The 2026 PokerNews Online Championship on 888 concludes on October 27 with the crowning of the $250,000 guaranteed Mystery Main Event champion. Flights for this $250 buy-in extravaganza have been running all week, but only seven Day 1s remain.
At the time of writing, 466 players had either bought in for $250 or won their way into the Mystery Main Event via the plentiful satellites that run around the clock. Of those starters, only 54 have advanced to Day 2 and will be in with a shot of capturing a jackpot mystery bounty payment worth $25,000.
The current chip leader is “milikie11,” who has turned their 10,000 starting stack into a tournament-leading 202,465. They are the only Mystery Main Event player to return to the action on October 26 with more than 200,000 chips.
Some familiar names find themselves in the top 10. Hungarian ace Peter “kiskutya23” Traply bagged 159,477 chips during his Day 1, enough for sixth place currently.
One place below him is 888 ambassador Aaron “abrone68” Barone. You may recall that Barone won the first event of the 2026 PokerNews Online Championship last weekend. He has now put himself in a solid position to claim a large slice of this event’s $250,000 guaranteed prize pool.
$250,000 PokerNews Mystery Main Event Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | milike11 | – | 202,465 | 81 |
| 2 | king2309 | Ukraine | 184,549 | 74 |
| 3 | sankovski | Lithuania | 173,699 | 70 |
| 4 | Nosorog1204 | Ukraine | 165,958 | 66 |
| 5 | RB27. | Lithuhania | 163,337 | 65 |
| 6 | Peter “kiskutya23” Traply | – | 159,477 | 64 |
| 7 | Aaron “abarone68” Barone | Canada | 153,678 | 62 |
| 8 | silentfridge | Sweden | 144,070 | 58 |
| 9 | Ssv117 | Kazahkstan | 136,616 | 55 |
| 10 | Orvian | Montenegro | 132,511 | 53 |
Turn $25 Into a Share of $50,000 Guaranteed
888 is running a Mystery Mini Main that guarantees a $50,000 prize pool for only a $25 buy-in. Six more flights remain on the schedule, and they’ll need to be busy because the current attendance stands at 665, with 80 players advancing. Some 2,222 entries are required to hit the guarantee.
Germany’s “Xiaoleidui” is one player who doesn’t have to worry about playing their way into Day 2. They are the overall chip leader right now, having amassed 251,781 chips during their starting flight, the equivalent of 101 big blinds.
“HammHammm” (205,455) and “LiHao” (200,978) both sit down on Day 2 with more than 200,000 chips from a 10,000-chip starting position.
Occupying ninth place is “IOwnU888,” who is a regular at the 888 tables. In 2023, they finished second in the XL Autumn Series Main Event and took home $27,630. They have also previously won the weekly Mystery Bounty Main Event, doing so after pulling the largest bounty from its golden envelope.
$50,000 PokerNews Mystery Mini Main Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Xiaoleidui | Germany | 251,781 | 101 |
| 2 | HammHammm | – | 205,455 | 82 |
| 3 | LiHao | Northern Ireland | 200,978 | 80 |
| 4 | Genie88 | – | 197,456 | 79 |
| 5 | PsManson | Germany | 185,626 | 74 |
| 6 | Heberto1988 | Argentina | 183,108 | 73 |
| 7 | Dejavu.turn | Argentina | 181,445 | 73 |
| 8 | deeman1823 | Canada | 180,733 | 72 |
| 9 | IOwnU888 | – | 170,203 | 68 |
| 10 | maki_makich | Ukraine | 162,914 | 65 |
PokerNews Online Championship Results
Sixteen PokerNews Online Championship events have crowned their champions. Check out the table below to see which players won which events and for how much.
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #01 – $16.50 Mystery Bounty | 1,060 | $15,900 | Aaron “abarone68” Barone | $1,375 |
| #02 – $33 Mystery Bounty Frenzy | 371 | $11,130 | Barth.S2 | $1,735 |
| #03 – $55 Mystery Bounty | 400 | $20,000 | Linbabay | $3,577 |
| #04 – $8.80 Mystery Bounty | 935 | $8,000 | satoschi_01 | $777 |
| #05 – $109 Mystery Bounty Opener | 730 | $80,000 | User1912 | $7,614 |
| #06 – $22 Mystery Bounty Big or Small | 523 | $10,460 | MagicJ16 | $1,043 |
| #07 – $525 High Roller | 52 | $26,000 | CPU0r | $7,787 |
| #08 – $55 Mystery Bounty Frenzy | 210 | $10,500 | davidrin21 | $781 |
| #09 – $8.80 Mystery Bounty Frenzy | 580 | $5,000 | mvvmarcos | $329 |
| #10 – $109 Mystery Bounty Frenzy | 110 | $11,000 | Kassir27 | $2,787 |
| #11 – $320 Super KO High Roller | 28 | $10,000 | PS_Raul | $3,970 |
| #12 – $8.80 Super KO | 355 | $3,000 | Jack5parow | $391 |
| #13 – $109 Super KO | 81 | $10,000 | GusHans | $1,802 |
| #14 – $8.80 Mystery Bounty | 505 | $4,040 | surgm | $555 |
| #15 – $55 Mystery Bounty | 212 | $10,600 | DimasThe1st | $1,542 |
| #16 – $109 Mystery Bounty | 121 | $12,100 | KellerA | $2,268 |
2026 PokerNews Online Championship by 888 Schedule
Another three PokerNews Online Championship events take place on October 22. All three are DeepStack tournaments, which give you more room to maneuver.
They come with buy-ins of $8.80, $109, and $320 for a High Roller, and feature guarantees of $4,000, $10,000, and $10,000, respectively.
Expanding the table reveals the full, remaining schedule of this exciting series. Check it out, plan your schedule, and see if you can become a poker champion.
Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor