The Online Railbird Report: Kostritsyn Wins $1.1 Million, Ivey Up & More

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Mar 01, 2013 6 min read Last updated Nov 16, 2021

In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we told you about some great action at the PokerStars high-stakes tables, and this week we turn our attention back to Full Tilt Poker, which is where Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn finished as the week’s biggest winner (from Feb. 20-27) after profiting $1,114,471 in 7,002 hands spread across 89 sessions.

Other big winners this week included "kagome kagome” (+$780,256 in 44 sessions/5,456 hands), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (+$590,801 in 86 sessions/7,369 hands) and Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau (+$504,758 in 61 sessions/8,385 hands). Although it was a kind week for Ivey, he is still down a little over a million in 2013.

Poker is a zero-sum game, which means for every dollar won, another dollar is lost. No one lost more this week than the Macau-based “patpatpanda”, who dropped $728,354 in 13,584 hands spread across 107 sessions. Likewise, Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (-$683,294 in 55 sessions/5,012 hands), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$406,333 in 170 sessions/12,867 hands) and Hac “trex313” Dang (-$389,660 in 58 sessions/4,681 hands) all found themselves in the loser column after uncharacteristically bad weeks.

Luneau Wins $445K Playing 2-7 Triple Draw While Blom Drives PLO Action

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau walked away the day’s biggest winner after banking $445,000 at the 2-7 triple draw tables against Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, who ended up finishing as the biggest loser after dropping $630,000 (though he’d go on to get it back and then some over the next few days). While that game produced the biggest winner and loser, the real action centered around Viktor “Isildur1” Blom at the pot-limit Omaha games.

Blom started off with wins in both the cap PLO and uncapped PLO games before taking $239,000 from Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver at the 2-7 triple draw tables in just an hour and a half. From there, the Swede moved on to the $250/$500 PLO tables and worked his winnings up to $850,000. Unfortunately for him, and much to the surprise of the railbirds, he dropped nearly half a million back in just 30 minutes.

In one monster pot, which happened to be the day's biggest, action was six-handed when Hac “trex313” Dang ($189,913.50) opened for $1,500 on the button only to have Blom ($314,578.50) three-bet to $5,600 from the small blind. Dang responded by four-betting to $19,400, Blom five-bet to $54,800, and Dang called, bringing about a J♠2♣3♠ flop. Blom led out for $110,700 and then called $24,413.50 more when Dang moved all in for $135,113.50.

Blom: A♥A♠7♠K♦
Dang: K♥Q♣J♣9♥

Blom got it in with aces and the nut-flush draw, which was a huge favorite against Dang’s pair of jacks. Unfortunately for the Swede, the J♥ spiked on the turn to give Dang trips and a big lead. The 8♦ river failed to help Blom, and he watched the $380,724 pot pushed to his opponent.

In another notable hand, action was still six-handed when Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies ($67,622.89) called from the hijack seat, and Blom ($108,213.50) raised to $2,850 from the cutoff. Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky ($128,339) then three-bet to $10,150 from the small blind, Sahamies called, and Blom four-bet to $44,550. Two calls ensured, the flop fell 7♠2♦8♣, and Sulsky led out for $83,789. Sahamies and Blom both called off for $23,072.90 and $63,663.50, respectively, and the cards were turned up.

Sahamies: 5♦6♦6♣7♣
Sulsky: K♥10♥10♠9♠
Blom: A♦K♦9♥K♣

Both Sulsky and Sahamies had flopped open-ended straight draws to go with their pairs, while Blom had the biggest pair with kings. The 3♦ strengthened Blom’s position, giving him the nut-flush draw, but the 10♣ river proved disastrous because it gave Sulsky a set and the $284,847 pot. Sulsky went on to win $369,000 on the day while Blom finished a modest $99,400 winner.

Kostritsyn Runs Over Mixed Game on Way to Becoming 2013’s Biggest Winner

On Sunday, Feb. 24, Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn battled “patpatpanda” in an epic heads-up battle at the $300/$600 and $1,500/$3,000 mixed game tables. After seven hours, he walked away a $766,500 winner. The win thrust the Russian into the lead on the Biggest Online Winner of 2013 Leader Board, which has all come on Full Tilt Poker. That also make’s him FTP’s biggest winner since the once vilified site returned to the market.

