The Online Railbird Report: Ben "Ben86" Tollerene Wins $631,824
Ben “Ben86” Tollerene had an awesome week, booking $631,824 in earnings across 10,524 hands. Other big winners included Andrew “Kanu7” Millar (+$274,787 in 9,876 hands) and Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (+$261,162 in 2,386 hands).
Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies has had an up and down year, and in last week’s Online Railbird Report things were starting to looking up for him. He was up nearly $1 million in two weeks; however, he was unable to keep that momentum going.
In fact, Sahamies ended up this week’s biggest loser after giving back $454,092 in 3,636 hands spread across 46 sessions. Joining him on the loser’s list were Ben “milkybarkid” Grundy (-$187,502 in 5,380 hands), Gabriel “verve.oasis” Goffi (-$119,570 in 4,558 hands) and “Zypherin” (-$110,035 in 3,470 hands).
A Good Friday for Tollerene
On Friday, April 6, Ben “Ben86” Tollerene booked a $94,000 win to finish as the day’s biggest winner. He played various stakes of no-limit hold’em, but most action happened at the $100/$200 tables. It was there that Tollerene won the two biggest pots of the session.
In the first, action was six-handed when “FMyLife” ($20,000) opened for $600 from the cutoff and Tollerene ($20,000) called from the button. “Hilacha12” ($20,704.15) then three-bet to $2,200 from the small blind, “FMyLife” folded, Tollerene called and the flop came down J♥4♥3♥. “Hilacha12” wasted little time in leading out for $3,400. Tollerene called, and the 2♣ was put out on the turn.
This time “Hilacha12” check-called a bet of $4,600 before moving all in on the 3♦ river. Tollerene called off for $9,800 and revealed A♥5♥ for a flush, which was good enough to take down the $40,800 pot as “Hilacha12’s” 10♣10♥ failed to hold.
The other big hand also happened at a six-handed $100/$200 table and began when “mickan1984” ($6,490) opened for $600 from the cutoff and Tollerene ($20,543) three-bet to $1,500. Rob “Vaga_Lion” Akery then four-bet to $3,600 from the small blind, “mickan1984” folded and Tollerene made the call. Akery proceeded to lead out for $2,400 on the 2♥9♥3♥ flop, only to have Tollerene move all in for $16,943. Akery had $10,495 behind and committed it to the pot.
Showdown
| Akery | K♣K♥ |
| Tollerene | A♥Q♠ |
Akery was out in front with pocket kings, but Tollerene was drawing to an ace or any heart. The 4♠ turn gave the latter extra outs to the straight, but it was the 6♥ river that gave him the flush and the $33,785 pot.
While Tollerene finished as the day’s biggest winner, Benny “toweliestar” Spindler was far less fortunate, finishing as the biggest loser after dropping $90K in approximately 4,500 hands. Not far behind was Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, who had an $87K loss of his own.
SuperStars in a Showdown
On Sunday, Alex “Kanu7” Millar played two four-hour sessions at $50/$100 no-limit hold’em against Isaac “philivey2694” Haxton and came out a $90,000 winner. Both players had previously squared off against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom in PokerStars’ SuperStar Showdown, and this marked their first confrontation against one another since battling the Swede.
The biggest hand of the match, which lasted nearly 1,400 hands, went to Millar. Millar ($21,621.13) opened for $250 from the button and Haxton ($27,535.11) responded with a three-bet to $1,000. Millar made the call and then fired out $1,350 after Haxton checked the 9♠9♥7♥ flop. Haxton called and then both players checked the 3♠ turn, leading to the 9♣ river.
At that point, Haxton check-raised all in for $25,185.11 after Millar bet $3,200. The latter had $16,021.13 behind and called off holding 4♠4♦, which bested Haxton’s A♥Q♣.
In Haxton’s biggest hand, Millar ($35,120.22) opened for $250 on the button and Haxton (($17,472.59) made the call, bringing about a 8♣6♥7♥ flop. From there, Haxton check-called a bet of $300, and then check-called a bet of $800 on the Q♦ turn. When the 7♣ appeared on the river, Haxton took the initiative and led out for $2,700, which Millar quickly raised to $9,400. Haxton pushed back with an all-in shove to $16,122.59, and Millar called with 8♠6♦ for a flopped two pair. Unfortunately for him, Haxton rolled over Q♣7♠ for rivered trips to win the $34,943 pot.
Haxton ended up being the day’s biggest loser, dropping $91K, while Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov followed him on the list with $78K in losses.
Tollerene Back in the Black
Ben “Ben86” Tollerene was back in action in the early morning hours of Monday playing $25/$50 and $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha. He played nearly 2,000 hands and came out a $136,000 winner, putting him back in the black for 2012.
