The Online Railbird Report: Sahamies Becomes Biggest PokerStars Winner of 2011
In this edition of the Online Railbird Report, we take a look at the last two weeks of November, which were characterized by some stellar high-stakes action. Ilari “Ilari Fin” Sahamies was the biggest mover and shaker, winning nearly $800,000 in 73 sessions comprising 7,648 hands — enough to make him the biggest winner on PokerStars thus far in 2011.
While Sahamies was far and away the biggest winner, a few other notables rounded out the top four. They included “Fake Love888” banking $431,944 in 21 sessions of 1,593 hands, “doncarignano,” taking down $284,529 in 176 sessions of 9,320 hands, and Ronny "1-ronnyr3" Kaiser ending up $165,247 in 101 sessions of 6,378 hands.
"!P0krparty¡," who was the big winner in our last Online Railbird Report, had a disastrous couple of weeks, losing $623,878 in 182 sessions of 24,056 hands. That wiped out all the money !P0krparty¡ had built up in the previous weeks and forced him to play the lower limits to rebuild.
The !P0krparty¡ Saga Comes to an End . . . For Now
In past Online Railbird Reports, we’ve told you about a mysterious Canadian who goes by the handle !P0krparty¡. Many theorize that !P0krparty¡ is Harry Kaczka. The mystery man has played all levels of pot-limit Omaha, put in marathon sessions, and taken on anyone willing to step up to the plate, often winning and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In a session during Nov. 20 and 21, things took a turn for the worst for !P0krparty¡ as he spewed half a million dollars playing $50/$100 PLO, apparently going broke in the process. Toward the end of the disastrous session, !P0krparty¡ ($36,830.19) was playing heads-up against Rui “PepperoniF” Cao ($94,734.80) when the latter raised to $300 from the button. !P0krparty¡ made the call and then led out for $639.50 on the J♥3♠6♠ flop. Cao quickly raised to $2,558, !P0krparty¡ made it $8,313.50 to go, and Cao made the call, leading to the J♦ turn.
!P0krparty¡ bet $6,885, Cao called, and the 7♣ was put out on the river. !P0krparty¡ moved all-in for $21,331.70, Cao called, and !P0krparty¡ rolled over J♠6♦3♦5♠ for jacks full of sixes, the second nuts. Unfortunately for him, the river was kind to Cao and he revealed J♣7♠3♣2♠ for the nuts, which won him the $73,660.39 pot and contributed to his $150,000 win over !P0krparty¡.
Another player who took about $150,000 from !P0krparty¡ was Peter “GARFIELD25” Chan, though he couldn’t get it done in the following hand. Playing six-handed $50/$100 PLO, “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($30,516.09) opened for $300 and “diggidave” ($34,729.84) raised to $1,170. !P0krparty¡ ($40,881.75) called from the button, “LooneyGerbil” ($12,197) came along from the big blind, and the 1Il|1Il|1il| four-bet to $6,320. Both diggidave and !P0krparty¡ called, but LooneyGerbil opted for a five-bet all-in to $12,197. 1Il|1Il|1il| then moved all-in himself for $30,516.09, diggidave called, and !P0krparty¡ went all-in for $40,881.75 total. Diggidave called the additional $4,213.75, and suddenly a $118,374.69 four-way all-in pot was at stake.
Showdown
!P0krparty¡: 9♥7♣K♥J♠
diggidave: 4♦7♦8♠6♠
1Il|1Il|1il|: A♣A♦J♦2♥
LooneyGerbil: A♠3♠7♥4♣
The 8♦5♥9♣ flop was kind to diggidave as he flopped the nut straight, but the 2♦ turn gave 1Il|1Il|1il| a flush draw. Unfortunately for him, the 2♣ blanked on the river and diggidave took down the monster pot.
Sahamies Wins a Million, Becomes Biggest Winner on PokerStars for 2011
Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, because he banked over a million dollars in one week! From Nov 16 through 23, Sahamies won approximately a million dollars, enough to make him the biggest winner on PokerStars so far this year with $2.2 million.
On Tuesday, Nov. 22, two $200/$400 PLO games ran and Sahamies was active in both. He dropped $120,000 on one table but more than made up for it on the other by winning $535,000. Even so, he was not the day’s biggest winner. “Fake Love888”, who many believe to be Patrik Antonius, walked away with $418,000 in profit, $250,000 of which came from the $200/$400 games.
