The Online Railbird Report: Sahamies Wins Big Again; “Zypherin” Drops $450K
Plenty of action took place at the high-stakes felt on PokerStars this week, though no staggering win like Ben “Ben86” Tollerene’s $631,824 profit last week. Instead, this week saw pros like Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker and David “Deldar182” Eldar put in tons of play and grind out respectable wins. The biggest winner, though, was Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, who won $283,435 in 7,054 hands spread across 85 sessions.
One who didn't do too well for himself this week, or all year long for that matter, was “Zypherin,” rumored to be Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, who was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $450,302 in 5,241 hands. “Zypherin” is the year’s biggest loser through April 19, down $1,180,835, nearly twice the amount as the next biggest loser.
Joining “Zypherin” in the loser column was Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (-$285,670 in 2,566 hands), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$200,059 in 3,779 hands) and Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (-$176,571 in 4,287 hands).
Here’s a look at some of the more interesting hands and story lines from the past week:
Heinecker Dominates $200/$400 NLHE on Friday
On Friday, a $200/$400 no-limit hold’em games sprung up featuring a full six-max table that included players such as Ben “Ben86” Tollerene, Andrew “Kanu7” Millar, “mikki696” and Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker. When all was said and done, the Heinecker was the big winner with a profit of $65,000. Combined with his other winnings from the day, the German NLHE specialist collected $110K in profits. That was enough to make him the day’s biggest winner.
In Heinecker’s biggest hand in the $200/$400 game, action was five handed when Millar ($47,980) opened for $1,000 on the button. Heinecker ($74,155.75) was next to act in the small blind and three-bet to $3,400, only to have “mikki696” ($31,915) four-bet to $7,950. Millar got out of the way, Heinecker moved all in, and “mikki696” called off his remaining $23,565.
Showdown
| “mikki696” | K♥J♥ |
| Heinecker | A♣K♠ |
Heinecker was in a dominating spot, especially after the flop fell A♠3♦9♣ to give him a pair of aces. Neither the 5♥ turn nor 6♥ river changed a thing, and Heinecker took down the $64,825 pot.
The game's biggest hand developed when “sat1337en” ($33,995) opened for $1,200 from the cutoff in a six-handed game, Tollerene ($41,346) three-bet to $3,400 from the button, and both blinds got out of the way. From there, “sat1337en” four-bet to $8,400, Tollerene moved all in, and “sat1337en” called of his remaining $25,595. The board ran out 9♣6♦8♣A♥6♣ and “sat1337en” rolled over A♠Q♠, which was good enough to win the $68,585 pot as Tollerene simply mucked.
Tollerene Continues Winning Ways on Saturday
In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we highlighted Ben “Ben86” Tollerene’s excellent week. He managed to rediscover his winning ways on Saturday when he banked an impressive $171K playing $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha. The majority of that came in a 3.5-hour session, which also saw the day’s biggest hand develop.
At a six-handed table, Benny “toweliestar” Spindler ($21,576.95) opened for $300 from the cutoff. Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser ($65,563.87) then three-bet to $1,100 from the small blind, Tollerene ($66,836.17) four-bet to $3,720 from the big, and Spindler made the call. With action back on Kaiser, he five-bet $15,000. Tollerene and Kaiser called, and the flop came out 2♥K♠3♠.
Kaiser immediately led out for $45,115, Tollerene moved all in for $51,836.18, Spindler called off for $6,576.94 and Kaiser called off his remaining $5,428.86.
Showdown
| Kaiser | A♦A♠9♥8♥ |
| Tollerene | K♦K♥4♥5♦ |
| Spindler | 8♣5♣7♦4♠ |
Tollerene had flopped top set to crack Kaiser’s aces, but there were plenty of draws out there, most notably Spindler’s open-ended straight draw. Luckily for Tollerene, the Q♠ turn was a brick, as was the 9♠ river, and he took down the $152,760 pot.
That pot contributed to Spindler’s $160,000 loss on the day, which made him Saturday’s biggest loser. “Zypherin,” who dropped $106K on the day, followed him.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
There was some big action Sunday at the $100/$200 PLO tables. Australian pro David “Deldar182” Eldar emerged with a remarkable $268K in profit. He played for 11 hours against the likes of Ilari “Ilari Fin” Sahamies, “Fake Love88,” and Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen, just to name a few.
Despite being the big winner, Eldar wasn’t involved in any of the day’s big pots, instead taking down a number of medium sized ones. In one hand, Eldar ($34,253.25) opened for $600 after action folded to him in the cutoff only to have Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond ($72,047.80) three-bet to $2,140 from the big blind. Eldar made the call and it was heads-up to the K♥9♥6♠ flop. Galfond led out for $2,600, Eldar raised to $12,415, Galfond three-bet $41,860 and Eldar called off his remaining $19,658.25.
