The Online Railbird Report: A Look at Hansen's $827K Rebound & Cates' $333K Win
The midweek was full of high-stakes online action on both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Not only that, but some of poker’s biggest names hit the virtual felt including Gus Hansen, Daniel Cates, and Viktor Blom, with the latter breaking from his usual ring-game routine to focus on tournament play. All told, hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands between Tuesday and Thursday, but you’ll have to read on to learn where it all wound up.
Blom Practicing for SCOOP
The Online Railbird generally focuses on the online high-stakes cash games; however, we thought we might take a quick jaunt into the tournament realm when it concerns one of the most notorious cash-game players in recent history. Of course, we’re talking about Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who took down the PokerStars $25,000 Guaranteed $109 NL Hold'em rebuy tournament on Wednesday.
Apparently, Blom is beefing up his tournament game in preparation for the upcoming SCOOP, which runs from May 8 to 22. Blom plowed his way through the field of 201 players to face off against “THE__D__RY” in heads-up play. On the final hand, Blom held a commanding chip lead and his opponent was all-in holding 8♣9♦ on a Q♠2♠Q♦3♦J♠ board, for a pair of queens with a mere nine high. Blom’s A♠10♣ wasn’t much, but his ace played and he captured the $15,437 first-place prize.
Hansen Avoids Disaster with Midweek Comeback
Earlier this week, PokerNews reported on Gus Hansen’s downswing that saw him drop nearly $1 million of his 2011 profits. Just when it looked like he was going to settle only $3 million in the black, Hansen turned things around and was up over $825,000 between Wednesday and Thursday, much of it courtesy of Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond.
In one of the largest hands between the two, which took place on a Full Tilt $300/$600 PLO table, Galfond ($60,599.50) was on the button and put in a standard raise to $1,200. Hansen ($64,480.50) exercised his option in the big blind by reraising to $3,600, Galfond made it $10,800, Hansen called, and the flop came down 8♦10♣4♠. Hansen immediately bet $21,600, Galfond moved all-in for $49,799.50, and Hansen called.
Hansen: 7♥4♣3♥8♣
Galfond: K♠10♥K♦5♠
Hansen had flopped two pair to crack Galfond’s kings, but of course there was still the turn and river, which just happened to be run twice. On the first run, the 9♦ hit followed by the Q♠, securing half the pot for Hansen. On the second run, the 4♦ turn left Galfond looking for a king on the river, but it was not meant to be, as the 2♦ peeled off. Ship the $121,199 pot to Hansen.
From the Jungle to the Stars
Daniel “jungleman12” Cates can usually be found playing the high-stakes games on Full Tilt. That all changed on Thursday when he assumed his "w00ki3z" mantle and played some $50/$100 and $100/$200 PLO action on PokerStars. It was there that Cates dismantled the likes of “jayp-AA” (who made the same final table mentioned in the Blom section) and Rafael “refaelamit” Amit. All told, Cates was up more than $330,000.
In one hand against Amit ($35,795), Cates ($67,505) raised to $600 on the button and received a call, leading to a flop of 2♦Q♥3♣. Amit checked, Cates bet $800, Amit check-raised to $2,800, and Cates made the call. When the K♣ was put out on the turn, Amit led out for $5,600, Cates called, and the 5♥ was revealed on the river. Amit fired out $9,600 and Cates called to create a pot worth $37,198. Amit rolled over 9♥10♠10♥A♦ for a pair of tens and was crushed by the 5♣10♦Q♠K♠ two pair of Cates.
In a different hand, “Sirens” ($8,782) joined the action and quickly folded in the big blind after Amit ($39,035) raised to $400 on the button and Cates ($29,778) reraised to $1,400 from the small blind. Amit made the call and the duo watched the flop fall 4♣9♥3♠, which inspired Cates to bet $1,800. Amit called behind as the 3♥ hit the turn. Once again Cates bet, this time $4,600, and Amit made the call. When the A♠ spiked on the river, Amit smooth-called a bet of $12,000 and could only muck after Cates showed 4♦5♣10♦A♣ for aces and fours to take down the $39,800 pot.
Who's Up? Who's Down?
Week’s biggest winners (4/12-4/14): Gus Hansen (+$827,394), *Daniel "w00ki3z" Cates (+$333,283), *“JonCage06” (+$153,232), Abe “EazyPeazy” Mosseri (+$115,030)
Week’s biggest losers: “Lance84” (-$411,073), *“jayP-AA” (-360,645), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (-$283,119), Jared “harrington25” Bleznick (-$144,198)
Year-to-date winners: Gus Hansen (+$3,616,208), Daniel "jungleman12" Cates (+$1,962,405), *Gavin "gavz101" Cochrane (+$1,919,934), Matt Hawrilenko (+$1,552,393), “bixiu” (+$1,406,194), Phil Ivey (+$1,329,563)
Year-to-date losers: Tom "durrrr" Dwan (-$2,474,309), "kagome kagome" (-$2,015,282), “fishosaurusREX” (-$1,399,950), "cadillac1944" (-$1,336,308), “UarePileous” (-$960,396)
*on PokerStars
*data obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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