The Online Railbird Report: Sulsky Wins $398,000; “EireAbu” Atop Yearly Leaderboard
This week’s high-stakes action on PokerStars did not disappoint because pretty much every high-stakes pro turned out to take a shot at the juicy games, including the rarely spread $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha. At stakes that high, there were, obviously, some big winners and losers, including three who banked over $300,000 and three players who lost that much.
Although a lot of players had a good week, no one did better than Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky, who finished as the biggest winner after winning $398,147 in 6,461 hands spread across 55 sessions. Not far behind was Ben “Ben86” Tollerene, who profited $367,455 in 2,504 hands, and “EireAbu” (+$309,688 in 78 sessions/8,703), whose win put him atop the yearly leaderboard in front of “bernard-bb” (+$1,270,030) and Sulsky (+$1,202,580).
Like last week, “Zypherin” was the biggest loser, dropping a staggering $537,620 in 4,420 hands across 20 sessions, which brought his losses for the past two weeks up to over $1 million. Likewise, it wasn’t a good week for “RaiseOnce” (-$347,909 in 14 sessions/754 hands), Andrew "Kanu7” Millar (-$299,420 in 51 sessions/6,558 hands), “yiyi01” (-$292,389 in 57 sessions/5,780 hands), and “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$281,831 in 28 sessions/1,819 hands)
Nearly $400,000 in One Day for Galfond
On Thursday, April 19, Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond crushed the high-stakes PLO games for $398,000, erasing his $300,000 loss from earlier that week. The action was at the $100/$200 tables and included the familiar cast of characters.
Hand #1: Action was four handed when Ben “Ben86” Tollerene ($174,171.39) opened for $600 under the gun. Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($150,854.56) was next to act and three-bet to $2,260, which Galfond ($65,142) called from the small blind. Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov ($17,580) then put in a four-bet to $9,800 from the big, Sahamies called, and Galfond five-bet $42,120. Makarov called off his remaining $7,780, Sahamies called, and the flop fell 2♣6♠K♥. Galfond wasted little time in moving all in for $23,022, Sahamies called, and the cards were turned up.
Showdown
| Galfond | A♦A♣10♦2♥ |
| Sahamies | 10♥10♣3♣3♥ |
| Makarov | A♠K♠J♠4♦ |
Galfond was ahead with aces and held the lead as the 9♦ turn and 5♣ river failed to change a thing and the $148,299 pot was sent his way.
Hand #2: With action six handed, “Zypherin” ($20,306) opened for $600 and was called by “Fake Love888” ($54,791.91) from the cutoff. Galfond ($109,764.50) then three-bet to $2,940 from the button, the blinds got out of the way, the other two players called, and the flop came down 7♦K♦9♣.
“Zypherin” checked, “Fake Love888” bet $7,200, and Galfond raised to $30,955. After “Zypherin” got out of the way, “Fake Love888” moved all-in for $51,851.91 total and Galfond called the additional $20,896.91.
Showdown
| Galfond | A♥K♥K♣J♦ |
| “Fake Love888” | 7♥7♠10♦9♥ |
“Fake Love888” had flopped bottom set but ran it straight into Galfond’s top set. Neither the A♠ turn nor 10♠ river changed the lead and Galfond took down the $112,979 pot.
Hand #3: In four-handed action, Sahamies ($53,081.76) opened for $800 on the button, and Galfond ($88,052.63) called from the big blind. On the 9♠10♣4♣ flop, Galfond check-raised Sahamies’ $1,855 bet up to $5,400, but Sahamies pushed back to the tune of $18,055. Not to be deterred, Galfond four-bet to $48,400, Sahamies moved all in for $52,281.76 total, and Galfond called the additional $3,811.76.
Showdown
| Galfond | K♣3♣Q♦4♦ |
| Sahamies | 10♠10♦8♣5♠ |
Sahamies was ahead with top set but needed to dodge his opponent's straight and flush draws. He did so on the 3♥ turn, but couldn’t sweat the river as the 7♣ spiked to give Galfond the $106,339 pot.
Sahamies ended up being the day’s biggest loser, dropping $260,000, while “Zypherin” (-$123,000) and Makarov (-$121,000) followed him on the loser’s list.
Fire Up the $200/$400 PLO
On Friday, April 20, two tables of $200/$400 PLO were in action and attracted pretty much all the high-stakes regulars. The game went through the night, and when all was said and done, Australian pro David “Deldar182” Eldar emerged the big winner with $276,000 in profit. On the flip side, “Zypherin” was the day’s biggest loser after dropping a staggering $502,000.
In one hand, Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($78,570.55) opened for $1,600 from the cutoff and received a call from Eldar ($107,219.11) in the small blind. Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky ($57,408.12) then came in with a three-bet to $6,880 from the big blind, both his opponents called, and the 4♠J♣J♥ appeared on the flop.
Eldar checked, Sulsky fired out $8,111, and Kyllönen raised to $17,200. Eldar then woke up with a check-raise to $26,400, Sulsky moved all-in for $50,528.12, Kyllönen got out of the way, and Eldar made the call.
Showdown
| Eldar | 7♦8♥9♠J♠ |
| Sulsky | A♣A♠7♣J♦ |
Both players had flopped trip jacks, but Sulsky’s ace kicker put him in the lead. Much to his dismay, the 9♦ peeled off on the turn to give Eldar a full house. With the 8♠ turn of no consequence, Eldar took down the $139,211 pot, his largest of the session.
