The $12M NLH and $3M PLO Mystery Bounty Venoms are moving deeper into their opening week, with Venom Fever, stack combining and a packed Specials schedule keeping the door open.
Two Venoms, One $15 Million Headline
ACR Poker’s $15 million Dual Mystery Bounty Venoms have reached Day 1D, but the story is still a long way from finished. The fourth of eight starting flights begins Thursday, August 20 at 12:05 p.m. ET, with the $12 million guaranteed No-Limit Hold’em Venom and the $3 million guaranteed Pot-Limit Omaha Venom running side by side. Both tournaments have a $2,650 buy-in.
There has already been plenty of traffic. Through the first three flights, NLH has recorded 1,526 entries and sent 184 players forward. PLO has drawn 418 entries, with 51 players through to Day 2. The busiest day so far was Sunday, August 16, when Day 1B pulled in 1,105 NLH entries and 238 PLO entries.
If you haven’t found a Day 2 stack yet, there is no need to treat Day 1D as a last call. Four more flights follow Thursday. And if you have already qualified, the format still gives you a reason to keep playing: qualifying stacks can be combined for Day 2.
Big Stacks Are Already Taking Shape
The early leaderboards have two names setting the pace. eko4gg leads the NLH qualifiers with 8,542,202 chips, equal to 213 big blinds. Over in PLO, Winkyface1984 has opened up a much bigger cushion with 17,037,699 chips, or 608 big blinds.
Those numbers are more than leaderboard decoration. Every chip you carry into Day 2 can matter once the knockout phase starts, especially when you are trying to cover opponents and give yourself more chances at the biggest Mystery Bounties. Players who already have a qualifying stack can use the remaining flights to try to add to it rather than simply waiting for August 31.
The Bounty Money Starts on Day 2
Day 1 is about getting through. Day 2 is where the bounty envelopes enter the picture.
The NLH Venom has a $500,000 top Mystery Bounty. The PLO Venom tops out at $250,000. In both tournaments, every successful Day 2 knockout carries a minimum $5,000 Mystery Bounty, and every player who reaches Day 2 is already in the money.
That setup puts a premium on arriving with chips. A seat in Day 2 locks in the next phase, but a larger stack can give you more opportunities to apply pressure, cover shorter stacks and take more shots at the knockout prizes once the field comes back together.
Venom Fever Keeps the Door Open
Paying the full $2,650 is one route into the field, not the only one. Venom Fever has already awarded 853 seats worth $2,650 each and guarantees more than 1,500 seats before the promotion wraps on Sunday, August 30.
The qualification menu covers a lot of different bankrolls and formats. Direct and Mega Satellites are in the mix, along with Beast tournaments, Venom Madness, Survivor Flips and Spin to Get In. Some routes start at $0, so the gap between a small starting point and a full Venom seat can be enormous.
There is another route through the Venom Vault. Its key prizes range from Survivor Flip Step tickets up to a Golden Ticket for a full Venom seat. With four starting flights still scheduled after Day 1D, late qualification still leaves time to turn the ticket into an actual Day 1 entry.
Venom Specials Fill Out the Schedule
The two main events are the center of the week, but they are not the whole schedule. Venom Specials add 91 tournaments and $10.16 million in guarantees across seven dates through August 31, giving players a lot more to open alongside the Venom flights.
The series made a strong start on Monday, August 17. The first 15 Specials carried $860,000 in guarantees and finished with $1.125 million in combined prize pools. Thursday, August 20 adds 11 Specials with $820,000 guaranteed, with buy-ins ranging from $66 to $1,050 and both standard events and PKOs surrounding the Day 1D flight.
The schedule gets heavier from there. Sunday, August 23 has 12 Specials with $1.84 million in combined guarantees. August 30 brings $2.34 million across 13 events, followed by $2.45 million across 18 tournaments on August 31. Across the seven-date lineup, players can find NLH, PLO, PKO, 6-Max and additional Mystery Bounty action.
Four More Flights Follow Day 1D
Miss Thursday or want another shot at building your stack? Day 1E runs Sunday, August 23, followed by Day 1F on Monday, August 24, Day 1G on Thursday, August 27 and Day 1H on Sunday, August 30. Every remaining starting flight begins at 12:05 p.m. ET.
Day 2 starts Monday, August 31 at 1:05 p.m. ET. The NLH tournament continues to Day 3 on Tuesday, September 1, while both the NLH and PLO final tables are scheduled for Wednesday, September 2 at 4:05 p.m. ET.
So Day 1D is important, but it is not a closing bell. There are still multiple ways to qualify, multiple chances to add to an existing stack and an entire supporting schedule running around the two main events. Whether your route starts with a full buy-in, a satellite, Venom Fever or a Vault prize, the target is the same: get chips into Day 2 before the Mystery Bounties turn on.
For more information about the $15 Million Dual Mystery Bounty Venoms, visit the promo page here.