$1,100 NLH Mystery Bounty
Day 2 Completed
2023 NAPT Las Vegas
$1,100 NLH Mystery Bounty
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 2
2023 NAPT Las Vegas
Buy-in
$1,100
Prize Pool
$254,400
Entries
265
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
120,000
Entries
41
Players Left
1
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
All the bounties have been claimed and a winner has been crowned in the $1,100 NLH Mystery Bounty as the 2023 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas comes to a close. Claiming the PokerStars Spade and top prize of $24,650 was Canada's Timothy Rutherford, who climbed back from a steep heads-up deficit in the nearly empty tournament room to defeat Qing Liu.
The Mystery Bounty event drew 265 entries for a prize pool of $254,400 before a stacked final table formed that included Arizona grinder Jordan Spurlin (8th - $3,440), Florida crusher Mark Dube (6th -$5,000) and poker author Dylan Linde (5th - $6,500).
NAPT Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timothy Rutherford | Canada | $24,650 | |
| 2 | Qing Liu | United States | $15,370 | |
| 3 | Robert Natividad | United States | $10,975 | |
| 4 | Joseph Marchal | United States | $8,440 | |
| 5 | Dylan Linde | United States | $6,500 | |
| 6 | Mark Dube | United States | $5,000 | |
| 7 | Anze Smajd | Slovenia | $4,120 | |
| 8 | Jordan Spurlin | United States | $3,440 |
The Canadian's victory over Liu was as unlikely as they come as he was down to crumbs during heads-up play before securing three consecutive doubles to overcome Liu, who had collected seven bounties and was looking for one more.
“It was pretty nice, got a little lucky there heads-up down to three bigs," Rutherford told PokerNews in a winner's interview. "But you know, that’s how poker goes sometimes and I’m glad to be on the fortunate end of it.”
Rutherford, who adds to his $474,528 in live earnings, didn't go on the bounty haul that his heads-up opponent did but managed to ladder up to heads-up play to eventually take it down.
“(I) pretty much just waited for the cards, tried to pick a few spots here and there," he said. "After that, I just let Lady Luck handle the rest.”
Reichard Ruptures, Bounties Fly
All 42 players who returned for Day 2 were in the money and were quick to get their chips in the middle in an attempt to pick up a coveted bounty. Most coveted of all were the four $10,000 bounties in play, though there were also more than a dozen $5,000 bounties up for grabs.
Bounties in Play
| Value | Total Number of Bounties |
|---|---|
| $10,000 | 4 |
| $5,000 | 13 |
| $2,000 | 2 |
| $1,000 | 23 |
| $500 | 1 |
Day 1 chip leader Josh Reichard got off to a hot start by growing his stack and picking up one of the $5,000 bounties. The midwest poker legend later picked up a $10,000 bounty, but that would be the end of Reichard's run-good.
Not long after the two-table redraw, Reichard went on an extreme downswing that saw him doubling up four of his opponents, two of them in the same hand as he ran eights into the aces and kings of Joseph Marchal and Spurlin.
Some other players who fell ahead of the final table include Daewoong Song (17th - $1,640), Camille Brown (16th - $1,640) and PokerStars Ambassador David Kaye, who fell on the unofficial final table bubble as his king-seven couldn't beat out the ace-ten of Spurlin.
Once the final table formed, Jordan Spurlin and Anze Smajd picked up the last two $10,000 bounties on their ways out in 8th and 7th place. Next to go was Mark Dube, three-bet jammed with deuces and was called by Natividad with ace-king. Dube was ahead until an ace on the river confirmed his elimination in sixth place.
Linde also fell after a three-bet jam into Big Slick as his ace-eight was dominated by the cards of Rutherford, who ended up hitting Broadway to put an emphasis on the fourth-place elimination.
After knocking out Natividad in third place, Liu had a formidable chip lead and seemingly a lock on winning the trophy as he entered heads-up play.
"If you win can I keep the trophy?" Rutherford asked Liu.
"Good deal for you!" Liu replied.
As is turned out, Rutherford would win the tournament and get the trophy as he doubled up a sub-ten big blind stack before again doubling as his dominated queen-seven out-flopped Lui's ace-seven. Another double with nines against fives gave Rutherford the lead before a final hand that saw Rutherford winning a final flip to close out his parlay.
As Rutherford darted off for winner's photos, Liu cashed in on his seven bounties and pulled the remaining four $5,000 bounties and three $1,000 bounties for a total of $23,000. Rutherford didn't have a sweat as he returned to collect on his two bounties, but he was more interested in his newly acquired trophy.
“The trophy’s always nice to put on the shelf when you get home."
That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting team's coverage of the NAPT Mystery Bounty on the tail end of the first NAPT festival in 12 years. Be sure to check out the NAPT Las Vegas reporting hub for coverage of other events.
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Qing Liu moved all in from the button for about nine big blinds. Timothy Rutherford checked his cards and flicked in a chip to put Liu at risk.
Qing Liu: K?9?
Timothy Rutherford: 5?5?
The full board ran out Q?8?4?4?3? and the fives of Rutherford would hold up to send Liu to the rail in second place.
Timothy Rutherford is your champion, full recap coming soon.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
6,900,000
1,900,000
|
1,900,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Timothy Rutherford opened to 250,000 on the button and called as Qing Liu three-bet jammed in the big blind.
Timothy Rutherford: 9?9?
Qing Liu: 5?5?
Rutherford had the better pocket pair and improved to a set on the runout of 4?J?7?9?A? for yet another double to take the chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,000,000
3,000,000
|
3,000,000 |
|
|
2,900,000
-2,000,000
|
-2,000,000 |
|
|
||
Level 30
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Qing Liu moved all in from the button and got called after a short tank from Timothy Rutherford.
The cards hit their backs.
Timothy Rutherford: Q?7?
Qing Liu: A?7?
"Give me a red queen" Rutherford asked the dealer.
Right on time the Q?A?Q? flop landed catapulting Ruthford into the lead. The 5?4? filled out the rest of the board and Rutherford doubled up to stay alive.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,900,000
-2,000,000
|
-2,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,000,000
1,000,000
|
1,000,000 |
Level 30
: 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Timothy Rutherford proclaimed that he would go all in blind from the big blind before Qing Liu moved all in on the button. Rutherford kept his word and called.
Timothy Rutherford: K?4?
Qing Liu: 10?6?
Rutherford stayed ahead as the board ran out 7?4?A?9?3? to earn him a small double.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,900,000
900,000
|
900,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,000,000
-900,000
|
-900,000 |
Level: 30
Blinds: 60,000/120,000
Ante: 120,000
Level 29
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
Timothy Rutherford opened the button to 200,000 before Qing Liu three-bet to 700,000 from the blinds. Rutherford called and 8?9?10? rolled off on the flop.
Liu slowed down and checked it to Rutherford on the button who sat in the tank for a few moments before putting in a bet of 500,000. Liu snap-jammed and Rutherford quickly folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
6,000,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,900,000
-600,000
|
-600,000 |
Level 29
: Blinds 50,000/100,000, 100,000 ante
The level length is decreasing from 30 minutes to 20 minutes.
Level: 29
Blinds: 50,000/100,000
Ante: 100,000