The Online Railbird Report: Antonius Earns a Million, "cadillac1944" Wins Largest Pot of the Year
For most of the nosebleed-stakes crowd, this week was more about the pursuit of gold bracelets than dragging six-figure pots. Two high-stakes regulars notched major tournament victories this week, Richard “CHUFTY” Ashby in PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker, where he shipped the 6-Max Pot-Limit Omaha event, and Gus Hansen, who won his first WSOP bracelet in the £10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP Europe. Despite their busy live tournament schedules, Hansen Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Patrik Antonius, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil Ivey reunited online, generating some of the largest pots we’ve seen all year.
Dwan stings Sahamies in uncapped PLO match
After they had both busted from the £10k heads-up event at the Empire Casino, Dwan and Sahamies sat down for a face-off at the $500/$1,000 PLO tables. Although Sahamies jumped out to a sizable lead at the beginning of their session, Dwan finished a $280,000 winner after 640 hands. The monsterpottens were flying back and forth between these fearless gamblers, Sahamies raking in a $381,000 pot and Dwan the largest pot of the night at a whopping $414,000.
In the aforementioned hand, Sahamies opened for a standard $3,000 raise from the button and Dwan reraised to $9,000 from the big blind. With the action back on Sahamies, he made a small-for-him four-bet to $18,000 only to have Dwan re-pop it to $54,000. Sahamies called and with $108,000 already in the pot, they saw a 8♣7♦2♣ flop. Dwan made a pot-sized bet, leaving himself just under $45,000 behind, Sahamies shoved for $206,489 and Dwan called all-in, Sahamies having him covered by $54,534.
Dwan: A♣K♥9♣8♥
Sahamies: Q♦10♣9♦6♥
With Sahamies flopping a wrap draw and Dwan top pair and the nut flush draw, it’s not surprise that the rest of their stacks went in on the flop. They decided to run it twice. The first turn card was the 8♠, making Dwan trips, but the J♦ on the river made Sahamies’ straight and he took the first half of the pot. Dwan got his money back on the second run when the J♣ made him the nut flush. The second river card was the 9♥ and they split the $413,909 pot.
Sahamies took Dwan to value-town in the second-largest pot of the night. Dwan opened for $3,000, Sahamies three-bet to $9,000 and Dwan called. Sahamies led out for $18,000 on the K♣5♠3♣ flop and Dwan flat-called. The 7♣ fell on the turn and Sahamies bet a little more than two-thirds the pot, making it $38,500 to go. Dwan called and they went to the river, which fell the Q♦. Sahamies moved all-in for $124,987 and Dwan looked him up. Sahamies turned over A♣Q♠Q♥6♣ for the nut flush and Dwan mucked, the Finn raking in the $380,974 pot.
Rare full-ring PLO game generates largest pot of 2010
Seriously, how often do we see nine-handed PLO games at these stakes anymore? Well, one came together over the weekend, starring Antonius, Sahamies, Ivey, cadillac1944, DrugsOrMe, Hac “trex313” Dang and tibster24 among others. Antonius came away with close to $1 million in profits while Sahamies sustained the heaviest losses, dropping $900,000. The mysterious cadillac1944 also had a banner weekend, winning over $750,000, much of it from a heads-up match with Dwan.
This rare full-ring $300/$600 game managed to generate the monsterpotten of the year, coming in at a staggering $644,455. Sahamies led off the action with a raise to $2,900, Antonius called on his direct left and cadillac1944 three-bet to $13,300. The rest of table folded and both Sahamies and Antonius called. The action was checked to cadillac1944 on the 10♠5♣2♣ flop and he bet $41,600. Sahamies and Antonius both looked him up. The turn came the 8♥ and this time, Sahamies led out with a pot-sized bet of $166,400. Antonius flat-called, leaving himself $157,978 behind and cadillac1944 called all-in for $136,525. The river was the 7♣ and Ziigmund tossed in his last $4,715. Antonius called.
Cadillac1944: K♣K♠4♣2♥
Sahamies: A♦J♦10♣8♠
Antonius: 7♠6♠4♥3♦
Cadillac1944’s king-high flush was good for the main pot, while Antonius took the small side pot with his eight-high straight. Sahamies was left with nothing, having committed his entire stack with two pair, tens and eights.
Who’s up? Who’s down?
This week’s biggest winners (9/20-9/26): Patrik Antonius (+$1.05 million), deprimiert (+$798,000), Gus Hansen (+$605,000)
Dude, where’s my bankroll?: Ilari “Ziigmund Sahamies (-$1.51 million), Malestra Pam (-$741,000), Cole South (-$494,000)
The highest-stakes games on the Internet all unfold on Full Tilt Poker. Open up an account today and see for yourself.
