The Online Railbird Report: Phil Galfond Returns; Ben Tollerene Breaks $2 Million
The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Sanremo has come to an end, and while Benny “toweliestar” Spindler was busy winning the €10,000 High Roller, a host of other players were busy pillaging the online high-stakes games.
Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom fared well, with Galfond winning $297,720 (28 sessions/3,365 hands), and Blom banking $212,280 (201 sessions/11,548 hands).
“Patpatman” finished as the week’s biggest loser after dropping a staggering $654,593 in 6,529 hands. Joining him in the losing column was Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$264,245 in 10 sessions/941 hands) and Alex “Kanu7” Millar (-$227,910 in 28 sessions/2,831 hands).
Tollerene Continues to Roll; Breaks $2 Million in Profit
Last week, Ben “Ben86” Tollerene won $178,772 and kept the ball rolling with a $216,000 win on Thursday, Oct. 4, putting him up over $2 million in profit in just two months. His latest win came at the $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha tables where he played for three hours against Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, “RaiseOnce” and Victor “Isildur1” Blom, just to name a few.
In his biggest pot, action was six-handed when “Odd_Oddsen” ($38,683.54) opened for $828 under the gun and was called by “The Liar” ($69,692.82) in the hijack. Sahamies ($43,428.90) then called from the button, “azn_baller3” ($11,600) three-bet to $4,540 from the small blind, and Tollerene ($38,332.98) called from the big blind. “Odd_Oddsen” then four-bet to $20,644, “The Liar” and Sahamies both folded, and the “azn_baller3” called off for $11,600. Tollerene made the call and then check-called “Odd_Oddsen’s” all-in shove of $18,039.54 on the 4♣J♠A♣ flop.
| [U]Showdown[/U] |
| “Odd_Oddsen”: K♣K♦3♦3♥ |
| “azn_baller3”: A♦5♦J♦K♠ |
| Tollerene: 9♣8♣9♠8♠ |
The 2♣ on the turn gave Tollerene a flush, and the 3♠ river saw the $89,917 pot pushed his way.
In another hand, action was heads-up between Tollerene ($44,616) and Sahamies ($125,502) when the latter opened for $1,360 and then called when the former three-bet to $4,240. The 8♥6♠J♣ flop saw Tollerene lead out for $5,444, Sahamies raise to $24,970, and Tollerene moved all in for $40,376 total. Sahamies made the call and the cards were turned up.
| [U]Showdown[/U] |
| Sahamies: A♠K♣6♥6♦ |
| Tollerene: Q♠J♠J♦9♦ |
Both players had flopped a set, but Tollerene’s jacks had him out in front. Neither the Q♥ turn nor A♦ river changed a thing, and Tollerene took down the $89,230 pot.
Blom is Back; Wins $511,800 after 18.5 Hours on Friday
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom hasn’t been playing much at the high-stakes tables as of late, but when he does, he tends to put in a lot of hours. On Friday, Oct. 5, he did just that by playing for 18.5 hours and winning $511,800. He did so playing at various stakes of PLO, but the biggest pots came from the $200/$400 tables.
It was there that he won his biggest pot in a three-handed game against “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($121,813.85) and “patpatman” ($78,401.39) when the former opened for $880 on the button. The latter then three-bet to $3,280 from the small blind, Blom ($143,983.25) four-bet to $10,960 from the big, and “1Il|1Il|1il|” folded. “Patpatman” responded with a five-bet to $34,000, Blom called, and the flop fell 10♣4♥Q♠. “Patpatman” wasted little time in moving all in for $44,401.40 and Blom made a quick call.
| [U]Showdown[/U] |
| Blom: 6♠8♦10♠9♦ |
| “patpatman”: K♦Q♦A♥9♥ |
“Patpatman” had flopped top pair and was in the lead, but Blom picked up a flush draw on the 5♠ turn to go with his pair of tens. No spade came on the river, but the 6♦ did give Blom two pair and the $157,758 pot.
Even though Blom won that hand, he did lose some pretty big ones. In the largest, action was heads-up when Blom ($127,201.22) opened for $1,200 and then called when “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($99,014.50) three-bet to $3,760, which brought about a 7♦K♦3♣ flop. “1Il|1Il|1il|” bet $5,600, Blom called, and then the 10♥ appeared on the turn. “1Il|1Il|1il|” kept the pressure on with a $14,400 bet, but this time Blom pushed back to the tune of $62,078. “1Il|1Il|1il|” then moved all in for $89,654.50 total and Blom made the call.
