The Online Railbird Report: Antonius Wins $1.16 Million to Take 2011 Lead
The online poker headlines have been dominated by the events and consequences of Black Friday as of late, but that all changed this past week as the high-stakes games on both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were in full swing. Many of the biggest non-U.S. players were in action including “NoPasaran,” “davin77,” “XWINK,” and Gus Hansen. It was Patrik Antonius however, who emerged as the biggest winner, banking $1.16 million in 2,707 hands spread across 21 sessions on Full Tilt. While he won a million less than Antonius, high-stakes pro Viktor “Isildur1” Blom also managed a $189,000 win on PokerStars.
Antonius Takes $792,000 Off Cao
On Wednesday, the high-stakes railbirds were treated to some $500/$1,000 pot-limit Omaha fueled by none other than Patrik Antonius. The Fin went head-to-head against Rui Cao and dismantled his opponent for $792,000 over 1,404 hands. Antonius, who jumped out to an early lead, never let Cao recover.
In one hand, Cao ($146,491.50) raised to $3,000 on the button, Antonius ($156,496.50) reraised to $9,000, Cao made it $27,000 to go, Antonius bumped it to $81,000, and Cao made the call, leading to a flop of Q♥5♣2♦. Antonius immediately moved all-in for a little over $75,000 and Cao called off his remaining $65,491.50.
Cao: 3♥K♥J♦10♦
Antonius: 5♠4♠A♦A♣
The aces of Antonius were still out in front, but both the turn and river were run twice. On the first run, the Q♠ turn and Q♣ river allowed Antonius to secure half the pot, and the 9♣ turn and A♥ river on the second run ensured that he’d scoop the entire $292,983 pot. Cao, whose luck never seemed to turn, went on to become the week’s biggest loser, dropping $792,486.
On the flip side of things, Antonius’ unbelievable week vaulted him to the top of the 2011 leaderboard with $2,817,540 in profit, surpassing Gus Hansen who dropped down to $2,608,986.
Isildur1 Finds PLO Action
On Tuesday, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom squared off against “adiprene1” and Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane at the PokerStars $25/$50 heads-up PLO tables. Things went Blom’s way in both matches as he won $52,000 from the former opponent and $17,000 off the latter.
Perhaps the most notable hand of those matches occurred against adiprene1. It began when adiprene1 ($15,425.50) raised to $150 on the button, Blom reraised to $450, adiprene1 three-bet to $1,350, Blom four-bet to $4,050, adiprene1 five-bet 12,150, and Blom moved all-in. With only $3,275.50 behind, adiprene1 made the call and the cards were turned on their backs.
adiprene1: J♥10♦A♦8♥
Blom: K♠A♣2♠A♥
Blom was ahead with his pocket aces but adiprene1 picked up the nut-flush draw on the 6♦4♦3♣ flop. Luckily for Blom, the 3♣ turn and 5♣ river ran out clean and he was able to take down the $30,851 pot.
Blom Continues to Roll
On Wednesday, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom played a $50/$100 PLO heads-up match against Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky on PokerStars. Over the course of 613 hands, Blom took Sulsky to the cleaners to the tune of $114,000.
In one hand, Blom ($20,302.50) was on the button and raised to $300 only to have Sulsky ($19,890) exercise his option in the big blind with a reraise to $900. Blom refused to back down and popped it to $2,700, Sulsky called, and the flop came down 4♥5♦J♣. Sulsky checked, Blom bet $3,800, and Sulsky woke up with a check-raise to $16,799.50. Blom simply moved all-in and Sulsky easily called off his remaining $390.50.
Blom: K♠A♦8♥K♦
Sulsky: J♦10♣7♦Q♥
Sulsky had flopped top pair but was well behind the pocket kings of Blom. The 3♠ turn changed nothing, and neither did the 9♠ river. Blom’s kings held to take down the $39,780 pot.
In another hand between the two, Blom ($20,937.50) again raised to $300 on the button, Sulsky reraised to $900, Blom made it $2,700, and Sulsky put in the final preflop raise to $8,100. Blom called as the flop fell 3♣10♥6♣, prompting Sulsky to lead out for $16,199.50. Blom quickly called off his last $12,837.50 as the 9♥ hit the turn followed by the K♠ river. Sulsky showed 5♥7♦6♥10♦ for two pair, but it was no good because Blom had backdoored a straight with his Q♣7♥9♦J♣. Ship the $41,875 pot to Isildur1.
Blom followed up his two days of winning by taking on Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane in an epic rematch on Thursday. The pair played 5,656 hands, and to say there were some swings would be an understatement. Blom found himself down between $100K-$200K for most of the match, but a late-night surge made it so he was only down $16,000. Compared against his $17,000 win in their first match, Blom was essentially even against “gavz101” for the past week.
Who's Up? Who's Down?
Week’s biggest winners (5/12-5/19): Patrik Antonius (+$1,165,430), LFmagic (+$266,874), NoPasaran (+$211,004), *ZInsenamnn (+$209,925), davin77 (+$194,556), *Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$189,450)
Week’s biggest losers: Rui Cao (-$792,486), *le kork (-$321,907), XWINK (-$315,457), Gus Hasnen (-$315,457)
Year-to-date winners: Patrik Antonius (+$2,817,540), Gus Hansen (+$2,608,000), *Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (+$2,022,000), Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$1,952,000), NoPasaran (+$1,514,000), 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 (-$1,736,000), Eugene “fishosaurusREX” Yanayt (-$1,399,000), cadillac1944 (-$1,336,000), UarePileous (-$853,000)
*on PokerStars
*data obtained from HighStakesDB.com
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.
