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Stake Poker Weekly Treasure Hunt: $15,000 GTD for a $20 Buy-In

By Leon Travers

2 hours ago

Leon Travers2 hours ago

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Win a share of $15,000 GTD with Stake Poker’s weekly treasure hunt
Increase your payouts by claiming mystery bounties
Learn how this tournament works and get tips for playing bounty games

Stake Poker Weekly Treasure Hunt
How Does the Weekly Treasure Hunt’s Mystery Bounty Format Work?
Tournament Prizes and Mystery Bounties
Mystery Bounty vs Standard Knockout and PKO
How to Join Stake Poker’s Weekly Treasure Hunt
Mystery Bounty Tournament Strategy and Tips
Other Stake Poker Promotions

Stake Poker’s Weekly Treasure Hunt offers a guaranteed $15,000 prize pool every Sunday, with only a $20 buy-in.

The new Weekly Treasure Hunt uses Stake’s Mystery Bounty format, so players can claim cash prizes based on their finishing positions as well as collecting extra payouts for knocking out opponents.

Those bounty rewards become available once the tournament reaches the ‘In The Money (ITM)' stage. Each eligible knockout earns a mystery reward, with some bounty chests worth more than others.

This guide explains how to join the Treasure Hunt, how mystery bounties work and what to check before registering. You’ll also find actionable tournament tips and a look at other Stake Poker promotions.

Stake Poker Weekly Treasure Hunt

Here are the main details of Stake Poker’s weekly Mystery Bounty tournament.

Tournament name	The Weekly Treasure Hunt
Guaranteed prize pool	$15,000 per tournament
Buy-in	$20
Schedule	Every Sunday at 18:00 UTC
Format	Mystery Bounty
Promotion period	10 September - 31 December 2026
Where to find it	Stake Poker lobby → Tournaments → The Weekly Treasure Hunt

How Does the Weekly Treasure Hunt’s Mystery Bounty Format Work?

The Weekly Treasure Hunt combines regular tournament payouts with mystery rewards for eligible knockouts. Part of each buy-in funds the bounty prize pool.

Tournament Prizes and Mystery Bounties

There are two ways to earn prizes:

Finishing-position payouts: Players who reach the paid places receive a prize based on where they finish.

Mystery bounty rewards: Once the tournament reaches the money, players can earn additional rewards by eliminating opponents.

‘In the money,’ often shortened to ITM, means every remaining player has secured a finishing-position payout. Stake’s mystery bounties become available at this stage. Earlier eliminations do not earn mystery bounty rewards.

Bounty chests are allocated randomly, and their values vary. Two players could record the same number of eligible knockouts but collect different bounty totals. The tournament winner also receives the contents of their own bounty chest.

Example: How Your Prizes Add Up

Here is a hypothetical example of a player’s tournament return:

Prize Component	Example Amount
Finishing-position payout	$45
First mystery bounty	$10
Second mystery bounty	$25
Total return	$80

Note: These figures illustrate the format; they are not confirmed Weekly Treasure Hunt payouts. The $80 total is before deducting the buy-in and any other entry costs.

Mystery Bounty vs Standard Knockout and PKO

Bounty tournaments reward players for eliminating opponents, but they distribute the rewards differently.

Format	How knockout rewards work	Main difference
Standard knockout	The eliminating player receives the opponent’s full bounty.	Bounties have a fixed value rather than growing with knockouts.
Progressive knockout (PKO)	Part of the opponent’s bounty is paid immediately. The remainder increases the eliminating player’s own bounty.	A player’s bounty grows as they eliminate opponents.
Mystery Bounty on Stake	Eligible knockouts earn randomly allocated bounty rewards once the tournament reaches the money.	Chest values vary, so each knockout can produce a different reward.

In a PKO, eliminating opponents increases the bounty on your own head. In the Weekly Treasure Hunt, the focus is on reaching the bounty stage and collecting mystery rewards.

How to Join Stake Poker’s Weekly Treasure Hunt

You can find the tournament and review its entry details through the Stake Poker lobby.

Log in to Stake. Open the Stake Poker client using your account.
Find the tournament. Select the Tournaments tab and search for 'Weekly Treasure Hunt.'
Review the details. Check the Sunday start time, registration deadline and prize structure.
Check the entry cost. The buy-in is $20.
Register and prepare to play. Make sure your balance covers the entry cost, confirm your registration and be ready for the scheduled start.
Also check whether late registration and re-entry are available, as these conditions affect when you can join and your potential total spend.

Mystery Bounty Tournament Strategy and Tips

Mystery bounties change the value of a knockout, but hand strength, stack sizes and tournament payouts still matter.

Build Your Stack Before the Bounty Stage

Stake’s mystery bounty rewards become available once the tournament reaches the money. Use the earlier stages to build your stack through sound decisions.

A larger stack gives you more opportunities to eliminate opponents when bounties activate. However, forcing weak hands can cost you the chance to reach that stage.

Check Which Opponents You Cover

Covering an opponent means having at least as many chips as they do. This allows you to eliminate them and potentially collect their bounty.

For example, a 15,000-chip stack can eliminate an opponent holding 10,000 chips. Against someone holding 25,000, winning an all-in would still leave that opponent in the tournament.

Consider the Average Bounty Value

Base decisions on the average available bounty reward, where that information is shown. Treating every chest as the largest possible prize can lead to expensive calls.

If the client displays the remaining bounty distribution, review it as the tournament progresses. The average reward will change as prizes are collected.

Keep Tournament Payouts in Mind

Bounties are only one part of your potential return. Finishing-position prizes still matter, particularly when the remaining players approach larger payout increases.

Weigh the potential knockout reward against your hand strength, the chips at risk and the consequences of losing. A possible bounty alone does not make every all-in worth calling.

Other Stake Poker Promotions

Stake Poker also offers larger tournaments, cash-game rewards and jackpot formats. Each has its own entry conditions and prize rules.

Promotion	Details
Stake Welcome Bonus	Not yet a registered player? Sign up with the Stake promo code HUGE to get 200% up to $3,000.
JAQKpot!	Three-player hyper-turbo tournaments with buy-ins of $0.50, $2, $10 and $50. Prize pools are randomly determined. The maximum $1 million pool applies at the $50 level and is shared between all three players.
$500,000 All-in or Fold Jackpot	Win with a qualifying straight flush at a designated AoF table. The hand must reach showdown and use both hole cards. Jackpot payout percentages vary by blind level.
Next! Cash Drops	Random drops of 3–100 big blinds are added to selected pots at eligible Next! six-max cash tables. Qualifying stakes range from 0.01/0.02 to 0.25/0.50.
$1,000,000 Bad Beat Jackpot	Qualifying bad beats at designated Hold’em and Omaha cash tables trigger jackpot payouts. Rewards are divided between the losing player, winning player and other eligible players. Hand-strength, hole-card and showdown requirements apply.

Stake Showdown and JAQKpot! provide additional tournament options. The cash-game drops and jackpots have separate qualification rules and do not apply to Weekly Treasure Hunt entries.

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