The Online Railbird Report: Benny Spindler & Ronny Kaiser Dominate PLO Action
The high-stakes online action was mouthwatering this past week as a virtual who’s who of poker stars were in action, creating some interesting matchups and table draws. There were some familiar names atop the winner’s list, but also quite a few pros who graced the loser’s roster.
Benny “toweliestar” Spindler was the week’s biggest winner after pocketing $389,583 in 13,839 hands spread across 204 sessions. Not too far behind was “long90110” (+$373,396 in 133 sessions/14,526 hands), “LewisFriend” (+$334,445 in 22 sessions/2,458 hands) and “milkybarkid” (+$305,952 in 63 sessions/5,028 hands). Rounding out the top five was Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser, who banked $281,271 in 99 sessions/5,466 hands.
As far as the losers are concerned, no one did worse than Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi, who dropped $359,375 in 4,233 hands spread over 76 sessions. Along with Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$276,795 in 75 sessions/3,406 hands) and Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (-$267,417 in 66 sessions/3,689 hands), they were the week’s top three biggest losers.
Plenty of PLO Action
On Thursday, March 15, there was a ton of pot-limit Omaha action played from $50/$100 all the way up to $200/$400. One man in action was Terje “Terken89” Augdal, who was the third biggest winner of the day after banking $92,000 in over 5,000 hands of PLO.
In Augdal’s most notable hand, which ended up being the second biggest pot of the day, “Tsubi87” ($38,061.59) opened for $400 under the gun and cleared the field all the way back to “long90110” ($22,690.18), who put in a three-bet to $1,420 from the small blind. Augdal ($33,140) then four-bet to $4,780 from the big blind, both his opponents made the call, and the flop came down 9♣7♥5♣.
“Long90110” was first to act and he led out for $14,455, which prompted Augdal to move all in for $28,360. “Tsubi87” then moved all in, “long90110” called off his remaining $3,455.19 and the 5♠ was put out on the turn, followed by the 9♠ on the river. At that point, Augdal rolled over K♦K♣Q♣A♦ for kings and nines, which was good enough to win the $89,025 pot as both his opponents mucked.
In the biggest pot of the day, action was six handed at a $200/$400 PLO table when Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($50,117.51) opened for $800 from the hijack and Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen ($52,763.75) three-bet to $3,000 from the cutoff. The rest of the players got out of the way, Sahamies called, and the flop fell 7♠Q♦3♦.
Sahamies checked, Berndsen fired out $4,946.25, Sahamies check-raised to $21,433.75, and Berndsen moved all in for $49,763.75. Sahamies called off his remaining $25,683.75, and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
| Berndsen | A♦5♦Q♣J♣ |
| Sahamies | K♥Q♥10♦3♥ |
Sahamies had flopped two pair, and Berndsen held top pair and the nut-flush draw. The 8♠ changed nothing, but the 9♦ river did because it gave Berndsen the flush and the $100,830 pot.
Despite losing that pot, Sahamies managed to book a $107,000 win, making him the day’s second biggest winner behind “EireAbu,” rumored to be Jorryt van Hoof, who banked $128,000. Berndsen ended up being the biggest loser after dropping $195,000 to “EireAbu."
RaiseOnce, Win More
On Saturday, the $100/$200 PLO games were in full swing and “RaiseOnce,” the high-stakes pro rumored to be Phil Ivey, took full advantage. He played just 425 hands and booked an impressive $240,000 win to become the day’s biggest winner. Surprisingly, he did so without winning a top-ten pot.
Other players who booked solid wins were “long90110” (+$114,000), “ZhipOHoy” (+$104,000) and Joeri “L0ve2playU” van der Sman (+$70,000), who were the second, third and fourth biggest winners respectively. Of course where there are winners, there are also losers as Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (-$161,000), Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov (-$115,000), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (-$110,000) and Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (-$108,000) found out as all four finished as the day’s biggest losers.
Beware of Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser!
Monday belonged to one man, Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser. He owned the $100/$200 PLO table by winning an astounding $425,000, more than double of the day’s second biggest winner, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who profited $181,000 in over 5,500 hands. Rounding out the top four were Gabriel “verve.oasis” Goffi (+$127,000) and “long90110” (+$117,000).
In one of the more notable hands, action was four-handed when Kaiser ($88,272) opened for $600 under the gun. Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond ($75,427.32) was next to act on the button and three-bet to $2,260, which inspired both blinds to fold and Kaiser to make the call. The 4♣Q♥4♠ flop saw Kaiser check-raise Galfond’s bet of $1,800 up to $6,800, which the latter called.
