The conclusion of today’s $200 + $30 + $100 NL Hold’em Bounty tournament was a little unorthodox. Normally in Championship events, deals are permitted but any deal must leave a small portion of the total prize pool and the Trophy to the winner and the tournament must be played to a conclusion with a definitive winner. The deal that was made with 3 players remaining conformed to this standard.
However, when Mike Saragossi and Jason Trottier got heads-up, Trottier had about a 2 to 1 lead. They played for about 10 minutes, with some chip exchange in favor of Saragossi, when they asked if there was any way to chop the rest of it. Trottier said he was interested in the Trophy, so they agreed that Trottier would take the full first place prize – but in exchange for the bounties Jason had collected during the tournament – a $900 value. This almost exactly offset the extra value of the traditional prize pool that had been reserved.
In this case, due to the obvious willingness of both parties to conclude the tournament in this manner, and the inherent fairness of using Jason’s bounty chips to make up the difference in the reserved portion of the prize pool, tournament staff made an exception and allowed the tournament to end immediately. Mike forfeited his stack, collected the 9 bounty chips from Jason – and Jason was the champion in the event. The Champion’s photo features Jason posing with his favorite hand.
Event 17 Champion: Jason Trottier – $8,196.00 and the Champion’s Trophy
Runner-up: Mike Saragossi – $7,245.00 (+$900)
