The high-stakes online action on Full Tilt Poker was going strong all week long. During that time, Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene, who recently signed with 3Bet Poker Clothing, managed to halt his recent slide down the yearly leader board with a hefty $1,416,399 win, which came from 8,977 hands spread across 63 sessions. Not too far behind was Hac “trex313” Dang, who recovered from last week’s $410,240 loss by banking $1,262,615 in 3,668 hands across 34 sessions.
Other big winners included “no_Ola” (+$531,885 in 14 sessions/2,316 hands), Jared “SetoKaiba1” Bleznick (-$226,863 in 10 sessions/544 hands), Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$225,722 in 24 sessions/2,328 hands) and Daniel “w00ki3x” Cates* (+$214,218 in 59 sessions/2,813 hands), who was the biggest winner of PokerStars.
On the other end of the spectrum, “samrostan” was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $851,760 in 5,828 hands over 61 sessions, while Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond — who lost a similar amount the week before — lost $772,262 in 12,841 hands over 72 sessions. Other losers included Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (-$416,659 in 12 sessions/4,286 hands), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$383,184 in 36 sessions/6,487 hands), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (-$366,464 in 18 sessions/1,021 hands) and Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (-$325,944 in 23 sessions/1,489 hands).
Galfond Wins Big in Friday Action; Some Rare $300/$600 NLHE
On Friday, May 17, the fixed-limit Omaha Hi/Lo tables were in full swing as players like Gus Hansen, Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn, Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond took to the virtual felt.
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
Galfond walked away as the game’s biggest winner, and the day’s for that matter, with $615,526 in profit (includes an $89,000 win later in the day), while Hansen dropped 371,500. As if things couldn’t get worse for the “Great Dane,” he went on to play a half-day heads-up FLO8 match against Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon, losing $110,000 more.
Another big winner was Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who banked $470,800 playing pot-limit Omaha against Blom and Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene, winning $260,000 from the former at the $100/$200 tables and more than $200,000 from the latter at $500/$1,000 PLO.
Finally, Friday featured some rare $300/$600 no-limit hold’em action between Blom and Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar. Granted, it only lasted 40 minutes, but in that time Millar managed to win $110,000. Speaking of hold’em, Tollerene and “MalACEsia” also played a session, and in just an hour Tollerene won $168,000. The two biggest pots of the day actually came from these two matches.
Hand #1: Millar ($95,510.25) opened for $1,200 and then called when Blom ($71,009.50) three-bet to $4,800, which brought about the 10♦9♣K♠ flop. Blom bet $6,000, Millar called and the K♥ turned. Again Blom bet, this time $13,800, and again Millar just called. When the Q♦ completed the board on the river, Blom shipped his stack of $46,499.50 and Tollerene called to create a $142,199 pot. Blom revealed the A♣J♠ for a rivered straight, and it was good as Tollerene simply mucked.
Hand #2: Tollerene ($101,694) opened for $1,200 on the button and “MalACEsia” ($66,298) popped it to $3,600 from the big blind. Not to be outdone, Tollerene four-bet to $7,800, “MalACEsia” called and the flop came down K♥6♥Q♣. “MalACEsia” checked, Tollerene bet $7,800 and “MalACEsia” woke up with an all-in check-raise to $58,498. Tollerene called with the A♦K♦ for a pair of aces, which h was ahead of “MalACEsia’s” 9♥8♥ flush draw. The 7♠ turn gave “MalACEsia” even more outs with an open-ended straight draw, but the A♠ river was a brick. Tollerene improved to two pair and was awarded the $132,596 pot.
Hac “trex313” Dang Banks $843,000 in Sunday Filled with Heavy Action
“Getting on your Sunday grind” usually applies to tournaments, but this past week it was most definitely applicable to the high-stakes cash games on Full Tilt Poker. That is where some big PLO games occurred, including a $500/$1,000 CAP PLO match that saw Hac “trex313” Dang, who played for 11 hours, walk away a $843,000, making him the day’s biggest winner. On the flip side, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom balance things out by losing $835,000.
Hac “trex313” Dang
In one of Dang’s more notable hands, action was five-handed when he ($169,205.50) opened for $3,500 from the hijack and Tom “durrrr” Dwan ($242.706.50) called from the cutoff. Benny “psychobenny” Spindler ($40,000) then three-bet to $15,500 from the button, the blinds folded and both Dang and Dwan called. After the flop fell 7♠7♥5♦, Dang led out for $24,500, Dwan called and Spindler, who had that exact amount, committed the rest of his chips. At that point the pot was capped and the cards tabled.
Dang: A♣8♣Q♠7♦
Dwan: 9♠9♣6♣6♥
Spindler: K♦K♥J♣8♠
Dang had flopped trip sevens and managed to improve to a full house when the Q♣ appeared on the turn. After the harmless 2♥ peeled off on the river, Dang was awarded the $121,497 pot.
As far as Blom was concerned, he dropped some money in a $100/$200 PLO game against Dwan. The dynamic duo happened to play a $268,800 monster, which was the largest pot of the day.
In the hand, Dwan ($149,963) opened for $600 on the button only to have Blom ($134,419.50) three-bet to $1,800. Dwan responded with a four-bet to $5,400, Blom five-bet to $16,200 and Dwan called, bringing about a 5♠J♦6♣ flop. Blom led out for $32,400 and then called off his remaining $85,819.50 after Dwan raised to $129,600.
Dwan: A♠8♠5♦5♣
Blom: K♣K♦8♦J♠
Dwan had flopped a set of fives and was way out in front of Blom’s kings. The 9♦ turn was of no consequence, and neither was the Q♣ river. Dwan’s set held up and he was pushed the $268,839 pot.
Here’s a look at the other $200K+ pot from Sunday:
