It’s good to have ace-king when you’re heads-up, but it’s even better to have aces.

Especially when your opponent has ace-king.

That’s exactly what happened to Dönig, who took the title of Event #18-M and $65,062.96. Dönig, our German champion, also started the final table with the chip lead and never lost it.

It was a good day for Dönig.

While the final table took a bit to get going — it took 18 minutes to get our first elimination — things quickly picked up. After we lost our first player, the rest fell in under nine minutes.

It was a hasty affair as 4,142 players signed up for the event and only Dönig was left standing just four-and-a-half hours later.

These thousands of players created a total prize pool of $853,252.00 — with $426,626.00 going to the regular prize pool and $426,626.00 going to bounties. Dönig collected 18 of those bounties and was only beat by ALEE24, who eliminated 22 players.

But ALEE24 was eliminated in 8th place, just shy of the….

Final table

Seat 1: BigTurtle11 – 2,545,799 (13 KOs)
Seat 2: iPlayminEV – 1,672,417 (4 KOs)
Seat 3: Bazerman11 – 11,551,048 (5 KOs)
Seat 4: Dönig – 10,298,184 (13 KOs)
Seat 5: cooltwister – 3,213,199 (12 KOs)
Seat 6: cargoNoel – 1,429,353 (7 KOs)

Our first two double ups were proceeded by two split pots.

Bazeman11 was the first player to go all-in and did so for 1.37 million from the small blind. Dönig called from the big blind and had bazeman11’s A♣ 7♥ dominated with A♥ K♣ .

But the board brought two pairs and both their aces served as the kicker.

Then Bazeman11 moved all-in from the cutoff and Dönig called from the button. This time Bazeman11 — with A♠ Q♥ — had Dönig dominated. Dönig turned over A♦ 10♥ and lost the pot when the board ran 6♦ J♣ Q♣ A♣ 6♠ .

Bazeman11 doubled up to 3.09 million while Dönig dropped to 10.82 million.

Then there was another split pot.

iPlayminEV moved all-in for 809,917 from the hijack and cargoNoel called from the big blind. Both players showed ace-six — cargoNoel’s was suited though — and chopped the pot.

Then cargoNoel got a double up. With 70K/140K blinds and a 17.5K ante, Bazeman11 raised to 280,000 and cargoNoel moved all-in for 734,353. Bazeman11 called and showed K♥ 9♥ to cargoNoel’s 8♥ 8♦ .

The board ran 4♠ A♦ 2♥ 10♥ 2♣ and cargoNoel doubled up to 1.64 million.

Eliminations

After the wave of chopped pots and double ups, players started falling.

Blinds were up to 80K/160K with a 20K ante and cooltwister moved all-in for 3.18 million from the cutoff. iPlayminEV called all-in from the big blind and turned over K♦ 10♠ to colltwister’s K♥ J♥ .

The board ran K♣ A♣ 6♣ 8♣ 7♠ and cooltwsiter took the pot and another bounty. iPlayminEV was out in 6th and won $7,337.96.

Two hands later, cargoNoel raised to 480,000 and BigTurtle11 moved all-in for 1,143,299. action folded back to cargoNoel and cargoNoel called all-in with 1,123,706.

BigTurtle11 had the bigger stack but cargoNoel had the better hand with K♥ K♦ to BigTurtle11’s A♣ 10♥ .

The board ran 10♦ 4♥ 5♠ 2♦ 9♥ and cargoNoel doubled up to 2.59 million while BigTurtle11 was left with just 19,593.

BigTurtle11 was automatically all-in the next hand and Dönig raised to 320,000 from the button. cargoNoel called and the flop came K♣ K♦ J♦ . Dönig continued with a 240,000 bet and cargoNoel folded.

Dönig showed Q♦ 4♦ and surprisingly had BigTurtle11’s Q♠ 2♠ dominated. But a 2♥ came on the turn to put BigTurtle11 in the lead. Then the river brought a 9♦ and Dönig hit a flush.

BigTurtle11 finished 5th and won $12,798.78.

Rapid fire

It took 18 minutes to get our first final table elimination. After that, we lost the remaining four players in nine minutes.

Five hands after BigTurtle11’s elimination, Dönig raised to 40,000 from under-the-gun and cargoNoel moved all-in for 1.22 million from the small blind. The big blind folded but Dönig called.

cargoNoel showed J♦ J♥ and had to dodge Dönig’s A♥ 5♣ .

But the flop came 3♣ A♠ 10♠ and Dönig hit the ace. The turn and the river were both 10s and cargoNoel busted out in 4th and won $22,397.86.

cooltwister moved all-in for 3.30 million two hands later and Bazeman11 called.

cooltwister: K♣ Q♠
Bazeman11: A♥ 2♥

The community cards were 3♥ J♠ 4♦ Q♦ 8♣ and cooltwister doubled up to 6.68 million while Bazeman11 was left with just 589,627.

Bazeman11 put all those chips in the following hand and Dönig called. Dönig had 9♦ 7♣ and Bazeman11 was in the lead with K♦ 8♦ . But then the board came 6♣ 5♦ 10♥ 5♣ 9♣ and Dönig took the lead and the pot.

Bazeman11 was out in 3rd and won $34,556.70.

Heads up

Dönig – 14,053,768
cooltwister – 6,656,232

The heads-up match, like everything this tournament, didn’t last very long. The fact that both players also got premium starting hands early on might have also helped speed things up a bit.

Blinds were 125/250K and Dönig raised to 500,000. cooltwister made it 1.23 million to go and Dönig called.

The flop came K♥ 2♦ 4♣ and cooltwister bet anoter 1.23 million. Dönig called again and a 5♣ came on the turn.

cooltwister moved all-in for 4,775,299 and Dönig called. cooltwister tabled top-pair, top-kicker with A♠ K♣ but Dönig had rockets, A♣ A♦ .

The river was an A♥ and the turbo shut down.

cooltwister won $46,928.86 for the runner-up finish while Dönig became the champion of Event #18-M.

For the victory, Dönig took home $65,062.96 and a SCOOP watch designed by Movado.

SCOOP 18-M: $215 NLHE 6-Max Turbo Super-Knockout
Entrants: 4,142
Prize pool: $863,252.00 (Regular: $426,626.00, Bounty: $426,626.00
Places paid: 540

1. Dönig (Germany) – $65,062.96 (18 KOs)
2. cooltwister (Belarus) – $46,928.86 (13 KOs)
3. Bazeman11 (Mexico) – $34,556.70 (5 KOs)
4. cargNoel (United Kingdom) – $22,397.86 (7 KOs)
5. BigTurtle11 (United Kingdom) – $12,798.78 (13 KOs)
6. iPlayminEV (Netherlands) – $7,337.96 (4 KOs)

Another SCOOP in the bucket. If you’re fighting off spring allergies, shut your windows, check out the SCOOP homepage and find a tournament that suits your poker cravings.

Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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