The ACR Venom NLH PKO has produced another life-changing score. Spanish player Oykhan "PushLightYear" Abarzuza outlasted 2,143 entries in the $2,650 buy-in event on Americas Cardroom, banking $536,577 and the largest cash of his career. The tournament carried a $5 million guarantee and the prize pool landed at $5,335,750 with no overlay, which means the guarantee was met on entries alone. For anyone following the online tournament scene, it is a useful snapshot of what a modern high-stakes progressive knockout looks like and how players can win one without a famous name attached. If you want to try the network yourself, our Americas Cardroom review covers deposits, software and promotions.
The Numbers Behind the Venom NLH PKO
The Venom is ACR's flagship high-stakes series event, and this edition drew 2,143 entries at $2,650. Divide the prize pool by the field and you get roughly $2,490 per entry going into the pool, with the remainder covering rake. A $5,335,750 pool with no overlay is notable because online guarantees at this level are sometimes only just reached; here the field cleared the number comfortably enough that ACR did not have to add money.
First place paid $536,577, about ten percent of the total pool. That is a fairly flat top-heavy structure by live-event standards, but in a progressive knockout format a meaningful chunk of every buy-in is converted into bounties, so a deep run can be worth far more than the headline prize suggests. Abarzuza had no immediate sign of being a star. According to reporting, his previous best result, live or online, was $54,000 in the Sunday HighRoller, and he had roughly $31,000 in total profit on ACR before this win. That makes the result a more than tenfold jump on his previous best cash.
How the Final Table Played Out
Nine players started the final table with stacks ranging from 18 to 160 big blinds. Abarzuza began in the bottom half of the counts with 67 BB. The starting stacks were Nyts14 at 160, ArkaduktusFrRM at 129, Pepareg1 at 100, Justin "Lappy" Lapka at 83, WhatDoWeHave at 78, PushLightYear at 67, Victor "meteli goli" Pedote at 48, RippersNdarts at 27 and Ignacio "TIKITAKA11" Moron at 18.
The eliminations unfolded as follows:
- 9th, Ignacio Moron ($78,833): Shoved 14 BB with pocket sevens into Pepareg1's pocket nines. Moron has history in this event: he was runner-up in the same Venom PKO in May 2021 for $632,000.
- 8th, RippersNdarts ($79,799): Flopped a set and went to the river, but ran into Nyts14's KJo, which had hit a straight on a 9-Q-7-T-3 board.
- 7th, Victor Pedote ($104,088): Seven-handed play lasted more than two hours before Pedote got his chips in with A4s against Lappy's AJo on an A-K-J board.
- 6th, WhatDoWeHave ($105,193): Shoved 18 BB with AKo and ran into Nyts14's pocket aces.
- 5th, Nyts14 ($179,799): Lost a 46 BB coinflip, AKo against ArkaduktusFrRM's pocket eights.
- 4th, Justin Lapka ($257,799): Shoved AJo and was called by QTs, which flopped two queens.
- 3rd, Pepareg1 ($281,471): Three-handed play took under 30 minutes. Abarzuza won an 88 BB pot with a set against ArkaduktusFrRM's two pair, then eliminated Pepareg1 with AQo against A8o.
Heads-up began at 108 BB effective and lasted only five hands. On the last hand, ArkaduktusFrRM raised, Abarzuza three-bet and was called. The flop came A-5-3, the turn a 9 and the river a 2. Abarzuza check-called an all-in on the river with A2 and beat AJ, the deuce on the river giving him two pair against a single pair of aces.
Who Finished Second
Vyacheslav "ArkaduktusFrRM" collected $418,825 for runner-up. It was his third Venom final table; he finished eighth in this same event two years earlier for $78,500, and in August 2025 he was runner-up in the NLH Venom Mystery for $694,000. Reaching several final tables in the same series is the type of repeatable edge that tournament regulars point to when they argue that skill, not just variance, drives results at the top of big-field events. Still, he now owns two near-misses in the series, which also illustrates how much variance remains even for strong players.
Pepareg1's Double Final Table
One of the more interesting stories sits just outside the main result. Pepareg1 reached the final table of both the Venom NLH PKO and the Venom PLO PKO. In the PLO event, which drew 602 entries, he finished runner-up to tigerseyes, who took $239,819, while Pepareg1 earned $164,672. Add his $281,471 for third in the hold'em event and his combined haul across the two Venom final tables is $446,143. That is more than the second-place prize in the NLH PKO. Pro Brian Hastings also appeared at the PLO final table, finishing third for $119,097. The article that reported these results compared Pepareg1's double to Chance Kornuth's earlier two final tables in the previous Dual Mystery Bounty Venoms, which earned him $188,000.
What This Means for Players
There are a few practical lessons for anyone who plays large-field online tournaments.
Short and medium stacks win these events. Abarzuza was not the chip leader at the start of the final table, and he did not need to be. He sat comfortably in the middle, avoided early confrontations and collected the key pots late. His set against two pair for 88 BB three-handed effectively decided the tournament. Chip leaders can be vulnerable to exactly this kind of cooler because they play more hands against more of the field. If you are interested in the underlying maths, see our explainers on ICM and equity; both help explain why a final-table stack of 67 BB is closer in value to the chip lead than it looks.
Multi-tabling across formats is common. The fact that Pepareg1 reached two different final tables in the same series shows how many serious players spread themselves across a series. If you are a recreational player, remember that your opponents at higher buy-ins are often well-studied regs who are comfortable with solver-based ranges.
Know your bankroll before you step up. A $2,650 buy-in is far outside most players' comfort zone. Our bankroll management guide explains how many buy-ins you should hold for tournament play, and why the higher variance of progressive knockouts means you should hold more than you would for cash games.
Satellites matter. Many entrants in events like this arrive through satellite tournaments at a fraction of the price. If you want a shot at the big stage without a $2,650 outlay, look for cheaper qualifiers on the network. Our tournaments page lists where to find big-field events and how the guarantees stack up.
Upcoming ACR Action
ACR is already marketing its next big events. Three HALLOWEEN Mystery PKO tournaments are scheduled with Day 2 on November 1: a $5.50 buy-in with a $50,000 guarantee and a top mystery bounty of $5,000, a $33 version with a $100,000 guarantee and a $10,000 top bounty, and a $109 version with a $500,000 guarantee and a top bounty of $50,000. For US players who want to understand which sites accept them, our US poker site guide is the place to start, and the rakeback page explains how loyalty returns shape your long-term results.
The Bigger Picture
A $536,577 prize for a player whose total ACR profit was around $31,000 is a reminder of how much the online tournament economy leans on large fields and large pools. Abarzuza's deep run required no extraordinary hand; it required patience, a couple of coinflips, a set at the right moment and a river check-call with ace-deuce. That is why tournament poker remains so compelling, and why events like the Venom keep attracting both professionals and ambitious amateurs. Whether you chase the Venom or simply enjoy lower-stakes PKOs, the lesson stays the same: reach the late stages with a playable stack, keep making disciplined decisions, and let the variance work in your favour when it finally arrives.