The Online Railbird Report: Ivey Back In The Black
Action was a bit lighter at the online high-stakes cash games on Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars the last few days. The running of several huge FTOPS XIX tournaments may have had something to do with that, but only four pots hit six-figures since Friday. Still, many of the regulars were in action.
Phil Ivey led the way in profits over the last few days, mainly because of an excellent session of $3,000/$6,000 limit hold'em against "kagome kagome" on Full Tilt Poker, and is now in the black so far in 2011. Also in action was Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, mixing it up with Scott “urnotindangr” Palmer and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies on PokerStars.
Ivey Defeats "kagome kagome" to the Tune of $500,000
Once in a while, limit-hold'em steals the show and produces the big winner of the week. That was the case recently as Ivey and kagome kagome duked it out. Advantage this session? Ivey.
On the button, Ivey raised to $6,000 and kagome kagome called. The flop came down K♠K♣7♥ and kagome kagome checked, inducing a bet from Ivey. A raise from kagome kagome led to a call from Ivey, and the 3♣ landed on the turn. A bet of $6,000 came from kagome kagome, but Ivey made it $12,000 to play. Kagome kagome called and check-called another $6,000 from Ivey on the A♣ river, then mucked when Ivey tabled J♥J♣ to win the $60,000 pot.
Ivey won another $60,000 pot and it began with kagome kagome raising on the button. Ivey three-bet from the big blind and kagome kagome called, leading to an A♥10♠6♠ flop. Ivey kept up the pressure and bet, quickly receiving a call. The 4♥ fell on fourth street with Ivey betting once again. Kagome kagome, though, raised to $12,000, but Ivey played right back at him and made it $18,000. A call from kagome kagome brought the 5♥ on fifth street, and once again, he called Ivey's bet, but mucked when Ivey's 10♦10♥ was revealed.
Six-Figure Pots Center Around "Isildur1"
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom mixed it up with Scott “urnotindangr” Palmer and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies in different heads-up sessions on PokerStars at $25/$50 pot-limit Omaha over the last several days.
Palmer had the button and opened to $150. Blom popped it to $450 and Palmer came back over the top to $1,350. A call led to a 9♥7♣4♠ flop which Blom checked. Palmer fired $1,650, but was met with a raise to $7,649 by Blom. Palmer called and upon seeing Blom check the 6♥ turn card, bet $15,600. Blom called, betting the $48,198 pot when the 4♣ hit the river. Palmer called and tabled K♣9♣8♥5♥ for a straight, besting Blom's Q♦9♠7♥5♥ (top-two pair). Ship the $147,596 pot to Palmer.
Another hand between the two had the same preflop action to a point with Palmer four-betting to $1,350. Blom, however, threw in a five-bet to $4,050. Not to be outdone, Palmer six-bet to $12,150 and you can tell what was coming next. Blom seven-bet to $36,450, but that would be it for the preflop raises as Palmer opted to call, seeing the flop come down 8♥6♥3♣. Blom bet the remaining $33,638 he had on the table and Palmer called with 10♣9♠8♦7♠ for top pair and a wrap, while Blom showed A♣A♥10♦7♦ for an overpair and a straight draw. The turn and river ran out the K♠ and K♣, respectively, keeping Blom's aces in play to clinch the $140,176 pot for the Swede.
Palmer had the button and made it $150 to play. Blom raised to $450 and Palmer popped it to $1,350. Blom called and an 8♠5♣2♣ flop followed. Blom checked, Palmer bet $1,650, and Blom raised to about $7,649. Palmer reraised to $25,658, leading Blom to put the rest of his stack in the middle, about $49,200. Palmer called with 9♣8♥6♥5♠ for top-two pair and a straight draw. Blom, meanwhile, held Q♥10♣8♣2♦ for top and bottom pair and needed help to catch up. The Swede found it in a big way when the 10♠ hit the turn to give him a better two pair. The Q♠ river card gave Blom queens and tens to lock up the $101,097 pot.
Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies
Blom opened to $150 on the button and Sahamies raised to $450. Blom made it $1,350 to play, Sahamies bumped it to $4,050, and Blom six-bet to $12,150. Sahamies called, and a K♠5♠4♥ flop hit the (virtual) felt. A pot-sized bet of about $24,300 was Sahamies' next move, leading to a Blom min-raise to cover the rest of the Finn's stack. An all-in call for about $14,265 was made by Sahamies with K♥J♣10♦6♥ for top pair, while Blom tabled A♦A♠9♦7♠ for the overpair of aces. The Q♠ turn card gave Sahamies a few extra outs, but the river 8♠ sealed the $101,429 pot for Blom.
Who's Up? Who's Down?
Week’s biggest winners (2/18-2/21): Phil Ivey (+$476,000), Matt Hawrilenko (+$415,000), Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$181,000)
Week’s biggest losers: “fishosaurusREX” (-$688,000), “kagome kagome” (-$455,000), *Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies (-$206,000)
Year-to-date winners: Gus Hansen (+$3,049,000), Matt Hawrilenko (+$1,054.000), *Alexey "LuckyGump" Makarov (+$916,000), Abe “EazyPeazy” Mosseri (+$747,000)
Year-to-date losers: “kagome kagome” (-$1,292,000), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (-$1,098,000), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (-$1,053,000)
*on PokerStars
Want to check out some of the high-stakes action? Sign up for Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars accounts today. Get the full PokerNews experience. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
