The final trophy event of the 2026 Borgata Summer Poker Open saw 620 hopefuls try their luck in the $580 Monster Mirror Mystery Bounty. In this unique format, the bounty amounts are the same as the payouts, with half the $310,000 prize pool going to each side.
Seventy-six players returned for Day 2, all of whom were in the money and the bounty hunting soon to begin.
Once the dust settled after 12 hours of play, it was Vance Martin III hoisting the beautiful Borgata trophy, along with the first-place prize of $25,650. However, the cherry on top was Martin’s bounty pulling ability. While chip leading at the final table, Martin pulled with top bounty prize, and totaled over $37,000 bounties in the end.
The Lebanon, Pennsylvania native defeated George Grabe in a long heads-up battle after a turbulent final table.
Martin has accumulated $24,000 in live tournament earnings, almost entirely coming within this year. Despite coming into Day 2 with just 12 big blinds, Martin spun up his short stack before his strong final table performance led to him doubling his prior tournament winnings.
$580 Monster Mirror Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vance Martin III | United States | $25,650 |
| 2 | George Grabe | United States | $21,150 |
| 3 | Anthony LaRocca | United States | $13,275 |
| 4 | Robert Bernstein | United States | $8,785 |
| 5 | Shane Brown | United States | $6,125 |
| 6 | Erick Ortiz | United States | $4,855 |
| 7 | John Port | United States | $3,900 |
| 8 | David Lu | United States | $3,165 |
| 9 | Alan Johnson | United States | $2,565 |
Day 2 Action
As is the case for most mystery bounty events, the eliminations were fast and furious to begin the day. However, none of the largest bounties would be pulled in the early goings.
Some of the notables to fall short of the final few tables included Alex Rocha (76th – $660), Aaron Mermelstein (70th – $680), Corbin Avery (56th), Lucas Vergara (47th – $780), Lawrence Abrams (37th – $945), and Adam Agaev (29th – $1,125).
The pace of play began to slow down at the final three tables with Kaifan Wang (16th – $1,375) and Todd Lewis (15th – $1,665) bowing out short of the final table. In incredible fashion, Simon Lau laddered up all the way to 11th place after leaving the tournament at the first break. It would take three hours for his stack to be blinded out, and he has a $2,015 payday awaiting him.
Final Table Action
The final table was a tale of ‘Haves and Have Nots’ with five players bunched together at the top with four lagging quite behind. Shane Brown held the official lead once play commenced.
The first major pot was a double elimination which saw Martin eliminate both Alan Johnson and David Lu. Martin held ace-king against queen-jack and ace-nine, and he paired his king to score the double knockout. Better yet, he went over to pull his bounties and received the two largest remaining ones for $27,650 and $6,125.
John Port (7th – $3,900) and Erick Ortiz (6th – $4,855) would soon follow to the payout desk as Martin began to pull away from the field.
Shane Brown was the next casualty in fifth place for $6,125. A massive preflop confrontation saw Brown’s king-jack, Robert Bernstein’s jacks, and Vance Martin III’s ace-queen all found their way into the middle. Bernstein’s jacks remained best, and he briefly took the chip lead while Brown took his leave.
Four-handed play would continue for nearly an hour before the deadlock was broken. Robert Bernstein ran his pocket sevens into Grabe’s jacks, and Anthony LaRocca followed soon after getting short-stacked, and another player fell victim to the jacks of Grabe. The pair received $8,785 and $13,275 respectively for their efforts.
Grabe held the small advantage to begin heads-up play, with many small pots being traded as Grabe maintained the slight lead.
The pair agreed to flatten the payouts, but play remained cagey. Eventually, there were less than 40 big blinds on the table as the two took turns winning small pots.
On the final hand, Martin raised under the button before Grabe jammed his final 18 big blinds with ace-deuce suited, which was snapped off by the ace-queen of Martin. Neither player found a pair, leaving Martin’s hand best as he celebrated the title after 12 hours of battle.
