Alex Anton Wins World Series of Poker $10,000 Mystery Bounty

Alex Anton won the $10,000 no-limit hold’em mystery bounty event at the 2026 World Series of Poker, taking home his first career bracelet and $678,300.

The Miami, Florida-based pro set a new career high-score with this victory, supplanting his fourth-place finish in a €20,800 no-limit hold’em event at WSOP Europe back in April, which earned him $391,000.

Anton defeated France’s Julien Sitbon heads up, denying Sitbon his second career bracelet. Sitbon earned his second career runner-up finish at the WSOP, as well as his own career-best live tournament cash, for $452,200.

Many of the biggest bounty prizes were pulled before the final table, but two of the top eight finishers walked away with those those coveted envelopes. Josh Reichard, the 17-time WSOP Circuit winner and World Poker Tour champion, fell two spots short of his first bracelet. But in addition to his $313,400 payout for third place, Reichard pulled one of five $100,000 bounty prizes.

Seventh-place finisher Gregor Sverko multiplied his payday several times over. In addition to his $86,070 payout for seventh, Sverko pulled the $250,000 bounty, making him one of the biggest winners of the tournament.

Bounties Abound

The $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em mystery bounty was the second of four live mystery bounty bracelets on the line at the 2026 WSOP. By the close of registration, 558 entrants had taken their shot, producing a main prize pool of $3,515,400, with over $1.6 million in bounties up for grabs.

The mystery bounties kicked in at the start of day 2 with 84 hopefuls still in the mix. Michel Molenaar of the Netherlands was the first to draw a $100,000 bounty, and Sverko’s $250,000 bounty pull followed soon thereafter.

There were some heavy hitters in the mix with two tables left, but three-time bracelet winner Paul Volpe (16th – $25,980) and recently minted six-time WSOP champion Adrian Mateos (15th – $31,750) each fell just shy of a final table appearance. So, too, did Ren Lin, who finished in 13th place ($31,750).

Day 2 closed at the unofficial nine-handed final table, with Anton holding the overnight chip lead. He got lucky to start the day, eliminating Kent Stephens when his A♠Q♣ found an ace on the flop to beat Stephens’ pocket queens.

Reichard claimed the chip lead, and then Sitbon made an upward move when he eliminated Vadzim Lipauka in eighth place ($65,190) with pocket queens to Lipauka’s A♦J♥.

The Winning Formula

Sverko’s run of good fortune seemed to be picking up even more steam when he got all in for his last ten big blinds with pocket kings. Anton had shoved the small blind with A♠9♣, and Sverko was all too happy to call, but the A♥ on the turn doomed Sverko to a seventh-place finish ($86,070).

Reichard picked off a short-stacked Jakob Miegel in sixth place ($115,750) to pad his lead, but the good times were about to hit a brick wall. Anton picked up a massive double and the chip lead when he overbet the river of an A♠7♠5♥5♦7♦ board. Reichard eventually called the shove with a naked ace, but Anton tabled 8♣5♣ for the full house.

Anton then further extended his considerable advantage with pocket kings, eliminating Jovan Kenjic in fifth place ($158,500). Anton bested Kenjic’s A♠J♦ by making quad kings. Sitbon soon picked up another bounty when his K♥J♠ made a heart flush to beat Champie Douglas’ pocket nines, sending Douglas to the rail in fourth place ($220,950).

After making a couple of extra pay jumps, Reichard’s time was up. He got all in with J♣10♣ against Anton’s pocket sevens, and Anton’s fiery momentum struck once again as he turned an unbeatable full house. Reichard settled for third place ($313,400). This score pushed his lifetime earnings to just shy of $6.5 million.

Anton’s lead over Sitbon was over 4:1, and while Sitbon closed the gap slightly, the heads-up match was over in short order. On a A♥5♦4♠3♦ board, Sitbon shoved, and Anton, who had turned the nut straight with 7♥6♥, was all too happy to call. Sitbon’s pocket tens were drawing dead, and Anton was victorious.

The Spoils

For his victory, Anton earned a staggering 2,100 Card Player Player of the Year points. That result pushed Anton all the way up to 19th place in the yearlong POY race presented by CoinPoker. Sitbon, who earned 1,750 points, is now 28th on the POY leaderboard. Reichard’s third-place finish elevated him to 71st place.

The $10,000 buy-in also entitled Anton to significant points towards the PokerGO Tour season-long standings. On the strength of that one result, Anton is now in 30th place in the PGT standings, a spot in the top 40 that would earn him entry into the season-ending $1 million PGT Championship with enough qualifying results.

Anton’s career earnings now sit at $2,105,929.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP / Travis Ball