Most of Tollerene’s action came against Ben “milkybarkid” Grundy, who was the most recent player featured in our “Online Chat” interview series. The two squared off at $100/$200 PLO and it did not go well for Grundy, who became the day’s biggest loser after dropping $116K.
In their biggest hand, Grundy ($45,023.12) opened for $400 and Tollerene ($28,728.08) exercised his option in the big blind with a three-bet to $1,280. After Grundy made the call, the flop came out 10♦8♦8♥ and Tollerene bet $1,300. Grundy called that bet, and then called Tollerene’s bet of $4,190.39 on the K♦ turn. The 3♥ river saw Tollerene continue his aggression by leading out for $10,895.04, only to have Grundy move all in. Tollerene called off his remaining $11,062.63, creating a $57,454 pot, and revealed 8♣7♦Q♦10♠ for eights full, which bested Grundy’s K♥10♥6♥9♦.
In the other notable hand between the two players, Tollerene ($30,747) was on the button and raised to $448, which Grundy ($23,815) called. The 10♥3♠5♣ flop saw Grundy check-raise Tollerene’s bet of $642.84 up to $2,405.38, which inspired Tollerene to three-bet $5,800. The action didn’t stop there as Grundy five-bet to $20,779.38, Tollerene moved all in, and Grundy called off his last $2,587.61.
Showdown
| Grundy | 10♦10♣9♠6♥ |
| Tollerene | A♦Q♥10♠5♥ |
Tollerene had flopped top-two pair, but was way behind the flopped set of Grundy. Neither the 2♣ turn nor 9♥ river changed a thing, and Grundy took down the $47,628 pot.
Kyllönen Banks $172K on Tuesday
After dominating the high-stakes action early this year, Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen had been relatively quiet of late. That all changed on Tuesday when he became the day’s biggest winner after profiting $172K, pretty much all of which came from just 344 hands of $100/$200 PLO. It was during that time that he took down the two biggest pots of the day:
Hand #1: With action six handed, Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser ($37,250.50) opened for $600 under the gun and was called by “Fake Love888” ($43,865) in the cutoff. Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($82,977.63) then three-bet to $2,940 from the button, Kyllönen ($39,369.50) called from the big blind, and Kaiser four-bet $13,300. “Fake Love888” got out of the way, both Sahamies and Kyllönen made the call, and the flop came out 9♥K♣3♦. Kyllönen checked, Kaiser moved all in for $23,950.50, Sahamies folded, and Kyllönen made the call.
Showdown
| Kyllönen | K♦Q♠9♠7♦ |
| Kaiser | A♣A♠2♠6♥ |
Kyllönen had flopped two pair to crack Kaiser’s aces and didn’t relinquish the lead as the 7♣ peeled off on the turn followed by the 8♣ on the river.
Hand #2: Kyllönen ($60,357.50) opened for $940 form under the gun and was called by “Zypherin” ($37,993.75), who is rumored to be Cirque Du Soleil's founder Guy Laliberté. “H?rh?” ($10,240) then three-bet $4,200 from the small blind, both his opponents called, and the flop fell 5♥10♦9♥. “H?rh?” instantly moved all in for $6,040, Kyllönen raised to $31,122.50, and “Zypherin” moved all in for $33,793.75. Kyllönen called and the cards were turned up.
Showdown
| Kyllönen | 8♦6♦9♣7♠ |
| “Zypherin” | A♦3♦Q♣J♣ |
| “H?rh?” | K♦Q♥A♠7♦ |
Kyllönen was out in front with his pair of nines, but there were plenty of cards left in the deck that could change the action. Luckily for Kyllönen, his hand only got stronger as the 9♦ turn gave him trips and the 6♠ river filled him up, giving him the $86,543 pot.
Joining Kyllönen as big winners were Kaiser and Ben “Ben86” Tollerene, who won $114K and $96K respectively. On the flip side, Sahamies was the day’s biggest loser having lost $171K.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (4/6-4/12): Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$631,824), Andrew “Kanu7” Millar (+$274,787), Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (+$261,162), “Tsubi87” (+$206,414)
Week’s biggest losers: Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$454,092), Ben “milkybarkid” Grundy (-$187,502), Gabriel “verve.oasis” Goffi (-$119,570), “Zypherin” (-$110,035)
Year-to-date winners: Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,485,554), “bernard-bb” (+$1,054,075), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$883,876), “EireAbu” (+$867,809), Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$862,455)
Year-to-date losers: Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$823,979), “Zypherin” (-$730,532), “Fake Love888” (-$564,062), “long90110” (-$557,059), “julia753” (-$512,746)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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