Progressive knockout (PKO) tournaments often award their champion a substantial bounty prize but the final bounty Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt received after becoming the $5,200 Titans champion was extraordinary.
Alt topped a field of 163 entrants in the SCOOP 66-H: $5,200 NLHE 8-Max PKO Titans event and walked away with $230,145 in total, with an incredible $157,285 coming from the bounty prize pool! That sum is one of the biggest bounty payments PokerNews has ever seen in the online poker world. It is what happens when someone eliminates all eight of their final table opponents.
SCOOP 66-H: $5,200 NLHE 8-Max PKO Titans Final Table Result
| Place | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt | Austria | $157,285 | $72,860 | $230,145 |
| 2 | Andy "BowieEffect" Wilson | United Kingdom | $2,500 | $72,860 | $75,360 |
| 3 | Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas | Andorra | $15,937 | $49,183 | $65,120 |
| 4 | Mathias "giftmyra" Joelsson | Sweden | $7,910 | $38,054 | $45,964 |
| 5 | oriente1 | Bolivia | $24,375 | $29,444 | $53,819 |
| 6 | Sintoras | Germany | $7,812 | $22,782 | $30,594 |
| 7 | Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic | Austria | $12,187 | $17,627 | $29,814 |
| 8 | mamamamama70 | Sweden | $13,638 | $13,368 | |
| 9 | Elio "smokrokflock" Fox | Canada | $8,750 | $11,452 | $20,202 |
A field of 163 entrants resulted in an $815,000 prize pool where half the prize money went on the heads of each player with the remaining 50% being shared by the top 20 finishers. Ognyan "cocojamb0" Dimov burst the money bubble, although he did receive $1,875 worth of scalps.
The likes of Preben "prebz" Stokkan, Patrick "pads1161" Leonard, and Francisco "Tomatee" Benitez cashed, with the latter falling in tenth place and setting the final table.
Elio "smokrokflok" Fox was the first of the nine finalists to fall by the wayside. Fox crashed out in a relative cooler of a hand. Alt raised to 88,000 from under the gun, Mathias "giftmyra" Joelsson called in the cutoff, only for Fox to squeeze to 330,000 on the button. Alt made it 700,000, which folded out Joelsson, but Fox pushed all-in for 1,886,683 in total, and Alt snap-called. Alt flipped over pocket kings, Fox a pair of queens, and the kings held to gift Alt a substantial chip lead.
Sweden's "mamamamama70" was the next player to fall and in dramatic circumstances. With blinds at 25,000/50,000/6,000a, Alt open shoved from middle position with none of the player in behind him having more than 25 big blinds. Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic called all-in on the button for only 383,950 chips, and mamamamama70 called all in for 1,008,297 from the small blind. Alt turned over ten-eight of diamonds, Smiljkovic pocket queens, and mamamamama70 a pair of nines in the hole. A ten on the flop was enough to bust mamamamama70 in eighth, but Smiljkovic won an ample side pot and more than tripled up.
Smilkjovic was the next star out of the door despite earning that reprieve. The Austrian crashed out after Alt min-raised to 120,000 in the cutoff, Andy "BowieEffect" Wilson called on the button, and Smiljkovic defended his big blind with a call. The flop fell ten-deuce-nine with two diamonds. Smiljkovic checked, Alt bet 180,000, Wilson ducked out of the way but Smilkjovic check-raised all-in for 453,350, which Alt called. Alt had flopped top pair with his queen-ten, while Smiljkovic needed some help because his nine-eight had flopped an inferior pair. Help never arrived and Smiljkovic busted.
The final six became five when Alt claimed the tournament life of "Sintoras". Sintoras open-shoved for a mere 426,730 from early position and Alt put in calling chips after paying the 60,000 big blind. It was queen-four for Alt and king-ten for Sintoras. The flop gifted Sintoras two pair, but the turn improved Alt to a straight. Game over for Sintoras.
Bolivia's "oriente1" crashed out in fifth-place and Joelsson in fourth both at the hands of the unstoppable Alt who enjoyed a double elimination. Oriente1 pushed their tiny 408,231 stack into the middle during the 35,000/70,000/8,750a level. Alt made it 746,462 from the button before calling the 3,556,698 shove from Joelsson. Oriente1 flipped over pocket sixes, Joelsson the ace-deuce, but Alt was sat with pocket jacks; of course he was. Those jacks improved to a set on the flop, and the Titans event lost two players.
The very next hand saw Alt eliminate Team PokerStars' Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas in the coolest of coolers. Colillas limped from the small blind with pocket kings, only for Alt to make it 210,000 with pocket aces! Colillas called, and the flop fell deuce-nine-queen. Colillas check-called a 175,000 bet, leading to a six on the turn. Colillas checked-called a 280,000 bet on the turn. The river was a jack, and Colillas led for 140,000 and called off the 748,236 chips he had behind when Alt shoved.
That hand gave Alt a monster-sized 14,509,802 to 1,790,198 chip lead over Wilson, and the writing was on the wall for the latter. It did not take long for Alt to get the job done and his hands on his eighth final table bounty. Alt limped in for 80,000 and Wilson checked his option. A jack-ten-nine flop was greeted with a check from Wilson and an 80,000 continuation bet from Alt. Wilson check-raised all-in for 1,008,628 in total, and Alt beat him into the pot with a call. Wilson showed jack-three for top pair but Alt's queen-eight had flopped a straight! That straight held and Alt walked away with $230,145 and the title of champion.
