The Online Railbird Report: Galfond Becomes Third Player to Win $10 Million on FTP
In last week’s edition of the Online Railbird Report we told you about the high-stakes exploits of Full Tilt Poker The Professionals' Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Tom “durrrr” Dwan. This week, we turn our attention to the legendary Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, who became just the third person — the others are Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius — to surpass $10 million in winnings on FTP dating back to 2007.
Galfond won $632,133 in 3,569 hands over 32 sessions this week, which was slightly behind Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$662,276 in 44 sessions/5,045 hands) and Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$638,698 in 9 sessions/878 hands). Other big winners included Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$325,296 in 35 sessions/2,155 hands) and Niki Jedlicka (+$275,466 in 57 sessions/3,618 hands) on Full Tilt Poker, and Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev (+$294,824 in 29 sessions/6,919) on PokerStars.
On the flip side, the year’s biggest winner, Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn, had a rare bad week, dropping $585,240 in 4,243 hands over 83 sessions — enough to make him the week’s biggest loser. Not too far behind was “Samrostan” (-$541,201 in 45 sessions/4,634 hands) on FTP and “MIKMIC888” (-$425,060 in 8 sessions/4,150 hands) on PokerStars.
Galfond Wins Nearly $800K on an Action-Packed Thursday
On Thursday, April 18, high-stakes action of all varieties were being spread on FTP and attracted some of the biggest names in the game. While Gus Hansen (+$199,500), “Kagome Kagome” (+$230,800) and Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$297,400) all booked wins, all eyes were on Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, who finished as the day’s biggest winner with $796,300 in profit. Not only was it a huge win, but it gave Galfond $10.2 million in lifetime FTP winnings.
Galfond got most of his score at the fixed-limit Omaha hi-lo and 2-7 triple draw tables. At the former game, he dismantled the likes of Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn, Kyle “KPR16” Ray and Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius, but the majority Galfond’s win came at the latter tables against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who dropped $477,000.
Galfond was also active at the $150/$300 pot-limit Omaha tables, which is where the day’s biggest pot occurred. It happened at a five-handed table when Galfond ($60,733.84) opened for $1,300 under the gun only to have Dwan ($47,452.90) three-bet to $4,600 from the cutoff. Hac “trex313” Dang ($70,823) called from the small blind, Galfond then five-bet to $20,250 and two calls ensued, bringing about a 9♣J♣5♠ flop. Dang was first to act and shipped for $50,573. Then Galfond and Dwan both called off for $40,483.84 and $27,202.90, respectively.
Dang: K♠K♥J♥Q♦
Dwan: Q♣J♠9♥8♠
Galfond: A♣10♣Q♠2♠
Dwan was ahead with two pair, but both his opponents held draws. The 6♦ turn didn’t change anything, but the 3♣ river did as the third club gave Galfond the nuts and the $169,318 pot.
There was one other six-figure pot on Thursday, though it didn’t go to Galfond. It happened at a four-handed game when Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies ($50,996.50) opened for $775 on the button, Dang ($44,000) three-bet to $2,825 from the small blind, and Galfond ($36,430) four-bet to $9,450 from the big. Two calls were made, the flop fell 5♦9♥J♥ and Dang led out for $28,550. Galfond called off for $26,980, Sahamies raised, and Dang called off his remaining $6,000.
Sahamies: J♠7♣5♣8♦
Dang: K♦J♦10♠7♥
Galfond: A♣A♥10♦7♠
The 10♣ appeared on the turn followed by the 6♦ on the river, and Sahamies was pushed the $124,478 pot with a turned straight.
Blom Banks $502,600 on Saturday; Loses It All Back and Then Some on Sunday
Is Viktor “Isildur1” Blom winning $500,000 even news these days? It seems the FTP Professional is either winning or losing that much on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Whatever the case, that’s the amount the Swede won on Saturday in a mix of games that included PLO (+$80,000), FLO8 (+$180,000), fixed-limit hold’em (+$137,000) and 2-7 Triple Draw (+$180,000).
