888poker will deal 41 XL Autumn Series events from September 20 to 29, with a $300,000 Mystery Bounty Main Event anchoring the ten-day online festival. Buy-ins start at $5.50, most of the tournaments cost $55 or less, and the schedule still finds room for three high rollers.
The timing gives online MTT players another major September grind alongside the 2026 WCOOP tournament schedule. The prize pools are smaller, but the lower average buy-in makes XL Autumn a more realistic target for players who do not fancy turning every registration into a small mortgage application.
What the 888poker XL Autumn Series offers
The series opens with eight events on Sunday, September 20, including a $109 Mystery Opening Event carrying a $100,000 guarantee. That first slate ranges from an $8.80 Mystery Bounty Micro to a $525 High Roller, so bankroll choice is built into the schedule rather than treated as an afterthought.
| Date | Selected event | Buy-in | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 20 | Mystery Opening Event | $109 | $100,000 |
| September 20 | High Roller | $525 | $25,000 |
| September 27 | Super High Roller | $1,050 | $40,000 |
| September 28 | Mystery Mini Main Event Day 2 | $25 | $50,000 |
| September 28 | Mystery Main Event Day 2 | $250 | $300,000 |
Main Event flights are already running
The $250 Main Event uses multiple Day 1 flights, with survivors combining for Day 2 on September 28 and the final table following on September 29. That format gives players several shots at bagging without forcing everyone into one enormous opening session, although repeated bullets can still make a friendly buy-in bite if the deck keeps misbehaving.
A $25 Mini Main Event mirrors the mystery bounty structure with a $50,000 guarantee and its own Day 2 on September 28. For micro and low-stakes regulars, it is arguably the cleaner value proposition because the headline guarantee is 2,000 times the direct buy-in.
Mystery bounties dominate the schedule
Mystery bounty events appear throughout the series, from $5.50 micro tournaments to the two Main Events. The format separates knockout value from finishing position once bounties begin, so a player can land a meaningful score before the final table while still needing ordinary tournament discipline to protect a playable stack.
That volatility is part of the appeal, but it also changes practical decisions around covering stacks and taking close spots. Poker Type recently saw the upside at the sharp end when Chance Kornuth reached both ACR Mystery Bounty Venom final tables, a useful reminder that strong fundamentals still travel well in bounty-heavy fields.
High rollers and PKOs provide a change of pace
Players looking above the core $5.50 to $109 range have three larger options: the $525 opening-day High Roller, a $320 DeepStack High Roller and the $1,050 Super High Roller. The schedule also includes freezeouts, six-max mystery bounties, conventional progressive knockouts and several closing events, which stops the festival becoming 41 slightly different versions of the same lottery ticket.
Freerolls and one-cent satellites lower the entry point
888poker says a daily no-ticket-required freeroll will award seats to Main Event satellites, while paid qualifiers start from $0.01. Players should still check the tournament lobby and local eligibility before committing, but the route matters because it gives recreational players a genuine way into the $300,000 event without putting up $250 directly.
The series also lands while 888poker continues to look for growth beyond its established markets, including its previously reported interest in Alberta poker and shared liquidity. For current customers, though, the immediate calculation is simpler: 41 events, a sensible spread of stakes and enough bounty formats to keep the lobby busy through the end of September.
