Quan Zhou has won the Triton ONE North Cyprus $5,000 Mystery Bounty, topping a 607-entry field to collect $293,000 in prize money plus six mystery bounty envelopes whose value will only be revealed later in the festival. The Chinese high roller beat Ihar Soika heads-up, and fittingly, finished the job with pocket aces.
"It's Zhou Quan for the Mystery Bounty title," Triton ONE Poker announced on X.
The mystery bounty format has become one of the most popular structures in tournament poker, and this event shows why: a mid-range buy-in, a huge field by high-roller standards and a prize pool split almost evenly between regular payouts and bounties.
Event Breakdown: $2.76 Million Prize Pool
The eight-max event drew 607 entries at $5,000, generating a total prize pool of $2,759,422. That was divided into:
- $1,545,422 for the main prize pool
- $1,214,000 set aside for mystery bounties
That means roughly 44 percent of all money in the event was locked away in bounty envelopes. A total of 103 players made the money, with big names including Ole Schemion (33rd), Hossein Ensan (17th), Alexis Boika (11th) and Asaf Groofi (9th) cashing before the final table.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quan Zhou | $293,000 |
| 2 | Ihar Soika | $179,000 |
| 3 | Tsai Ting | $128,000 |
| 4 | Punnat Punsri | $97,000 |
| 5 | Raul Yunusov | $77,000 |
| 6 | Mikita Badziakouski | $59,122 |
| 7 | Daniel Braude | $43,000 |
| 8 | Chengxu Hu | $29,100 |
Payouts exclude mystery bounties.
How the Final Table Played Out
Badziakouski Falls in Sixth
One of the biggest names at the table, Mikita Badziakouski, went out in sixth after collecting six bounties of his own. His ace-ten missed a flopped straight draw against Raul Yunusov's pocket threes. Badziakouski has nearly $73 million in career earnings and sits fifth on poker's all-time money list.
Zhou Takes Over
Zhou then delivered two key eliminations. First, Punnat Punsri departed fourth when his K♥J♦ lost to Zhou's A♦7♣. The board ran Q♠5♠5♣Q♦7♠. With the board double-paired, Zhou's ace kicker already had Punsri beaten, and the river seven improved him to queens and sevens.
Next, Tsai Ting went out third when Zhou's K♣8♦ held against J♥6♠.
Aces Seal It
Zhou entered heads-up with roughly a 5-to-2 chip lead over Soika. On the final hand, he limped the button with A♥A♣, a classic heads-up trap. Soika moved all in with K♠2♣, Zhou called, and the board of K♦J♠J♦5♣3♥ gave Soika a pair of kings that was no match for Zhou's aces.
Limping aces on the button heads-up is a strategy worth noting. Against an aggressive opponent with a short-to-medium stack, a limp can induce a shove from a far wider range than a standard raise would. Here, it worked exactly as designed.
Quan Zhou: A High Roller Regular
Zhou is no stranger to big titles. He has more than $18.2 million in career tournament earnings, including more than $8.1 million from Triton Super High Roller events, where he already owns two Triton trident trophies. This was his first Triton ONE title.
His 2026 is shaping up as a career year. The win was his second title and 12th final table of the year, and lifted him to 6,493 Card Player POY points, eighth on the leaderboard. Zhou also finished fourth in a $6,000 PLO six-handed event at the same festival, showing his range across games.
The POY Race: Punsri Extends His Lead
The biggest winner in the season-long standings may have been fourth-place finisher Punnat Punsri. This was the Thai star's 28th final table of 2026. He now has 8,888 POY points, extending his lead over Brandon Wilson to 826 points, with lifetime earnings above $40 million.
Twenty-eight final tables in a single year is an extraordinary pace. Players chasing the title need volume as well as results, and Punsri is delivering both.
Why Mystery Bounties Keep Growing
Mystery bounty events have exploded in popularity since online sites such as GGPoker popularised them and the WSOP and Triton brought them to live poker. The appeal is simple: when you eliminate a player after the bounty phase begins, you draw a random envelope that might hold a small amount or a life-changing one.
That randomness does several things:
- Boosts recreational interest. Anyone who survives to the bounty phase has a shot at a top bounty.
- Changes strategy. Calling ranges widen because each elimination has an extra cash reward. Our guide to pot odds explains how to factor bounties into calling decisions.
- Spreads money deeper into the field. Players busting mid-final table, such as Badziakouski with six bounties, can still have strong overall results.
Zhou's six envelopes could add significantly to his $293,000. Because the bounties are opened later, his final total is not yet known.
What This Means for Players
If you want to try mystery bounties at a smaller scale, many online sites offer them at buy-ins far below $5,000. Look for operators with regular bounty schedules in our tournaments guide and our ranking of real money poker sites. Sites such as Americas Cardroom also run major bounty events during their online series.
Key strategy points:
- Widen calls when covering an all-in player, since the bounty adds value to the pot.
- Be careful when you are covered. Opponents will call lighter to win your bounty.
- Adjust to ICM near the money, then shift into bounty-hunting mode once the bounty phase begins. Learn more in our ICM guide.
A Busy Festival for Zhou
Zhou has been one of the most active players in North Cyprus. Beyond this title, he finished fourth for $66,090 in the $6,000 PLO six-handed event won by Nikolai Kanunikov on his Triton debut. Playing at a high level in both hold'em and Omaha across a single festival is a strong sign of all-round skill, and it keeps Zhou firmly in contention in the season-long standings. If you want to explore the differences between the two games, our Hold'em vs Omaha comparison is a good place to start.
More From Triton North Cyprus
Zhou's victory is one of several headline moments from the North Cyprus stop. Benedek Farkas came back from 15-to-1 down heads-up to win the $10,000 seven-max, and the $8,000 Main Event has drawn a field well past 600 entries. Stay tuned for more coverage as the festival concludes.