When the 7♦ appeared on the turn, Kaiser led out for $13,600, Galfond called, and the K♣ peeled off on the river. Kaiser fired out $38,800 and Galfond quickly called. Kaiser rolled over Q♠Q♦J♥8♠ for a flopped full house, which was good enough to win the $123,375 pot.
In another hand, action was five handed when Kaiser ($56,332.12) opened for $600 in the cutoff. The button and small blind both folded to “long90110” ($161,338.66) on the big and he three-bet to $2,100. Not to be outdone, Kaiser four-bet to $4,200, “long90110” five-bet to $11,100, Kaiser called and the flop fell 10♣3♠K♠. “Long90110” led out for $22,495, Kaiser moved all in for $45,232.12 total and “long90110” made the call.
Showdown
| “long90110” | A♦A♥Q♦6♦ |
| Kaiser | 7♦7♥K♥K♣ |
The aces of “long90110” had been cracked by Kaiser’s flopped set of kings, though the former held a straight draw. The 4♠ turn changed nothing, and neither did the 2♥ river, and Kaiser took the $112,879 pot.
As if that wasn’t enough, Kaiser ($43,953.79) won another monster pot in a five-handed game when he opened for $600. Benny “Toweliestar” Spindler ($83,104.05) was next to act and called, while Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi ($29,642.79) three-bet $2,900 from the button. “Long90110” ($47,211.08) then four-bet to $10,300 from the small blind, Galfond ($51,458.62) called from the big blind, and Kaiser and Georgi came along for the ride.
The J♦7♦2♦ flop saw action check to Kaiser, and he fired out $6,200. Both Georgi and “long90110” folded, and Galfond check-raised all in for $41,158.62. Kaiser called off his remaining $27,453.79 and needed some help.
Showdown
| Galfond | Q♦A♥10♦8♥ |
| Kaiser | J♣J♥8♣8♦ |
As we said, the day belonged to Kaiser and it showed when the 2♥ spiked on the turn to give him a winning full house. After the Q♠ was put out on the river for good measure, Kaiser was pushed the $109,223 pot.
Galfond went on to lose $108,000 on the day, which was no surprise considering he lost two of day’s biggest pots. Joining him on the loser’s list was “mikki696” (-$296,000), Georgi (-$131,000) and Phil “takechip“ D’Auteuil (-$152,000), just to name a few.
No Sulking for Sulsky on Tuesday
Monday was kind to Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser, but Tuesday was just as good to Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky as he won $397,000 playing $100/$200 PLO games. It was also good to “Gozoboro,” who won $247,000 by dismantling Rui “PepperoniF” Cao in a heads-up battle. The latter ended up losing $246,000, making him the day’s biggest loser.
In one of the biggest hands of the day, which is one that Sulsky actually lost, Phil “MrSweets” Galfond ($82,710.60) opened for $833.60 and received a call from Rafi “refaelamit” Amit ($72,128.19). Sulsky ($20,000) then three-bet to $3,874.40, Galfond four-bet to $13,830.39, Amit called and Sulsky moved all in for $20,000 total. Galfond and Amit called, creating a pot of $60,300, and the Q♥9♠9♣ was put out on the flop.
Galfond led out for $7,600, Amit raised to $27,800, and Galfond moved all in. Amit had $24,328.20 remaining and committed it to the pot. The board completed the 10♣ on the turn followed by the 5♥ on the river, and Galfond revealed K♣K♥J♣3♥ for a king-high straight. Both of his opponents folded without exposing their cards, and the $164,671 pot was pushed to Galfond.
Even with that win, Galfond failed to do much on Tuesday; instead, pros like “doncarignano” (+$175,000), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$156,000) and Terje “Terken89” Augdal (+$137,000) ruled the roost. On the other end of the spectrum, Ville Wahlbeck (-$191,000), “Fake Love888” (-$187,000), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$155,000), Viktor "Isildur1” Blom (-$126,000) and Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov (-$124,000) all joined Cao on the loser’s side of things.
Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars
Week’s biggest winners (3/16-3/22): Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (+$389,583), “long90110” (+$373,396), “LewisFriend” (+$334,445), “milkybarkid” (+$305,952), Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (+$281,271), Terje “Terken89” Augdal (+$277,434)
Week’s biggest losers: Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (-$359,375), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$276,795), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (-$267,417), Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov (-$258,846), Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (-$255,482), “Fake Love888” (-$239,417)
Year-to-date winners: Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,364,096), “bernard-bb” (+$1,049,931), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$984,498), Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$786,817), “milkybarkid” (+$698,612), “patpatman” (+$685,623)
Year-to-date losers: Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$1,160,551), “Zypherin” (-$629,755), “long90110” (-$557,059), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$507,404), “julia753” (-$433,297), “VietRussian” (-$421,470), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$385,581)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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