Patrick Leonard Says Mystery Bounty Is the Stupidest Poker Format

Patrick Leonard has posted a Twitter rant over the booming popularity of the Mystery Bounty tournament format. 

The former PartyPoker ambassador wrote that they are “the stupidest format of poker ever created”.

Harsh words, for sure, but does he have a point? The consensus seems to be that he’s overreacting.

Mystery bounties are the stupidest format of poker ever created. The more they take over schedules the worse. If people want to just call any two vs jams with chance of binking huge just offer them a table game with the same parameters? It’s very bad for low/mid stakes regs where…

— Patrick Leonard 🫡 (@padspoker) May 16, 2024

Leonard’s main gripe seems to be the [strategically correct] requirement to call large jams with any two cards in many cases.

He says this makes the game a huge variance trap for low to mid-stakes regs and bad for recreational players who want to enjoy their experience.

We think Leonard’s missing the point completely here. This is a totally new era of poker and casual players don’t necessarily want to play the most traditional formats.

We live in a world of instant gratification, today. People always want a shot at completing whatever task quickly. With the Mystery Bounty format, players stand a chance of hitting a jackpot with only a short time playing.

Randy “Nanonoko” Lew replied to say he’d be shocked if recs don’t enjoy the format.

They’re ironically my most profitable format of poker. Recs don’t understand the bounty math, regs can’t afford the variance in them and I get infinite action in people selling to me in them that would never sell in normal formats. It’s also fine for me if my AK gets “cracked” 6…

— Patrick Leonard 🫡 (@padspoker) May 17, 2024

Leonard continues by stating that recs don’t understand bounty math. Well, this is true, but they don’t know the ins and outs of any game. That’s what makes them a rec to begin with.

If they want a shot at a Mystery Bounty jackpot for big money then that’s what they’re looking for. It’s not a nice steady edge to grow a small bankroll.

I’m almost always on your side I think they are amazing for poker top players rois go up and fish get a way better shot of a large amount of money https://t.co/pBeCIjlGLc

— shaun deeb (@shaundeeb) May 16, 2024

Shaun Deeb also disagreed with Patrick Leonard. He said they’re great for good players’ ROI% and give recs a shot at a large amount of money at the same time.

Play Mystery Bounties on GGPoker

GGPoker was quick to cotton on to the rising popularity of Mystery Bounty poker tournaments. Not only can you expect to see the format in upcoming series, but there is also the new Mystery Island game to get stuck into.

“Do you wonder what it would be like to find hidden treasure, to uncover a lost cache of cash?? In GGPoker’s Mystery Bounty tournaments, player’s bounties will remain a mystery. 

“When you KO your opponent that knockout could be worth $500 or $100,000 or the minimum $500,000 set aside for bounties. Every dollar you earn from knockouts will be yours to keep.”