Deputy Editor
PokerStars will trial an experimental new mystery bounty format that features a sports betting twist at the upcoming PokerStars Open Maryland stop in October.
The $400 Sunday Sweat will give players the chance to pick the winning team in a featured NFL game on Oct. 26. That seems quite likely to be the Baltimore Ravens vs. Chicago Bears, given the date and venue, though PokerStars hasn’t specified.
Those who predict correctly will enjoy an edge during the bounty-pulling phase of the event, as they’ll have a chance to trade in unwanted bounties for a second shot at a better prize.
“We’re integrating the excitement of Sunday football with the thrill of Sunday poker,” the PokerStars Live app says.
How Does PokerStars Sunday Sweat Work?
The Sunday Sweat works just like a normal mystery bounty initially. The twist comes at the end of registration. At that point, before the end of the break, every player remaining in the tournament will face a choice: pick between two teams in the featured NFL game of the day.
Players will try to select a straight-up winner without regard to the spread.
Those who pick the losing side will select a single randomized prize per bounty they’ve collected, as normal.
However, those who pick the winning side have an additional option following each bounty pull. They can keep the prize they’ve selected, or they can “go for two.”
Players who opt to go for two will forfeit their first prize and redraw. It’s a “mulligan” of sorts. A player choosing this option will get to pick another prize, but they’ll be stuck with it, even if it has a lower value than the first pull.
Similar to going for two in football, the player shoulders some additional risk for a higher potential payoff. Of course, players who pull the smallest bounty will have a freeroll opportunity.
The gimmick also adds an element of timing to the bounty pulls. In a traditional Mystery Bounty, there’s no strategic advantage to pulling immediately or to waiting. However, the fact that most players will only take mulligans when they choose below-average prizes means that the Sunday Sweat’s bounty pool is more likely to diminish than increase in value as bounties are pulled.
By analogy: imagine you have to choose between taking the top card off a deck or the tenth. Before any cards are flipped, there’s no difference between those options. However, if some lower-value cards will be returned to the deck before the tenth card is flipped, then you will naturally want to take the first card.
In other words, bounties won early in the tournament will be worth a bit more on average, and players will want to cash them in for their prizes as soon as possible.
Which NFL Game Will Be Featured for the Sunday Sweat?
The timing of the end of registration — scheduled for approximately 3:50 p.m. local time — means the players will almost certainly select from the afternoon slate of Week 8 games. That means the featured game figures to be one of the following:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
- Dallas Cowboys at Denver Broncos
- Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts
Although the local Baltimore Ravens are facing the Chicago Bears that day, that game starts earlier than the tournament.
Whichever game ends up being featured will get priority on the tournament room’s TV screens.
The Sunday Sweat is the last scheduled tournament of the stop, beginning at 11:15 a.m. It’s a one-day event. Though it doesn’t feature a guarantee, it won’t be competing with any other events aside from the Day 2 restart of the $1,100 Main Event.
PokerStars Tries To Capitalize On Popularity Of Bounties
Bounty tournaments have significantly increased in popularity in recent years. Online progressive knockouts (PKOs) have become a hit, and live mystery bounties have become some of the biggest events at various live stops. Online poker operators now run them on a regular basis.
The Sunday Sweat represents PokerStars’ latest experiment with events that put different spins on the bounty format. Last year, they introduced the Cuatro Knockouts to European Poker Tour stops. These give players a chance to win bounties equal to the size of the buy-in once the field reaches 25% remaining. Cuatro Knockouts have yet to take off, drawing mediocre numbers at EPT Barcelona.
The Sunday Sweat doesn’t stray as far from the normal mystery format as the Cuatro Knockouts. It melds poker with sports in a minor fashion, keeping almost all of the mechanics of a mystery bounty the same.
Down the line, players could see a more thorough tie-in with sports if the Sunday Sweat proves a hit. PokerStars’ parent company, Flutter, owns FanDuel Sportsbook, as well as recognizable European brands like Sky Betting & Gaming and Paddy Power. PokerStars Live could leverage these verticals to correlate the results of a sports bet with a tournament in some way.
