The Online Railbird Report, Vol. 20: The Mid-Year Report
Continued heavy live cash-game action at the Bellagio and the five-day long $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker resulted in a mild week when it came to the high-stakes online poker games. Players such as Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies logged less than a thousand hands apiece online. Still, familiar faces Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro, Ted “profbackwards” Forrest and Di “Urindanger” Dang dominated this week’s action, all posting six-figure wins over the last seven days.
Less is More for “durrrr”?
Could fewer, shorter sessions be the answer for “durrrr”? Last week, Tom Dwan played only a few hundred hands and finished almost a half-million to the good. This week, he put in only eight sessions totaling less than 600 hands and it translated into another $821,000 in winnings. Once over $4 million in the hole from online play in 2009, Dwan finished out the first half of the year with over $1.5 million in profit. The bulk of Dwan’s earnings this week came from a frenetic two-table session of heads-up $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha against Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. By the end of the 200-hand match, Dwan had close to $1.3 million spread across both tables, finishing with half a million dollars in profit. “Durrrr” simply crushed Sahmies in this particular session, winning 11 of the 15 largest pots of the night — three of them worth more than $200,000 and three others topping out at over $350,000.
In one of the aforementioned pots worth more than a Rolls Royce, Dwan opened the action with a raise to $3,000. Sahamies popped it to $9,000 and Dwan called. Sahamies fired at the A♦8♦2♥ flop for $18,000 and Dwan smooth-called. The turn came the 7♦ and Sahamies fired another bullet for $45,000. Again, Dwan called and they went to the river which fell the 10♠. Sahamies triple-barreled it for $121,000 and Dwan called. Ziigmund had complete air with Q♣6♠4♦4♣ while Dwan flopped a flush with J♠10♦9♦7♣ and took down the $386,000 pot.
Clearly steaming from the loss, Sahamies got more than a little spicy in the chat box as he quit the game:
Ziigmund: f** i’m tilt
Ziigmund: come to f**ing bobbys room u get more
durrrr: i’ll be 15min
durrrr: game already going i think
durrrr: same as yesterday
Ziigmund: come to f bobbys room u get more f sicko
Continued Upswing for Ted “profbackwards” Forrest
After booking $193,000 in winnings last week, Ted “profbackwards” Forrest added another $177,000 to the till this week, playing several solid sessions of both full ring and heads-up limit poker. In the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday morning, Forrest joined Josh Arieh, Erick Lindgren, “Gagrin,” “NEKOTYAN,” and “-DONKEY1965-“ in the $500/1,000 H.E.R.O.S. action and raked in $60,000 in winnings. His biggest session of the week, however came against Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin in a stop-and-start heads-up match spread over several $1,000/2,000 and $2,000/4,000 Omaha hi/lo tables. Over the course of 300 hands, Forrest departed the tables with a $148,000 win.
One of the bigger confrontations the two had that night came on the $2,000/4,000 “Patrik” table. Griffin opened for a raise, Forrest three-bet and Griffin called. Forrest led out at the 8♣6♠2♠ flop and Griffin called. The turn came the 8♠ and Forrest fired again. Griffin made the call and they went to the river, which fell the A♥. Forrest bet and Griffin called. Forrest showed A♣J♦4♣3♥, flopping the nut low and backing into top two pair for high to scoop the $32,000 pot.
Van “Sirens” Marcus Takes $115,000 Off DIN_FRU in Omaha Hi/Lo
The identity of “DIN_FRU” (translation: “your wife” in Swedish) has not been confirmed, though rumors have begun to circulate regarding Erik Sagstrom, who dominated heads-up high-stakes limit hold’em games back in 2004 and 2005. It’s also interesting to note that DIN_FRU didn’t pop up at any of the tables we tracked between June 26 and June 30 — the five days of the WSOP’s $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event where Sagstrom finished third. Hmmmm…
DIN_FRU took on Van “Sirens” Marcus at heads-up Omaha Hi/Lo on Thursday evening and posted a $115,000 loss to the Australian pro over the course of three and a half hours and nearly 900 hands. In one of the more interesting hands of the match, DIN_FRU opened for a raise and Marcus smooth-called. The flop came down 8♦7♠2♦. Marcus checked to DIN_FRU who bet, Marcus raised and DIN_FRU called. The turn was the J♠ and Marcus led out. DIN_FRU called and they saw the river come down the 8♠. Marcus led out, DIN_FRU raised, Marcus three-bet and DIN_FRU called. Marcus turned up A♣10♠6♥4♠ for a jack-high flush and a 8-7-4-2-A low to scoop and raked in the $24,000 pot.
Kelopuro Posts Wins vs. Hansen, Antonius
To say Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro has had a rough go of it in 2009 is to put it mildly. The Finn is down nearly $3 million for the first half of the year but managed to turn out a few solid wins this week to shrink that number down just a bit. In a three-hour heads-up match vs. Gus Hansen on Sunday night, Kelopuro booked a $358,000 win at $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha. It truly was Sami’s night as he earned nine of the session’s ten largest pots, including this whopper.
Kelopuro opened for $3,000, Hansen three-bet to $9,000 and Kelopuro called. The flop came down 9♦7♣3♦ and Hansen led out for $12,000. Kelopuro raised to $54,000, Hansen shoved for $82,993 and Kelopuro called the balance. It was Kelopuro’s two pair with K♣Q♠9♣7♥ up against Hansen’s pair of eights and a straight draw with J♥10♠8♥8♦. The turn gave Kelopuro some added outs with the 4♣ for a flush draw and the A♣ on the river filled it, earning Kelopuro the $132,488 pot.
Kelopuro had another successful night at the online tables on Tuesday, taking on fellow Finn Patrik Antonius at $300/600 no-limit hold’em with a $100 ante. Two hours later, Kelopuro emerged with a $123,000 win. His largest single-hand haul of the night came in this $135,000 hand, where Hansen caught what he thought was a lucky turn card.
Antonius opened for $2,000 from the button and Kelopuro called. The flop was J♦5♥4♣ and Kelopuro led out for $3,000. Hansen called and they went to the turn, which came the A♣. Kelopuro took the lead again, betting $7,200 and earned another call. The river was the 6♦ and Kelopuro fired one last time for $19,800. Hansen came back with a raise to $84,000, attempting to set Kelopuro all in. Kelopuro called in a shot, revealing two red fours for a set. Hansen’s turned two pair with A♥5♠ were up in flames and Kelopuro dragged the $135,394 pot.
Who’s Up? Who’s Down?
This week’s biggest winners: Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$821,000), Di “Urindanger” Dang (+$260,000), Van “Sirens” Marcus (+$212,000)
This week’s biggest losers: Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies (-$489,000), Gus Hansen (-$416,000), “luckexpress10” (-$311,000)
2009 to date biggest winners: Patrik Antonius (+$4,749,000), Hac “trex313” Dang (+$3,003,000), Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies (+$2,219,000)
2009 to date biggest losers: Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro (-$2,952,000), “papa ninja” (-$1,245,000), Brian Hastings (-$1,061,000)
"The Online Railbird Report" is a weekly feature summarizing the biggest matchups in the online game. Many of the largest online collisions take place at Full Tilt. Why not join the fun?
