The Online Railbird Report: Galfond, Blom & Georgi Ring in the New Year
In December, the high-stakes action was fierce as Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies and Rafi “refaelamit” Amit battled to become the biggest winner of the year on PokerStars, with Viktor “Isildur1” Blom making a last-second run at the title. As the calendar rolled over into 2012, Sahamies captured the title with $2,183,832 in winnings, and the race to become 2012's biggest online winner began.
A few players wasted little time in entering the race, including Blom. Other high-stakes regulars like Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi and Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond joined him at the tables, and while they played some of the most interesting hands of the week, none managed to finish atop the weekly leaderboard.
Instead, the honor of the week’s biggest winner went to “bernard-bb,” who played 5,608 hands spread across 82 sessions and won $284,996. He was followed closely by the tediously named “1Il|1Il|1il|,” who played 118 sessions of 8,712 hands and profited $236,896. Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane was the week’s biggest loser, dropping $174,011 in 26 sessions of 2,256 hands.
Great Start to 2012 for Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi
Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi had a good 2011, winning approximately $700,000, and 2012 is shaping up to be an even better year. Shortly into the New Year, Georgi profited $134,000 in a quick two-hour session playing $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha, mostly against Blom.
In one hand, Georgi ($58,886) was playing three-handed PLO when Blom ($43,839.50) opened for $410 from the button, inspiring the small blind to fold. Georgi exercised his option in the big blind with a three-bet to $1,340, Blom four-bet $4,540, Georgi five-bet to $12,500, and Blom called, leading to the 7♦K♣6♠ flop. Georgi immediately led out for $25,109, Blom moved all-in for $31,339.50, and Georgi called the additional $6,230.50.
Showdown
Georgi: K♦A♠10♠J♦
Blom: Q♣10♥8♣5♠
Blom had flopped an open-ended straight draw and was behind Georgi’s pair of kings. The J♣ turn was interesting because it gave Georgi two pair but gave Blom more outs to another open-ended straight and a flush. Luckily for Georgi, the Q♥ river was not one of his opponent’s outs and he took down the $87,748 pot.
In another hand between the two, in a heads-up game, Blom ($31,477.50) raised to $300 on the button, Georgi ($86,625.50) three-bet to $940, Blom four-bet $2,860, and Georgi called. When the flop fell 7♦10♦9♠, Georgi checked, Blom fired out $3,650, and Georgi woke up with a check-raise to $16,709.50. Blom responded by moving all-in for $28,617.50 total, and Georgi made the call.
Showdown
Georgi: A♥8♥J♠8♠
Blom: K♠10♠Q♥J♥
Georgi had flopped the nut straight, while Blom held a big draw to a higher straight. The 7♣ turn was of no consequence, and the 7♥ river gave Georgi a full house with his pocket eights, giving him the $62,955 pot. Blom ended up losing $30,000 on the day, though that was far less than the day’s biggest loser lost. Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond dropped $94,000.
Galfond and Blom Rebound
Even though both Blom and Galfond ended up in the red Jan. 1, both rebounded on the second. The former ended up winning $138,000, due in large part to the biggest pot of the day. In the hand, five players were playing $50/$100 PLO when Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($60,702.80) opened for $300 from the cutoff. Action folded to Blom ($107,838.19) in the big blind and he opted to raise to $1,050, Kyllönen four-bet to $3,600, Blom five-bet $10,050, and Kyllönen called, bringing about a flop of 3♣7♣9♦. Blom was first to act and bet $15,000, prompting Kyllönen to move all-in for $50,652.80. Blom called and the cards were turned up.
Showdown
Kyllönen: 10♣8♣K♠7♠
Blom: 9♠8♠10♥4♥
Kyllönen had flopped middle pair with straight and flush draws, while Blom held top pair with the same straight draw. Neither the A♠ turn nor 3♥ river changed a thing, and Blom’s two pair was good enough to take down the $121,455.60 pot.
Galfond had two big pots of his own that day, though they were about half the size of Blom’s big win. In one hand, Galfond ($31,915.50) was playing in a four-handed $50/$100 PLO game and opened under the gun for $261. Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi ($44,298.50) then three-bet to $1,013, “Blamen” ($37,039) exercised his option in the big blind with a four-bet to $3,430, Galfond five-bet $11,694, Georgi folded, and Blamen six-bet $35,442. Galfond called off his remaining $20,462.50 and it was an aces-versus-aces situation.