Despite losing so much, “patpatpanda” appeared to be a good sport when the match came to an end as evidenced by the following exchange in chat box:

PostFlopAction: eyes are closing, very tired. can we play 2 more rounds and continue tomorrow?
patpatpanda: sure .
PostFlopAction: sorry, wish i could play nonstop 48 hours like u guys
PostFlopAction: too old probbaly
patpatpanda: gg.. wp..im happy too lose.
patpatpanda: np
PostFlopAction: we can play 2 more rounds if u want
PostFlopAction: just wanted to warn
patpatpanda: no tx
PostFlopAction: ok gg.
patpatpanda: good play.
patpatpanda: gg
PostFlopAction: thx. dont remember when i ran that hot

$400/$800 PLO Returns to Full Tilt Poker

Pot-limit Omaha is a big game, especially when it’s played at $400/$800 with antes — the biggest PLO game currently available online. That’s what spread on Monday, Feb. 25 on Full Tilt Poker as Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene won $284,000 off “patpatpanda”, Jen “Ingenious89” Kyllönen and Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky in just 47 minutes. It came as no surprise that Tollerene won the day’s two biggest pots.

In the first, action was heads-up between “patpatpanda” ($126,759) and Tollerene ($113,239.50) when the former opened for $2,700 and then called when the latter three-bet to $8,400. Tollerene led out for $11,286 on the 10♦8♦7♦ flop, and then called when “patpatpanda” raised to $24,800. The 2♥ turn saw Tollerene check-call a bet of $29,348, and then both players checked the 6♥ river. “Patpatpanda” revealed A♦7♥8♠4♠ for two pair, but it was no good as Tollerene rolled over K♦6♦K♣10♠ for a flush, shipping the $125,396 pot to his way.

In the other big pot, which was between the same two players, Tollerene ($180,683) opened for $2,400 and then called when “patpatpanda” ($157,800.50) three-bet to $7,500. “Patpatpanda” proceeded to check-call bets of $12,240 and $31,824 on the 8♥9♦10♠ flop and 2♠ turn, respectively, and then check-folded when Tollerene bet $82,742.39 on the 6♦ river. With that, Tollerene raked in another $103,428.

While things went well for Tollerene, it wasn’t without hitting some speed bumps.

“patpatpanda” Gets Some Back in Wednesday Action

Even though “patpatpanda” finished as the week’s biggest loser, things would have been even worse had it not been for a $272,000 win on Wednesday at the pot-limit Omaha tables. While he played a couple different stakes, the majority of his profit, as well as the day’s biggest pots, came from the $400/$800 game.

Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Week’s biggest winners (2/20-2/27): Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$1,114,471), “kagome kagome” (+$780,256), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (+$590,801), Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau (+$504,758), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$345,253), “punting-peddler” (+$303,629), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (+$302,042)

Week’s biggest losers: “patpatpanda” (-$728,354), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (-$683,294), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$406,333), Hac “trex313” Dang (-$389,660), Erik “Erik1223” Sagström (-$362,522), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$332,948), Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies (-$288,093)

Year’s biggest winners: Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$2,406,609), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$1,797,335), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$1,757,576), “SallyWoo” (+$1,647,472), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (+$1,273,804), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$932,902), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$922,347), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (+$873,763)

Year’s biggest losers: Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$2,352,391), Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver (-$1,191,393), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$1,069,156), “punting-peddler” (-$1,029,007), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$1,009,788), “patpatpanda” (-$948,194), “CRAIN85” (-$925,500), “Johnbest” (-$793,503), Gus Hansen (-$779,490)

*Denotes PokerStars

_{Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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• Tags Alexander Kostritsyn Ben Tollerene Full Tilt Poker Online Poker Phil Ivey Phil Galfond PokerStars Railbird Report Viktor Blom
• Related Players Phil IveyAlexander KostritsynPhil GalfondViktor BlomBen Tollerene