Peter "GARFIELD25" Chan dropped the most that day — $537,000. In the biggest pot of the day at the $200/$400 PLO game, Chan ($132,765) opened for $1,200 from the cutoff and was met with a three-bet to $4,680 by Sahamies. The rest of the field got out of the way, Chan four-bet to $16,320, Sahamies made the call, and the flop came down 9♣7♣J♣.
Chan checked, Sahamies bet $15,200, Chan called, and the 6♥ appeared on the turn. Again Chan checked, Sahamies bet $44,800, and Chan called, leading to the A♠ on the river. Chan ended up check-calling off his stack of $56,445 and revealed Q♣6♠8♣9♠ for a flush, which was second best to Sahamies’ A♣5♣K♠10♥ flush. Sahamies raked in the $267,250 pot.
Pre-Thanksgiving Action Sees “doncarignano” and Sahamies Prevail
Things cooled down on Wednesday, Nov. 23 with the biggest game spread at $100/$200 PLO. The top winners of the day ended up being doncarignano who won $188,000 in just 283 hands, and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies who carried the over his momentum from the previous day. He won $90,000 in a mere 61 hands against the likes of Ronny "1-ronnyr3" Kaiser (the day’s biggest loser with a loss of $95,000), Rui "PepperoniF" Cao, and Rob "Vaga_Lion" Akery.
The biggest winner of the day, doncarignano ($87,570), earned much of that profit when “mickan1984” ($54,970) opened for $800 from the hijack and action folded to him in the big blind. He promptly three-bet to $2,740, mickan1984 four-bet to $9,360, doncarignano called, and the flop fell 6♦K♣8♦, which both players checked.
When the 5♥ hit the turn, doncarignano check-called a bet of $9,800 and the 5♣ peeled off on the river. After doncarignano checked, mickan1984 moved all-in for $35,810 and doncarignano made the call, creating a pot of $110,040. Mickan1984 rolled over 8♣10♦J♥7♦ for eights and fives, which was no good against doncarignano’s 6♠6♣Q♦Q♥. Mickan1984 ended up dropping $80,000 on the day, enough to make him the second biggest loser.
Monday Fun Day for Kaiser
On Monday Nov. 28, Ronny "1-ronnyr3" Kaiser was the only notable winner, winning $73,500 after grinding $25/$50 and $50/$100 PLO. Kaiser, who won the Main Event at the European Poker Tour Tallinn, won $43,000 at the lower limit and $37,000 at $50/$100. Phil "takechip" D'Auteuil was the biggest loser after dropping $94,000 in the $50/$100 PLO games.
In one pot, Kaiser ($30,584.59) was playing six-handed and opened for $300 under the gun. The next player to act, “bujia4000” ($16,327.20), proceeded to three-bet to $900, which cleared the field all the way back to Kaiser. He called and then checked the 4♠3♠4♦ flop, opening the door for bujia4000 to bet $1,100. Kaiser woke up with a check raise to $2,400, bujia4000 called, and the 2♠ was put out on the turn.
Kaiser took the initiative and led out for $4,200 only to have bujia4000 move all-in for $13,127.20. Kaiser made the call and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
bujia4000: K♠K♣A♠7♠
Kaiser: A♦2♦6♠4♣
Bujia4000 held the nut flush, but it was no good against the full boat of Kaiser. The 9♣ river changed nothing and Kaiser took down the $33,004.40 pot.
Who's Up? Who's Down?
Week’s biggest winners (12/18-12/1): Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$794,896), Fake Love888 (+$431,944), doncarignano (+$284,529), Ronny "1-ronnyr3" Kaiser (+$165,247)
Week’s biggest losers: !P0krparty¡ (-$623,878), machado28 (-$241,695), Benny “Toweliestar” Spindler (-$199,588),
Year-to-date winners: *Gus Hansen (+$3,941,000), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$2,071,000), *Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$1,952,000), Rafi “refaelamit” Amit (+$1,922,000), *Alexey “NoPasaran” Makarov (+$1,875,000), *Matt Hawrilenko (+$1,440,000), *bixiu (+$1,406,000), *Phil Ivey (+$1,336,000),
Year-to-date losers: *Tom “durrrr” Dwan (-$2,474,000), *Eugene “fishosaurusREX” Yanayt (-$1,399,000), *kagome kagome (-$1,377,000), *cadillac1944 (-$1,336,000), *Esvedra (-$1,182,000), Richard “nutsinho” Lyndaker (-$1,038,000)
Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars
*Reflects Full Tilt Poker profit/loss
Data obtained from HighStakesDB.com
Stay up to date on all the latest news b following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.
