Aaron Pinson wins the championship and a $150,000 prize!

Aaron Pinson won the Borgata event #6:$2,200 Big Big Borgata Mystery Bounty, taking home $44,825 in cash and $150,000 in prize money, for a total of $199,825. He won the trophy after a heads-up match with Matt Glantz, splitting the prize money.

Over the past few years, mystery bounty tournaments have become increasingly popular across the United States, widely adopted by casinos and tournament circuits. A recent example of this format was the "Big Big Borgata Mystery Bounty" event, held at the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa. This event guaranteed two $50,000 bounties and two $25,000 bounties. However, there was no guarantee that one player would take home nearly 40%'s worth of $500,000 in prize money.

Aaron Pinson and Matt Glantz entered heads-up play and agreed to split the remaining tournament prize money and draw all their remaining bounties. They tossed a coin to decide who would win the trophy, and Pinson won the toss. Each player then drew their own bounty. Glantz had six bounty envelopes, while Pinson had only one, and it seemed Glantz had a better chance of drawing the last one, $25,000. Pinson drew first and won the last $25,000, bringing his total bounty to $150,000. Now crowned champion, his total earnings from the tournament reached $199,825.

"I never imagined I'd get $200k this morning, it sounded insane," Pinson said shortly after winning. "It's not my favorite format, but in terms of the result, it's my favorite. I started today with the last third of my chips, and I was on fire, incredibly lucky. I got $200,000, it feels stupid. I just gambled a lot today."

This poker player from Maryland has been winning prizes across the East Coast for over a decade. His career earnings exceed $2.4 million ($), and he has multiple winning streaks at Borgata, where this is his first title. He further explained the series of events that led to this deal.

"The key point is, during the three-way head-to-head match, my 7 went up against Mike Wang's 10. I hit a 7, and he said, 'Maybe that's your $50k,' so I went and drew, and I actually drew $50k. Afterwards, we decided to split the prize pool in heads-up play because Matt was better than me. He kept all his bounty, while I spent all day drawing. I said, 'Okay, I'll draw my bounty, and the rest is yours,' and then bam! $25,000!"

This large prize pool is not typically found in traditionally structured tournaments. Only in specific bounty tournaments is it possible for a player to win the 40% prize pool, albeit with low odds. Pinson discussed whether he had done so before.

"I once had a PKO at my hometown casino. It was a 1TP 4T 350 buy-in, and we fought all the way to a champion. I took home a prize pool of 401TP 3T. That was the only time."

Although he admitted it wasn't his favorite format, the newly crowned Borgata champion wore a wide smile as he drew each of the massive bounties. Earlier that day, he let out an excited shout when he drew his first $50k; later that day, his expression was a mixture of joy and disbelief when he drew his second $50k; and when Glanz thought he was joking, he let out a gleeful laugh when he drew the final $25k. He also drew $10k, $5k, and four $2,500 bounties that day.

"420 bop," Pinson joked about his preparations for the day. "I was lucky today. I definitely beat some stronger players. You just have to show up and try to stay positive. When you walk into a casino, most days you're signing up to lose tournaments. Some people can't take it, and so can we all. Like Andrew Chang said when he won the kickoff: 'They picked me today.'"

"No, thank you," Pinson said when asked if he might register for the nearby $10,000 Big Big Baller event. "I plan to, and still most likely will, go home for two days, maybe not. I'll come back to play the second preliminary round of $5k. That's the plan, maybe I'll change it. I might stay and play PLO."

"I've been playing this game for 16 years. There was a long period when I was broke, then things changed after 15 or 16 years. The craze started!"

Tournament #5: $2, 200 Big Big Borgata Mystery Bounty Tournament

*Reflects the prize money distribution after the heads-up agreement.

Day 2 Match Results

It was a busy day, with the final table set before the first break of the day. Chips flew, bounties were drawn, and many of the game's biggest names battled fiercely. Matthew Beinner (24th – $3,475), Bijay Lama (22nd – $3,475), and Bartley Dowling (20th – $3,475) were among the first to be eliminated. It was Dowling's elimination by Pinson that led to the first $50k bounty being drawn and awarded to Pinson. Subsequently, Joe McKeehen (18th place – $3,475), Justin Liberto (15th place – $4,200), BetMGM ambassador Michael Lavin (14th place – $4,200) and WPT champion Kharlin Sued (13th place – $4,200) were all eliminated.

The last player eliminated before the final table was Richard Newman, who was defeated by Michael McNicholas. Newman's AQ couldn't beat McNicholas' J10 on the river. Newman finished in tenth place, winning $4,950, while McNicholas had drawn $25k before the final table began.

Final Table Results

Fireworks lit up the final table shortly after it began. Before the first break, Justin Arnwine, in the small blind, limped in with pocket 2s and went all-in, only to be called by Michael Wang with pocket queens. Wang had more than a third of the chips remaining with eight players, while Arnwine finished in ninth place with $5,950.

Pashk Gjini started the final table with the shortest stack, and his climb to the top was short-lived. He went all-in in the first position with KQ, and McNicholas called from the big blind with J10. The outcome favored McNicholas again, as he made triplets of Jacks, while Gjini finished in eighth place with $7,125.

The next player eliminated was Paul Spitzberg in seventh place, also knocked out by McNicholas. He went all-in pre-flop with pocket kings, only to be outmaneuvered by McNicholas's AQ. The river card was an Ace-high flush, securing McNicholas's second-place position and giving Spitzberg 1TP 4T 8,525.

Despite starting the day as the chip leader, Victor Ramdin struggled to make progress at the final table. Eventually, Ramdin, with KQ against Matt Glantz's AQ, poured in his last few chips. Glantz flopped top two pair, giving Ramdin a draw on the turn, and the WPT champion won $10,325 in sixth place.

Glantz became the next elimination victim, with Dylan Lemery facing off against Glantz's AK and McNicholas' pocket 5s with a 10-9 hand. The Ace-high board handed the pot to Glantz, while Lemery finished in fifth place with 1TP 4T 12,275, marking his second final table appearance this week.

McNicholas was unable to recover after that, and his last chips soon went to Pinson. The board contained two 2s, and McNicholas held A2 for a top three. He bet and called Pinson's all-in, while Pinson made a full house of eights on the river, adding to his prize. McNicholas finished in fourth place, earning $17,225 and his chosen prize.

Wang's luck ran out when he had pocket tens against Pinson's 7. The flop of the 7 sealed the WPT champion's fate, and Pinson went into heads-up play with the lead. "The bounty is 1TP 4T 50k," Wang told Pinson as he walked toward the prize box, where he finished third with 1TP 4T 25,500. Wang wasn't lying; Pinson pulled the slip of paper from the spinner a moment later.

After the heads-up prize was split, the two players flipped a coin to decide the trophy. Pinson won, earning him a chance to draw a bounty, compared to Glanz's six. He drew the remaining largest bounty, while Glanz came in second with $44,825, bringing his total bounty draw to $30,000.

That concludes today's coverage of the #5:$2, 200 Big Big Borgata Mystery Bounty Tournament. Please be sure to return to PokerNews tomorrow for further coverage of the Big Big series.

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