2003 World Series of Poker main event champion Chris Moneymaker tried to channel a little bit of his early 2000s magic this week, making a deep run in the ACR Poker Venom Mystery Bounty $8 million guaranteed event. Moneymaker live-streamed his run to the final table before ultimately finishing ninth, and the ACR Pro was one of a handful of notable pros to cash in on a lucrative pair of opportunities in the dual no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha affairs.
The Venom Mystery Bounty events generated total prize pools of over $10.2 million across two major tournaments. The $2,650 buy-in, multi-flight NLH drew 3,233 entrants, creating an $8,082,500 prize pool. Its counterpart, a $2,650 Venom PLO Mystery Bounty event, brought out 871 entries for a total prize pool of $2,177,500.
While Moneymaker made his run in no-limit hold’em, three poker heavyweights battled it out in the PLO Venom Mystery Bounty. Longtime friends and coaching partners Chance Kornuth and Alex Foxen both made the final table, as did Yuri Dzivielevski.
Moneymaker Falls Just Short
As he does with many of his significant online runs, Moneymaker shared his journey in the $8 million guaranteed Venom Mystery Bounty event on Twitch. Entering the final table, Moneymaker was one of two short stacks, along with Pavels ‘Rigapols81’ Spirins.
Moneymaker fell below 10 big blinds and shoved in early position with J♣10♠, running into ‘Runner114’s’ A♥K♦. He flopped a ten, but Runner114 turned an ace to claim the pot and knock Moneymaker out of the tournament. Moneymaker’s ninth-place finish earned him $97,702, with $47,702 for his finish, and $50,000 in total bounty prizes.
Incredible run by the great Chris Moneymaker!
This is Chris’s 3rd time final tabling The Venom!Sadly he was eliminated in 9th place for a respectable $97,702 including bounties!@CMONEYMAKER streamed his entire Day 2 and gifted the chat 5% of all his bounties.
Man of the… pic.twitter.com/42xY4T0l9c
— ACR Poker (@ACR_POKER) April 28, 2026
Spirins was the next player to go out, running A♠9♦ into the pocket kings of ‘YKOBLIUK’ in a blind vs. blind spot. Spirins failed to catch up, settling for eighth place. The former semi-professional hockey player won a Venom title back in November 2025.
The biggest winners of this edition of the ACR Poker Venom Mystery Bounty events came from the no-limit hold’em side of the equation. As soon as the tournament reached three-handed play, the remaining players agreed to an ICM deal. Ukraine’s YKOBLIUK took home the trophy and $624,838 in prize money. The biggest winner was ultimately Canadian ‘KevinParCouer’, who earned $672,819, thanks to his $219,779 in bounty prizes. Another Ukrainian, ‘Runner114,’ walked away with $555,315 for their podium finish.
One of the biggest beneficiaries in the no-limit hold’em tournament didn’t make the final table at all. ‘Rybka1294’ pulled a $500,000 mystery bounty prize, eclipsing the payout earned by all but the top three finishers in the tournament.
| Place | Player | Payout | Bounties |
| 1 | YKOBLIUK | $532,918 | $91,920 |
| 2 | KevinParCouer | $453,040 | $219,779 |
| 3 | Runner114 | $446,391 | $108,924 |
| 4 | ZenRead | $240,639 | $40,000 |
| 5 | GTS gr8 GRO | $173,907 | $30,000 |
| 6 | RiverRiot72 | $125,730 | $55,000 |
| 7 | distxrteddd | $90,947 | $55,000 |
| 8 | Pavels ‘Rigapols81’ Spirins | $65,833 | $80,000 |
| 9 | Chris Moneymaker | $47,702 | $50,000 |
Calling His Shot
In the Venom PLO event, a star-studded lineup came back for the seven-handed finale. Dzivielevski, the mixed-game specialist and PLO regular, ultimately bowed out in sixth place, leaving both Foxen and Kornuth among the final five. Dzivielevski, a five-time bracelet winner, secured $96,282 in total payouts.
🚨 Venom PLO FT 🚨
$210,314 + bounties FTW
Somehow @WAFoxen is here too @clcpoker pic.twitter.com/OXScHrlr5R
— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 28, 2026
Foxen eventually went out in fifth place, earning $89,489 between his finish and bounties. After another strong start to the year in the live tournament world, Foxen currently sits in seventh place in the 2026 Card Player Player of the Year race. The three-time bracelet winner is approaching $58.5 million in recorded scores.
Kornuth got heads up for the title, but ultimately fell one spot short of victory. Kornuth, a four-time bracelet winner, banked $182,924 for his troubles. Mike Monroig, under the moniker ‘4m4nhasnon4me’, beat Kornuth heads up to secure the victory and win the PLO Venom. His $101,750 first-place payout was eclipsed by the $210,314 he won in bounties, bringing his total prize to $312,064.
The American took to X to call for some physical hardware to celebrate his victory.
@WPN__CEO I’m ready for my trophy https://t.co/jt6MnGsPAc pic.twitter.com/eXDosKAhJ7
— Mike (@mike_monroig) April 28, 2026
| Place | Player | Payout | Bounties |
| 1 | 4m4nhasnon4me | $210,314 | $101,750 |
| 2 | Chance ‘LawyerDad68’ Kornuth | $157,924 | $25,000 |
| 3 | Blessed33 | $118,630 | $86,750 |
| 4 | FreddiUrsa | $80,968 | $40,000 |
| 5 | Alex ‘OutFoxenYou’ Foxen | $54,489 | $35,000 |
| 6 | Yuri ‘vousconfus’ Dzivielevski | $34,532 | $61,750 |
| 7 | MatasSembolas | $23,022 | $200,000 |
| 8 | Xazel303 | $15,436 | $15,000 |
| 9 | FADETHESNAP | $13,217 | $0 |