Despite being the day’s biggest winner, Blom was not involved in the biggest pot. That happened at a $75/$150 PLO tables between Jens “Ingenious89” Kyllönen and Sam “S3 TRX” Trickett. It happened when Trickett ($39,197.75) opened for $500 and then called when Kyllönen ($55,134.75) three-bet to $1,550. The A♥2♦4♥ flop saw Kyllönen lead out for $1,800, Trickett raised to $5,400, and the 7♠ turned after Kyllönen had made the call. Kyllönen proceeded to check-call a bet of $13,950 and then led out for $34,234.75 when the K♥ completed the board on the river. Trickett called off his remaining $18,297.75 but mucked when Kyllönen tabled the 6♥8♥7♣5♣ for a flush and the $78,395 pot.
While Saturday was kind to Blom, Sunday was not. In just over two hours Blom lost more than $600,000 to Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon at the FLO8 tables. Blom mitigated his losses a bit, but still ended the day down $503,000. Meanwhile, Hendon (+$607,500), Niki Jedlicka (+$209,700) and “Kagome Kagome” (+$149,700) all finished in the black on Sunday.
Blom Fails to Secure $1.3 Million Day; Tollerene Wins $318,300
There was plenty of action to be had on Monday as Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene played a seven-hour session at the $200/$400 CAP PLO tables on Full Tilt Poker. Blom actually began the match up $500,000 on the day after taking $250,000 at the fixed-limit hold’em tables, $200,000 from “Kagome Kagome” at 2-7 Triple Draw and $50,000 from Sam “S3 TRX” at PLO.
Blom’s heater rolled over into his match against Tollerene as he pulled out to a $290,000 lead within 90 minutes. It was at that point the two moved their game up in stakes to the $500/$1,000 tables. Blom continued to run well and was up $700,000 in the match and nearly $1.3 million on the day. Unfortunately, as he continued to play, the cards turned.
After seven hours and more than 1,900 hands, Tollerene ended up a $318,000 winner while Blom was left with just $255,400 in profit. Still a win, but not nearly as much as it could have been. Given the match was played at capped tables, the biggest pot of the day was $80,000. Well, actually, there were an astounding 270. Here’s a look at three.
Hand #1: Blom ($281,945.50) opened for $3,000 only to have Tollerene ($225,492.50) three-bet to $9,000. Blom responded with a four-bet to $27,000, Tollerene called, and the flop came down 4♥10♣A♥ and Tollerene capped the pot with a bet of $13,000. Blom called, and the cards were turned up.
Tollerene: K♣J♣J♠Q♥
Blom: A♠K♥Q♣3♠
Tollerene flopped a big wrap, but he would be left wanting as both the 10♦ turn and 4♣ river blanked. Blom’s ace was enough to win the $80,000 pot.
Hand #2: Tollerene ($68,998) opened for $3,000, Blom ($438,447.50) called and the flop came down Q♣A♦6♥. Blom checked, Tollerene bet $3,000, and the Swede woke up with a check-raise to $9,000. Tollerene made the call and then bet another $9,000 after Blom checked the 10♠ turn. Again the Swede check-raised, this time to $27,000, and Tollerene called to create a capped pot. The 6♣ completed the board on the river and Blom tabled the K♣5♣Q♥9♠ for queens and sixes, but it was no good because Tollerene rolled over the A♥A♠5♥3♣ for aces full of sixes.
Hand #3:
Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)
Week’s biggest winners (4/18-4/24): Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$662,276), Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$638,698), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$632,133), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$325,296), Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev* (+$294,824), Niki Jedlicka (+$275,466)
Week’s biggest losers: Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (-$585,240), “Samrostan” (-$541,201), “MIKMIC888”* (-$425,060), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$363,072), Hac “trex313” Dang (-$271,130),
Year’s biggest winners: Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$3,423,600), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$2,980,883), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$2,380,583), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$2,169,847), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$2,154,058), Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$1,642,382), “SallyWoo” (+$1,159,911), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$1,104,689), “1Il|1Il|1il|”* (+$1,007,728), “Odd_Oddsen”* (+$997,810), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (+$730,127)
Year’s biggest losers: Gus Hansen (-$2,803,666), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$1,910,235), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$1,546,045), “samrostan” (-$1,404,500), “patpatpanda” (-$1,330,885), Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver (-$1,220,399), “punting-peddler” (-$1,099,064), “CRAIN85” (-$925,500), Hac “trex313” Dang (-$866,749), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$844,854)
*Denotes PokerStars
Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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