The Online Railbird Report: Hansen & Antonius Keep Games Alive
Given the developments as a result of online poker’s Black Friday, it is no surprise that the action at the high-stakes tables slowed considerably on both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. With top U.S. players like Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Daniel Cates, and Phil Galfond out of the picture, it was left up to the European players to pick up the slack. Enter Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius, who both stepped up during midweek.
Antonius Downs Hansen
On Tuesday, the two played 491 hands in a combination of $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha and $3,000/$6,000 limit Omaha hi/lo. While Hansen has been on a heater so far in 2011, this match went to Antonius as he locked up a $351,000 win.
In one hand at the PLO tables, Antonius ($112,195) raised to $1,200 on the button and Hansen ($37,794) exercised his option in the big blind by making it $3,800 to go. Antonius made the call and the two watched the flop come down 4♥Q♥10♦. Hansen led out for $7,800, Antonius raised to $31,200, Hansen moved all-in for $33,894, and Antonius called the additional $2,794.
Antonius: 7♥A♠4♠10♥
Hansen: Q♦K♣9♦5♥
Hansen had flopped top pair with a straight draw but was behind Antonius’ two pair with flush redraw. The turn and river were run twice, with the first run of 3♥/J♣ giving Antonius a flush and the first half of the pot. That was followed by the A♣/8♥ for yet another flush, allowing him to scoop the entire $75,588 pot.
In another hand, Antonius ($57,899.50) was on the button and put in a raise to $1,300, which Hansen ($32,099) called. When the flop fell 5♥8♠3♣, Hansen led out for $2,800, Antonius called, and the 9♠ hit the turn. Hansen continued his aggression with an $8,400 bet, only to have Antonius raise to $33,600. Hansen called off his remaining $19,599 and the cards were turned on their backs.
Hansen: 9♣6♠2♦5♣
Antonius: 10♣7♣A♥6♥
Hansen's two pair was in bad shape against Antonius' straight. The river was run twice, but neither the 4♣ on the first run nor A♦ on the second were any help to Hansen. Antonius took down yet another pot, this one worth $64,098.
Hansen vs. “ronnyr37617”
On Thursday, Hansen was back in action against “ronnyr37617” at the $300/$600 PLO tables in a match characterized by $100K+ pots. Players managed to take down their fair share of pots, with the following description only a small sample of the action.
In one of the biggest hands of the match, Hansen ($89,293) raised to $2,000 on the button and ronnyr37617 ($60,694.50) reraised to $6,200. After a call, the 6♦Q♦5♦ appeared on the flop. Ronnyr37617 checked, Hansen bet $9,600, ronnyr37617 check-raised to $23,600, and Hansen moved all- in for $83,093. Ronnyr37617 called off his last $30,894.50 and the cards were revealed.
ronnyr37617: J♦K♦10♥8♥
Hansen: 7♣5♣10♣Q♠
Hansen had flopped two pair but was far behind the flopped flush of ronnyr37617. Both the turn and river were run twice, with the J♣/6♥ coming on the first run followed by the J♥/A♠ on the second. As you can see, ronnyr37617’s flush held on both runs and he took down the $121,389 pot.
Hansen would soon get his revenge. “LokoIsBack” had joined the action to make it three-handed when ronnyr37617 ($232,093.50) raised to $1,650 on the button. LokoIsBack folded in the small blind while Hansen ($70,048) three-bet to $5,550 in the big blind. Ronnyr37617 made the call as the flop ran out 9♣10♠J♦. Hansen led out for $11,700, ronnyr37617 raised to $46,800, Hansen moved all-in for $64,498, and ronnyr37617 made the call.
Hansen: 2♣8♠10♣J♠
ronnyr37617: 10♦6♣Q♦10♥
Hansen had flopped two pair with a straight draw, but trailed ronnyr37617's set of tens. The Q♥/3♥ on the first run sent half the pot to Hansen with a straight and left ronnyr37617 looking to pair the board on the second run. Unfortunately for him, the 5♣/Q♣ gave Hansen another straight and he took down the entire $140,396 pot.
Who's Up? Who's Down?
Week’s biggest winners (4/19-4/21): Patrik Antonius (+$98,362), NoPasaran (+$61,758), O Fortuna PLS (+$57,978), *Fredrik “H@££INGGOL” Halling (+$43,721), kagome kagome (+$41,999)
Week’s biggest losers: Gus Hansen (-$230,462), geoff7878 (-$61,600), marcelobacara (-$42,802)
Year-to-date winners: Gus Hansen (+$4,257,000), Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$1,952,000), *Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (+$1,894,000), Matt Hawrilenko (+$1,440,000), bixiu (+$1,406,000), Phil Ivey (+$1,336,000)
Year-to-date losers: Tom “durrrr” Dwan (-$2,474,000), kagome kagome (-$1,877,000), fishosaurusREX (-$1,399,000), cadillac1944 (-$1,336,000), UarePileous (-$935,000), David Benefield (-$742,000)
*on PokerStars
*data obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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