Blinds 100,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Andre Marques limped in on the button and Kayhan Mokri checked his option. The flop came 
and both players checked to the on the turn.
Mokri checked again and Marques made a full pot-sized bet of 450,000. Mokri called and the completed the board. Mokri checked once more and Marques counted out a bet of 1,800,000. Mokri deliberated for a minute before dropping in the chips to call.
Marques turned over 
for two pair and Mokri was unable to beat it, losing a large portion of his chips in the early going.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,500,000
2,300,000
|
2,300,000 |
|
|
2,200,000
-2,300,000
|
-2,300,000 |
Level 26
: Blinds 100,000/150,000, 150,000 ante
Kayhan Mokri opened to 270,000 out of the small blind and Pedro Garagnani came along from the big blind. What followed were three barrels by Mokri. He made it 130,000 to go on the 
flop and Garagnani stuck around.
Both repeated the same action on the 
turn for 230,000 and that led them to the on the river. Garagnani had 1,180,000 behind at that point and Mokri used 25 seconds of his shot clock before moving all-in with the covering stack.
One time bank was used by the Brazilian, who then eventually called it off. Mokri tabled the 
for aces and treys, which beat the 
of Garagnani. The Norwegian redeemed his next bounty right away to add another �7,500, bringing his bounty total up to �105,000 for the day.
Both remaining players will now take a very short break, after which Andre Marques continues with a small lead over Mokri in the duel for the trophy.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,200,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
|
4,500,000
2,000,000
|
2,000,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 26
Blinds: 100,000/150,000
Ante: 150,000
Level 25
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Pedro Garagnani raised to 240,000 on the button and Kayhan Mokri defended from the big blind. The flop fell 
and Mokri checked to Garagnani who bet 130,000. Mokri check-raised to 265,000 and Garagnani called.
The landed on the turn and Mokri checked again. Garagnani threw in a small bet of 205,000 and Mokri just called this time. The river was the 
and both players quickly tapped the table. Mokri tabled 
for a pair of sixes and the best hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,500,000
1,000,000
|
1,000,000 |
|
|
1,900,000
-1,300,000
|
-1,300,000 |
Level 25
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
PokerStars is back in the United States �C in New Jersey, as well as in the largest online poker network in the US after Michigan and Pennsylvania player pools were merged at the start of this year.
But now, PokerStars Live events on US soil look to be back on the cards according to a PokerNews interview with Managing Director of North America for PokerStars Severin Rasset.
Click here for the full interview to find out what Rasset had to say!