PokerStars Brings Back the Mystery Bounty Series With $3M GTD This July

Mystery Bounty Series: Key Details

Running from July 13–21, the 2025 Mystery Bounty Series will feature 55 events and a combined $3 million guaranteed prize pool. Buy-ins range from $5.50 to $215, covering the full spectrum of player bankrolls.

Unlike most other online series, this one isn’t afraid to lean into the variety. The schedule includes No Limit Hold’em, but also mixes in PLO, 8-Game, PL Badugi, NL 2-7 Single Draw, PLO8, and NLO8. So whether you’re a four-card sicko or a mixed-game regular, there’s a bounty somewhere with your name on it.

Notable highlights on the schedule include:

• $109 Main Event with $500K GTD – Sunday, July 20
• $11 Mini Main Event with $125K GTD – Sunday, July 20
• $75 Sunday Special with $350K GTD – Opening Day, July 13

So, What Makes Mystery Bounty Tournaments So Different?

Unlike traditional PKOs, Mystery Bounty events separate the bounty pool into hidden prize envelopes. Here’s how it works:

• Early Stage: Players play a standard MTT until a designated point (typically once the bubble bursts).
• Final Stage: Knockouts start generating bounty envelopes. Each elimination earns a mystery prize — sometimes worth more than the entire tournament win.

Bounty prizes are drawn randomly, and they’re tiered. One knockout might earn you a small cash prize, while the next could hand you a five-figure envelope. The tournament lobby will always show which prizes are still in play, keeping players on edge.

You can also win multiple bounties in one hand if you bust several players. If a knockout occurs in a chopped pot, the bounty is split among the winners.

A Quick Look Back at 2024

The inaugural Mystery Bounty Series back in 2024 pulled no punches. It ran a little earlier, from June 23 to July 1 with $4 million guaranteed, and over 9,000 players jumped into the Main Event.

Poland’s “filipkow81” won that $109 Main Event, walking away with $54,386 and $1,515 in bounties after a final-table deal. But it was “Akhtabut” from Malta who stole the spotlight, pulling the $100,000 top bounty despite finishing all the way back in 337th place.

The randomness is the whole draw. PokerStars Team Pro Lasse Jagd “Wistern” Lauritsen proved that again by hitting the top bounty in a $55 Hyper, collecting $2,640 despite a 22nd-place finish.

Bounties, Variants, and a Whole Lot of Sweat

With a week of action-packed tournaments, an inclusive schedule, and the added sweat of not knowing what’s in your bounty envelope until it pops open — this second running of the Mystery Bounty Series is shaping up to be another key fixture on PokerStars’ calendar.

And for those who missed out last year, there’s no shortage of mystery still to be revealed.