Online Railbird Report: Galfond Wins Big While Blom Slides
In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we told you about Viktor “Isildur1” Blom’s big week and how he was the third biggest winner with $242,042 in profit. This week, Blom’s luck took a sudden turn and he finished as the week’s biggest loser, dropping $326,681 in 15,946 hands across 107 sessions. He was followed by another high-stakes pro, Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane, who lost $140,452 in 49 sessions compriseing 4,280 hands.
On the flip side, some recognizable names were atop the winner’s list, including the week’s biggest winner, Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, who banked $176,993 in 10,605 hands spanning 104 sessions. Rui “PepperoniF” Cao also had a big week, winning $149,846 in 24 sessions of 1,406 hands. Here’s a closer look at some of the week’s highlights.
Life is Sweet for Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond
In the closing days of July, Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond went on a bit of a heater that ultimately led to him becoming the week’s biggest winner. On Saturday, July 30, Galfond managed an impressive $198,000 win. The vast majority of it ($120,000) came from Viktor “Isildur1” Blom. Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky and Alexey “luckygump” Makarov also donated around $20,000 each.
One of Galfond’s ($33,081.15) more notable wins came in a four-handed match at the $25/$50 PLO tables when he raised to $200 under the gun. Blom reraised to $690 from the small blind, which inspired a fold from the big blind, and Galfond five-bet to $2,360. Blom simply six-bet to $6,570, Galfond seven-bet to $22,160, Blom moved all-in for $52,449.59. Galfond called off his remaining $13,271.14.
Showdown
Galfond: A♣A♦9♦9♣
Blom: A♥A♠K♠3♣
Both players held aces preflop, but the 7♦3♦J♦ flop was gin for Galfond because it delivered the nut flush for him. The 7♣ turn and Q♥ were both inconsequential, allowing Galfond to rake in a pot worth $66,212.30.
In another four-handed game, Galfond ($40,659.50) raised to $200 under the gun, Blom three-bet to $715 from the button, and both blinds got out of the way. With action back on Galfond, he four-bet to $2,460, Blom called, and the flop fell 6♠10♠5♥. Galfond proceeded to check-call a bet of $4,633, and then both players checked the 5♦ turn. When the 5♠ rolled off on the river, Galfond check-called a bet of $13,899 and revealed A♥Q♥Q♣8♣ for fives full of queens, which was better than Blom’s J♠J♦9♠2♦.
In a final hand between Galfond ($31,140.50) and Blom ($40,807), the former raised to $175 on the button, and the latter reraised to $605 from the small blind. It was enough to get “kabutze” to fold the big blind, but Galfond pushed back to the tune of $2,070. Not to be outdone, Blom reraised to $5,160. Galfond called, and the flop came down 8♦4♦J♣. Blom checked, Galfond bet $11,609, Blom check-raised all-in for $35,032, and Galfond called off for his remaining $13,766.50.
Showdown
Blom: 9♣8♣J♦10♠
Galfond: Q♦9♠7♥6♦
Blom had flopped top two pair with an open-ended straight draw, while Galfond held straight draws with a flush draw. The 6♣ turn gave Blom a flush draw of his own, but the improbable 6♠ on the river gave Galfond trips to steal the $62,331 pot.
Blom Continues to Slide
Last Friday, Viktor “Isildir1” Blom sat at the $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha tables to do battle against Andreas “Skjervoy” Torbergsen. Both players managed to win some sizable pots, but a few went Torbergsen’s way and ultimately contributed to Blom’s disastrous week.
In one hand between the two, Blom ($62,873.69) raised to $300 from the button and Torbergsen ($42,154) three-bet to $900 from the big blind. From there, Blom four-bet to $2,700, Torbergsen five-bet to $8,100, and Blom made the call. The A♠6♠2♠ flop saw Torbergsen lead out for $6,200, Blom raise to $14,649.60, Torbergsen reraise to $23,099.20, Blom move all-in, and Torbergsen call off his remaining $11,054.79.
Showdown
Torbergsen: K♠7♠K♦3♦
Blom: Q♠8♠J♥5♦
It was a brutal flopped nuts versus second nuts, with Torbergsen holding the superior flush. Neither the 5♣ turn nor the K♥ river changed anything and Torbergsen took down the $84,408 pot.
In another hand, Blom ($41,569.19) was on the button and raised to $300. Torbergsen ($40,015.84) exercised his option in the big blind with a raise to $900. The action didn’t stop there because Blom four-bet to $2,700, Torbergsen five-bet to $8,100, Blom called, and the flop fell Q♠4♦6♠. At this point, Torbergsen led out for $16,199.50, Blom moved all-in for $33,469.19, and Torbergsen called off his remaining $15,716.35.
Showdown
Torbergsen: K♠K♦A♠Q♥
Blom: 2♠4♠9♥J♥
Torbergsen’s kings were in front of Blom’s lowly pair of fours, but two cards were still to come. The 8♦ turn was no help to either player, while the A♦ improved Torbergsen to aces and queens, giving him the $80,131.69 pot.
Biggest Bad Beat Jackpot in Online History
On Wednesday, July 27, a whopping €1,265,583 Bad Beat Jackpot, the biggest in online poker history, was hit on the Boss Media Network. The bad beat occurred at the €0.50/€1 NLHE table when "OmgoMgomGo" held KxKx against the AxAx of "7Adelaida7.” The AxKx9x flop delivered each a set, while the case Kx gave the former quads. Luckily, the Ax spiked on the river to give 7Adelaida7 the superior quad aces — and the bad beat was struck.
OmgoMgomGo was awarded €442,954 for receiving the bad beat and 7Adelaida7 banked €221,477 for winning the hand. Tthe other seven players at the table each won €31,639.57. Not a bad day’s work when you consider that they were playing €0.50/€1 stakes.
Who's Up? Who's Down?
Week’s biggest winners (7/29-8/4):Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (+$176,993), Rui “PepperoniF” Cao (+$149,846), moirhums (+$138,230), alexeimartov (+$122,249), tuff_shark (+$104,332)
Week’s biggest losers: Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$326,681), Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (-$140,452), le kork (-$122,590), compris (-$102,986)
Year-to-date winners: *Gus Hansen (+$3,941,000), *Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$1,952,000), *Alexey “NoPasaran” Makarov (+$1,875,348), Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (+$1,706,000), *Matt Hawrilenko (+$1,440,000), *bixiu (+$1,406,000), Rui "PepperoniF" Cao (+$1,352,000), *Phil Ivey (+$1,336,000)
Year-to-date losers: *Tom “durrrr” Dwan (-$2,474,000), *Eugene “fishosaurusREX” Yanayt (-$1,399,000), *kagome kagome (-$1,377,000), *cadillac1944 (-$1,336,000), *Esvedra (-$1,182,000), *UarePileous (-$837,000), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$856,000)
Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars
*Reflects Full Tilt Poker profit/loss
*data obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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