Showdown
Blom: K♥J♦2♠6♦
“1Il|1Il|1il|”: 10♦10♠3♥3♦
“1Il|1Il|1il|” was ahead with a set of tens, and after the 4♥ peeled off on the river, the $198,027 pot was pushed his way.
In another notable hand, the game and players were the same when Blom ($113,304.85) opened for $1,200 and then called when “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($98,227.39) three-bet to $3,760, which brought about a 4♠Q♥9♠ flop. “1Il|1Il|1il|” was first to act and bet $5,200, Blom raised to $16,400, and “1Il|1Il|1il|” three-bet to $56,878. Blom responded by moving all in and “1Il|1Il|1il|” called off his remaining $37,509.
Showdown
Blom: Q♠Q♣K♦7♠
“1Il|1Il|1il|”: A♣A♠K♠J♥
Blom had flopped a set of queens, but “1Il|1Il|1il|” was drawing to the nut flush. The 2♠ turn completed the flush for “1Il|1Il|1il|”, and then the 6♣ river failed to pair the board on the river for Blom. With that, Blom watched the $196,453 pot go to his opponent.
Galfond Returns to a $291,000 Win
Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, who recently sold his sweet New York bachelor pad, was back in action on Sunday after a long absence from the high-stakes tables. He played $100/$200 PLO against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen, and after four hours, Galfond won $291,300.
In his biggest pot, action was heads-up when Kyllönen ($34,166.20) opened for $500 on the button and Galfond ($76,980.86) three-bet to $1,580. Not to be outdone, Kyllönen four-bet $4,820, Galfond called, and the flop came down 9♦A♦10♥. Galfond checked, Kyllönen bet $9,718, and then Galfond woke up with a check-raise to $38,872. Kyllönen called off his remaining $19,628.20 and the cards were flipped up.
| [U]Showdown[/U] |
| Kyllönen: A♠10♠K♥2♥ |
| Galfond: K♣10♣K♦10♦ |
Kyllönen had flopped two pair, but Galfond held a set with the nut-flush redraw. The Q♥ turn gave Kyllönen a flush draw of his own, but the 9♠ river paired the board and gave the $68,330 pot to Galfond.
In another hand between the two, Galfond ($168,384.20) raised to $624 on the button and Kyllönen ($33,800.59) defended from the big. Kyllönen check-raised Galfond’s $957 bet on the K♦4♠5♣ flop up to $2,800, a call was made, and the 2♦ peeled off on the turn. This time Kyllönen led out for $5,200 and then three-bet all in for $30,376.59 after Galfond raised to $22,526. A call followed and the A♥ river completed the board. Kyllönen showed K♠K♣10♠2♥ for a set of kings, but the $67,599 pot was pushed to Galfond after he flipped over 6♣3♥8♥4♥ for a straight.
Sulsky vs. Millar in Monday $100/$200 NLHE Action
Pot-limit Omaha dominated the weekend, but the new week kicked off with an entertaining game of $100/$200 no-limit hold’em where Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky squared off against Alex “Kanu7” Millar. The two played more than 700 hands over three hours, and Sulsky ended up relieving Millar of $114,000.
In the biggest pot the two played, Millar ($38,905.59) opened for $500 on the button and Sulsky ($51,028.40) three-bet to $1,666. Millar made the call and then bet $2,000 after Sulsky checked the 2♣A♣8♥ flop. Sulsky proceeded to check-raise to $6,111, Millar called, and the 5♠ turned. Millar called a bet of $9,111 from his opponent, and then called off $22,017.59 when Sulsky shoved the 10♥ river, which created a pot worth $77,809. Millar rolled over A♥10♣ for two pair, but it was no good as Sulsky had flopped a set with 8♦8♣.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (10/5-10/10): “1Il|1Il|1il|” (+$303,513), Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (+$297,720), “RaiseOnce” (+$255,690), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$212,280), “Odd_Oddsen” (+$211,909)
Week’s biggest losers: “patpatman” (-$654,593), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$264,245), Rui “PepperoniF” Cao (-$237,178), “joiso” (-$229,192), Alex “Kanu7” Millar (-$227,910)
Year-to-date winners: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$2,977,970), “EireAbu” (+$2,302,034), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$2,274,159), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$2,249,012), Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (+$2,196,270), “bernard-bb” (+$1,732,118), Alex “Kanu7” Millar (+$1,475,245)
Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$3,048,630), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$2,369,526), “patpatman” (-$1,601,336), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$1,043,385), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$1,008,270), Gus “broksi” Hansen (-$725,142)
Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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