The Online Railbird Report: "MaiseE," Makarov & Kyllönen All Bank Over $500,000
After some relatively slow action last week, the high-stakes cash games on PokerStars were in full swing over the past seven days. Plenty of notables played a broad array of games, and by week’s end there were three $500,000-plus winners including “MaiseE” (+$684,478 in 136 sessions/13,346 hands), Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov (+$584,880 in 132 sessions/8,053 hands) and Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$542,302 in 154 sessions/11,843 hands).
Ville Wahlbeck, who we’re accustomed to see winning, was unexpectedly the week’s biggest loser after dropping $375,858 over 8,298 hands. He was followed closely by a few other notables including “patpatman” (-$337,831 in 64 sessions/6,409 hands), "Zypherin" (-$325,812 in 17 sessions/6,219 hands) and Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$236,708 in 130 sessions/11,013 hands).
Here are some of the more interesting story lines and hands from the past week:
Sahamies Takes $500,000 Hit
On Thursday Feb. 16, 2012, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies squared off against “bernard-bb,” Rafi “refaelamit” Amit and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, among others, and didn’t fare too well, dropping nearly a half a million dollars. He played over 1,500 hands of pot-limit Omaha at various stakes in a six-hour session, but just couldn’t get anything going.
In one hand at a six-handed game of $100/$200 PLO, Amit ($37,981) opened for $600 under the gun and was called by “The Liar” ($55,300) and “SkaiWalkurrr” ($20,730) in the cutoff and button respectively. When action reached “mickan1984” ($19,017) in the small blind, he three-bet to $3,440, which Sahamies ($73,782.55) called from the big blind. Not to be outdone, Amit four-bet to $15,800, the next two players got out of the way, and "mickan1984" moved all-in for $19,017. Sahamies and Amit both made the call and were the only active players headed to the 4♦9♥5♣ flop.
Sahamies immediately moved all-in, and Amit called off his remaining $18,964.
Showdown
| Sahamies | 5♥5♠7♠3♠ |
| mickan1984 | Mucked |
| Amit | A♣A♦5♦3♣ |
Sahamies had managed to crack Amit’s aces by flopping a set of fives and seemed to have a hammerlock on the hand; however, the 2♠ spiked on the turn, delivering a wheel for Amit. The 8♠ turn was of no consequences, and Amit raked in the $96,294 pot.
In another hand at the same stakes, action was three-handed when “patpatman” ($100,533.50) opened for $600 on the button, Amit ($32,025) folded from the small blind, and Sahamies ($69,530.55) exercised his option in the big with a three-bet to $2,020. "Patpatman" made the call and then called Sahamies’ bet of $4,255 on the Q♦J♠4♠ flop.
When the K♠ hit the turn, Sahamies checked, "patpatman" bet $9,800, and Sahamies came alive with a check-raise to $42,165. Not to be outdone, "patpatman" raised to $84,330, prompting Sahamies to fold and save his remaining $21,090.54. "Patpatman" raked in the $97,095 pot.
By the time he decided to quit, Sahamies was down $493,000, though he recouped some of that over the next week.
Working for the Weekend
On Friday, there were plenty of notables in action including Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen, “patpatman,” Rafi “refaelamit” Amit and “RaiseOnce,” the latter rumored to be Phil Ivey.
While his origin remains a mystery, what is known is that "RaiseOnce" finished as the day’s biggest winner after banking $100,000 in just 248 hands against Eugene “oogee” Yanayt at the draw tables; consequently, Yanayt’s $101,600 loss made him the day’s biggest loser.
Another big winner was Kyllönen, who won $77,000, which gave him $1.077 million in winnings on the year, just over $50,000 more than "patpatman." In one of his more notable hands, Kyllönen ($69,562.50) was playing four-handed $100/$200 PLO when he opened under the gun for $800. From there, Van “Sirens” Marcus ($32,989.72) was on the button and put in a three-bet to $2,860, the blinds folded, and Kyllönen four-bet to $9,840.
Marcus made the call and then watched Kyllönen fire out $18,535 on the 3♦J♣4♦ flop. Marcus moved all-in for $23,149.72, Kyllönen called the additional $4,614.72, and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
| Kyllönen | A♠A♣3♠5♥ |
| Marcus | 8♥7♠4♣6♠ |
Kyllönen was ahead with aces and didn’t lose the lead as the 10♠ turn and 3♥ river gave him trip threes to take down the $66,354 pot.
