Ashton Griffin has won the inaugural North American Poker Tour (NAPT) High-Roller Bounty Shootout at the Venetian, taking home a first prize of $455,000. If his name doesn’t ring any of those proverbial bells, you may better recognize him by his poker handle, Ashman103, a frequent regular across the nosebleeds of some of the finest no-limit hold’em cash games online.
In what can best be described as a unique format, this $25,000 buy-in event was a shootout structure with knockout bounties. Of the 49 entrants, seven seven-handed tables were assembled, with the winners moving on to the final table and securing $75,000. From there, it was a winner takes all affair, with first spot taking home the money and the trophy. Throughout play, there was a $5,000 bounty on each player’s head, with a $100,000 award to the player who collected the most knockouts.
The seven-handed final table had a stacked list of names, including Joe Cassidy, Hoyt Corkins, and 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Winner Peter Eastgate. It took almost four hours to see the first elimination, standing a testament to just how long-winded the play was. Players then began to drop like flies, until three-handed play was reached amongst Cassidy, Corkins, and Griffin and the momentum stalled out. Lasting another couple of hours, Cassidy eventually succumbed to the insurmountable blinds and antes. Ironically, it only took two hands of heads-up play before Corkins was all-in and all-out with an out-kicked top pair, as Griffin took it down and walked away with $560,000 in bounties and winnings.
And the crystal trophy? Yah, I guess that’s pretty nice too.