Although Eldar won that pot, it wasn't even one of the top two biggest of the day. In the biggest, Kyllönen ($88,023) opened for $1,600 under the gun only to have “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($121,750) three-bet $5,880. Both blinds got out of the way, Kyllönen four-bet $20,320, “1Il|1Il|1il|” called, and the flop came out 10♣J♥5♦. Kyllönen was first to act and led out for $38,515, “1Il|1Il|1il|” moved all in for $101,430, and Kyllönen called off his remaining $29,188.
Showdown
"1Il|1Il|1il|” | 9♠8♦6♠7♥
Kyllönen |A♣K♣K♦Q♥
Both players had flopped straight draws, but Kyllönen was ahead with pocket kings. The 6♦ turn gave “1Il|1Il|1il|” even more outs, but the 5♥ river was not one of them and Kyllönen raked in the $176,961 pot. Despite the win, Kyllönen went on to lose $168,500 on the day.
In the second biggest hand of the day, Eldar limped under the gun and Sulsky ($86,552.77) put in a raise to $2,200 from the cutoff. “Yiyi01” was in the small blind and three-bet to $7,800, clearing out the player in the big blind and Eldar. Sulsky made the call and then bet $8,888 on the 10♣3♥2♠ flop after “yiyi01” checked. The latter then woke up with a check-raise to $43,459, Sulsky moved all in for $78,672.77 total, and “yiyi01” made the call.
Showdown
| “yiyi01” | K♠K♦8♦7♠ |
| Sulsky | 10♠9♥8♥3♠ |
“Yiyi01” held a big pocket pair of kings, but Sulsky managed to flop two pair to take the lead. The 7♦ turn didn’t change a thing and neither did the 5♥ river, and Sulsky was awarded the $174,141 pot. He went on to profit $208,000 on the day.
“EireAbu” Moves Atop Yearly Leaderboard
On Monday, “EireAbu” booked a $166,000 win, which gave him $1.24 million in earnings thus far in 2012 and surpassing Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen atop the leaderboard. Grimason was far and away the day’s biggest winner, and “RaiseOnce” was the biggest loser after dropping $140,000.
In Grimason’s ($47,901.80) biggest pot, he opened for $300 under the gun and was met with a three-bet to $1,170 by Ben “milkybarkid” Grundy ($24,410), on the button. Both blinds got out of the way, Grimason called, and the flop fell 8♥A♦A♣. Grimason proceeded to check-call a bet of $2,031.90 and then check-called a bet of $5,201.65 on the 8♦ turn.
When the 7♣ appeared on the river, Grimason checked and then called Grundy’s all-in shove for $16,006.44, creating a pot worth $49,045. The latter rolled over A♠K♦10♣2♣ for trip aces, but it was no good against Grimason’s A♥7♦10♥6♥ for a full house.
Millar and Sahamies on the “Sauce123”
On Wednesday, Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky squared off against Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies and Andrew “Kanu7” Millar at $100/$200 PLO and NLHE respectively. Sulsky had a great day, winning $159,000 between the two opponents. Meanwhile, Sahamies dropped $168,000 on the day and Millar lost $72,000.
In the biggest pot of the day, Sulsky ($52,145) opened for $600 on the button and Sahamies ($90,086) three-bet to $1,880. From there, Sulsky opted for the four-bet to $5,720, Sahamies called and the flop fell 10♠9♥K♣. Sahamies checked, Sulsky bet $6,666 and Sahamies check-raised to $31,516. Sulsky simply moved all-in for $46,385 total and Sahamies called the additional $14,909.
Showdown
| Sahamies | K♦K♠9♦2♥ |
| Sulsky | A♠J♦5♦Q♠ |
Sahamies had flopped top set, but Sulsky was sitting with the nut straight. That meant Sahamies needed the board to pair in order to win, which didn’t happen as the 3♣ appeared on the turn followed by the Q♦ on the river. With that, Sulsky raked in a pot worth $104,288.
Sulsky also won the biggest pot in his match with Millar, lasting less than 300 hands and ending in an hour. In that hand, Millar ($32,798) opened for $500 and Sulsky ($30,788) popped it to $1,888. A call was made and Sulsky led out for $1,777 on the 2♥3♣2♠ flop. Millar responded with a raise to $4,200 and Sulsky called before check-calling a bet of $7,500 on the 6♣ turn.
Once again Sulsky checked on the 8♠ river but turned right around and called off his stack of $17,200 with 3♦2♦, which bested Millar’s A♦4♦. Sulsky was awarded the $61,574 pot.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (4/20-4/26): Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$398,147), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$367,455), “EireAbu” (+$309,688), Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov (+$261,713), David “Deldar182” Eldar (+$235,856)
Week’s biggest losers: “Zypherin” (-$537,620), “RaiseOnce” (-$347,909), Andrew Kanu7” Millar (-$299,420), “yiyi01” (-$292,389), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$281,831)
Year-to-date winners: “EireAbu” (+$1,292,048), “bernard-bb” (+$1,270,030), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$1,202,580), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,154,544), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$1,123,469), Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$1,055,988)
Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$1,749,241), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$766,003), Viktor “Isilidur1” Blom (-$628,693), “VietRussian” (-$562,061), “long90110” (-$557,059), “julia753” (-$526,609)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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