In another hand, action was four handed when Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser ($71,740) opened for $800 under the gun and all three of his opponents made the call. When the flop fell 4♠3♦A♥, the small blind checked, Amit ($86,449.33) bet $3,355 from the big, and Kaiser made the call. Kyllönen ($25,205) then put in a raise to $16,775, the small blind and Amit folded, and Kaiser reraised to $33,550. Kyllönen called off his remaining $7,590 and the cards were revealed:
Showdown
| Kyllönen | A♠5♠3♥2♦ |
| Kaiser | A♣A♦6♥6♣ |
Kaiser had flopped a set of aces but needed to improve against Kyllönen’s wheel. The 2♠ turn was not what Kaiser was looking for, and neither was the Q♥ river. Kyllönen took down another healthy pot, this one worth $58,680.
Even though he lost that hand, Kaiser managed to take down the biggest pot of the day. It happened when Kyllönen ($81,236.72) opened for $800, Marcus ($34,805.50) called from the button, and Kaiser ($36,630) three-bet to $3,460 from the big blind. Both his opponents made the call and the Q♣9♦4♣ appeared on the flop, which prompted Kaiser to lead out for $7,976.25. Kyllönen got out of the way, Marcus moved all-in for $31,345.50, and Kaiser made the call, creating a pot worth $73,246.
Showdown
| Marcus | K♠8♠Q♥10♣ |
| Kaiser | A♥A♦K♥J♥ |
Marcus had flopped top pair with a gut-shot straight draw, but it was behind Kaiser's aces. The 3♦ turn was of no consequence, and the 7♦ river gave Kaiser the win.
Makarov Monday
Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov had a good day on Monday when he won $144,000 playing various stakes of PLO. That win made him the day’s biggest winner and brought his winning for the year up to nearly $500,000. Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi was the biggest loser after dropping $135,000, followed closely by “Zypherin” and his $114,000 loss.
In Makarov’s ($25,998.70) biggest hand, action was five handed at a $100/$200 PLO table when he opened for $500 under the gun. Patpatman ($22,995.65) called from the button, Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser ($95,761.10) came along for the ride in the big blind, and there was three-way action to the 7♦4♦4♣ flop.
From there, Kaiser checked, Makarov bet $1,004.85, and "patpatman" raised to $3,200. Kaiser got out of the way, Makarov three-bet $9,200, and "patpatman" moved all-in for $22,495.65. Makarov made the call and the J♦ was put out on the turn followed by the 2♠ on the river. Makarov rolled over A♣K♣2♣4♥ for a full house, which was good enough to take down the $46,586 pot.
Wahlbeck Has a Nice Tuesday, but Can’t Hold onto the Win
When it comes to high-stakes grinders, it’s hard to find anyone more solid than Ville Wahlbeck. The Team PokerStars Pro was at it again on Tuesday, winning an ample $190,000 in 1,019 hands of PLO against some stiff competition, which brought his winnings on the week up to $400,000.
In what ended up being the Team Pro’s biggest pot of the day, action folded to Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov ($34,685) in the small blind and he opened for $600, which Wahlbeck ($29,465.31) called from the big blind. The J♥6♦4♦ flop saw Makarov lead out for $967.95, Wahlbeck raise to $2,600, Makarov three-bet $8,995, and Wahlbeck make the call, leading to the 8♣ turn. Again Makarov led out, this time for $19,185, and Wahlbeck moved all-in for $20,070.31 total. Makarov made the call and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
| Wahlbeck | Q♠3♠7♦5♦ |
| Makarov | A♠A♦J♠4♥ |
Makarov held two pair, but was way behind his opponent's straight. The A♣ river changed nothing, and Wahlbeck took down the $59,326 pot.
Unfortunately for Wahlbeck, things took a turn for the worse over the next two days, and he went from being up over $400,000 to down almost the same amount.
Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars
Week’s biggest winners (2/17-2/23): MaiseE (+$684,478), Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov (+$584,880), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$542,302), Tsubi87 (+$334,922), bernard-bb (+$247,649)
Week’s biggest losers: Ville Wahlbeck (-$375,858), patpatman (-$337,831), Zypherin (-$325,812), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$236,708), Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (-$228,155)
Year-to-date winners: Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,542,938), bernard-bb (+$1,110,739), MaiseE (+$821,417), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$796,124), Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov (+$722,293), patpatman (+$685,658), Niklas “ragen70” Heineckerragen (+$591,828)
Year-to-date losers: 90110 (-$755,456), Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (-$663,653), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$635,951), Zypherin (-$555,347), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$493,071), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$449,790)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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