Showdown
Blamen: A♦A♥J♠Q♦
Galfond: A♣A♠6♣J♦
The 10♦6♦5♠ flop was kind to Blamen, giving him the nut-flush draw, but the board ran out 3♣ and J♥ to give Galfond jacks and sixes that were good enough to scoop the $64,874 pot.
In another hand at the same stakes, six players were seated when Phil “takechip” D'Auteuil ($34,881) opened for $250, both Galfond ($28,516.25) and Georgi ($16,001.29) called, and Blom ($10,000) three-bet to $1,470 from the small blind. When action was back on D'Auteuil, he four-bet to $5,380. Only Galfond and Blom called, and the flop came down 10♦2♠K♦. Blom checked, D'Auteuil bet out $15,857, and Galfond moved all-in for $23,136.25. Blom got out of the way and D'Auteuil called the additional $7,279.25.
Showdown
D'Auteuil: A♠A♥K♥8♦
Galfond: K♠Q♠10♣9♣
Galfond had flopped two pair to pull ahead of D'Auteuil’s aces and stayed there as the 3♦ was put out on the turn followed by the 7♣ on the river. Galfond raked in the $62,762.50 pot.
Blom Goes on Tuesday Tear; Drops It All and Then Some on Wednesday
Blom was in action on Tuesday, playing nearly 3,000 hands in 28 sessions at $50/$100 PLO. What’s more, he won $202,000 in 12 hours of play. There were no monster pots, but Blom took down a few notable pots against Georgi.
In the first hand, Georgi ($41,388) opened for $300 from the cutoff, Blom ($32,712.75) three-bet to $1,150 from the button, and D'Auteuil ($3,319) called from the small blind. Georgi called the raise and there was three-way action to the 5♥K♣J♥ flop. Action checked to Blom, who fired out $3,648. D’Auteuil folded, and Georgi made the call, leading to the 9♣ turn.
Georgi checked, Blom bet $10,944, and Georgi check-raised all-in for $36,590. Blom called off his remaining $16,970.75 and the 2♥ was put out on the river. Georgi turned over K♠10♦A♣J♠ for top two pair, but it was no good against the A♥Q♥10♥Q♣ flush of Blom, who was more than happy to rake in the $66,675.50 pot.
In the other hand, action folded to Georgi ($72,014) on the button and he raised to $300, which Blom ($26,786) three-bet to $1,100 from the small blind. The big blind got out of the way, Georgi made the call, and the flop came down 3♣4♠Q♠. From there, Blom bet $1,600, Georgi raised to $3,900, Blom called, and the 10♣ hit the turn.
Blom bet $10,198, about half his stack, and Georgi raised to $40,792. Blom called off his last $11,588 and the cards were turned up.
Showdown
Blom: K♦Q♦10♥8♠
Georgi: K♠Q♣9♦3♠
Blom had turned a larger two pair, but still needed to dodge the draws of Georgi. With $53,652 on the line, the 2♣ was put out on the river, giving Blom the win. Unfortunately for Blom, his luck changed when the clock struck midnight, bringing about a woeful Wednesday.
As it happened, Blom went on a big downswing in the early morning hours, losing the $202,000 he won on Tuesday plus an additional $76,000 in just five hours, making him the biggest loser of the day. Galfond also had a bad day, losing $90,000. “1Il|1Il|1il|” won $199,000 throughout the day, meaning he has won a healthy $1.7 million over the last 30 days.
Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars
Week’s biggest winners (1/1-1/5): bernard-bb (+$284,996), 1Il|1Il|1il| (+$236,896), Phil “takechip” D'Auteuil (+$92,617)
Week’s biggest losers: Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (-$174,011), Try__An__Hit (-$130,221), janek321 (-$84,910), TheMuppet (-$82,802)
Year-to-date winners: bernard-bb (+$284,996), 1Il|1Il|1il| (+$236,896), Phil “takechip” D'Auteuil (+$92,617)
Year-to-date losers: Week’s biggest losers: Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (-$174,011), Try__An__Hit (-$130,221), janek321 (-$84,910), TheMuppet (-$82,802)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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