Showdown
| Eldar | 6♣6♦2♠2♣ |
| Galfond | Q♥10♥10♦8♦ |
Eldar had flopped bottom set but needed to dodge Galfond's straight and flush draws. The A♥ turn gave Galfond the that flush, leaving Eldar in need of a paired board on the river. Sure enough, the K♦ spiked to give him the $68,762 pot.
In another one of his notable hands, action was five-handed when it folded around to Eldar ($70,173.50) in the small blind. He raised to $800, and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($28,872) three-bet to $2,600 from the big. Eldar opted to make it $8,000, Blom called, and the flop fell 4♥8♦7♦. The Aussie led out for $16,195 and then called the additional $4,677 after the Swede shipped his stack of $20,872.
Showdown
| Eldar | A♥A♦8♣4♠ |
| Blom | 10♥9♠5♠6♥ |
Blom had flopped the nuts and was ahead of Eldar’s two pair. The 3♥ turn bore little consequence, but the 8♥ river did as it gave the Aussie a full house and the $57,859 pot.
Both Blom and Galfond ended up in the red, dropping $104K and $301K, respectively. Not surprisingly, the latter’s massive loss made him the day’s biggest loser. Joining Eldar on the winner’s side of things were Andrew “Kanu7” Millar (+$221K) and “Phisherman36” (+$174K).
Manic Monday for Sahamies
On Monday, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies returned to his winning ways when he raked in $324K at the $50/$100 and $100/$200 PLO tables. During that time, he took down two of the day’s three biggest pots:
Hand #1: In the biggest pot of the day, Sahamies ($176,009) was playing heads up against Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond ($50,000) at a $100/$200 table. Sahamies was on the button and opened for $680, and Galfond three-bet to $2,120. Not to be outdone, Sahamies four-bet $6,400. Galfond called, and the flop fell 5♥3♣K♣, which both players checked. When the 9♥ appeared on the turn, Galfond led out for $12,958 before calling off his remaining $30,602 to the Fin’s shove.
Showdown
| Sahamies | A♣A♠10♥7♥ |
| Galfond | K♥K♦Q♣8♦ |
It was a classic aces-versus-kings situation, but Galfond had flopped a set to take the lead. Unfortunately for him, the A♥ river gave Sahamies a flush and the $99,998 pot.
Hand #2: In another heads-up match, this time against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($67,160), Sahamies ($48,432) opened for $680 from the button only to have his opponent three-bet to $2,120. Sahamies made the call before raising Blom’s bet of $2,800 on the 10♠4♥5♠ flop up to $12,718. Blom pushed back to the tune of $42,472, Sahamies moved all in for a few thousand more, and Blom made the call.
Showdown
| Sahamies | Q♥10♣4♣5♥ |
| Blom | A♦K♦10♥4♠ |
Sahamies had flopped top two pair, which was ahead of Blom's top and bottom pair. Unfortunately for the Fin, the A♠ spiked on the turn to give Blom a bigger two pair. After the 6♣ blanked on the river, the $96,862 pot was pushed to the Swede.
Hand #3: Sahamies got his revenge against Blom by taking down the day’s third biggest pot. It began when Sahamies ($48,170) opened for $680, Blom ($42,048) three-bet to $2,120, Sahamies four-bet $6,440, and Blom called. On the 2♣3♥Q♠ flop, Blom proceeded to check-raise all in for $35,608 total after Sahamies bet $7,800. Sahamies made the call.
Showdown
| Sahamies | A♦A♣K♣9♦ |
| Blom | J♣7♣5♠3♠ |
Sahamies was ahead with his pocket aces and stayed in the lead as the 6♣ turn and 3♣ river improved him to a flush. The Fin scooped a pot worth $84,096.
Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky and Blom ended up finishing as the day’s biggest losers, dropping $118K and $96K, respectively. Most of that cash went to Sahamies, but the day’s big winner couldn’t hold on to all his profit as he proceeded to drop $182K back on Tuesday.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (4/13-4/19): Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$283,435), “Phisherman36” (+$263,209), David “Deldar182” Eldar (+$262,666), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$214,370), Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (+$158,163)
Week’s biggest losers: “Zypherin” (-$450,302), Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (-$285,670), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$200,059), Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (-$176,571), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (-$154,006)
Year-to-date winners: Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,331,547), “bernard-bb” (+$1,063,508), Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$1,020,617), “EireAbu” (+$982,360), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$805,371)
Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$1,180,835), “Fake Love888” (-$599,915), “long90110” (-$557,059), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$540,953), “VietRussian” (-$520,629), “julia753” (-$517,354)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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