The Return of the Online Railbird Report: Six Weeks of High-Stakes Action

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Jul 12, 2013 6 min read

For the past six weeks, the 2013 World Series of Poker has dominated the poker headlines. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team has been there all summer long bringing you all the action, and admittedly it’s monopolized our attention. Now that it’s down to the $10,000 Main Event, we thought it’d be a good time to take a look back at a summer’s worth of high-stakes action with the return of the Online Railbird Report.

In our last report, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who skipped the 2013 WSOP, was the year’s biggest online winner with $3,474,084 million in profit. Other big winners included Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$2,704,680), Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$2,267,964) and Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene, all of whom took time off to play the WSOP.

On the flip side, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey, who gave up playing online in order to play pretty much every WSOP event, was the year’s biggest loser down $2,297,409. He was followed in the loser’s column by “samrostan” (-$2,048,212) and Gus Hansen (-$1,739,669). So how do all those players sit today?

We can tell you that over the past six weeks there have been some major shakeups in the realm of high-stakes online poker. They include Blom winning the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker Main Event #43-H for $1,096,200 and then going on to extend his 2013 winnings to over $5.2 million, a solid two million ahead of his next closest competitor. Meanwhile, Hansen and “samrostan” lost $1,689,108 and $1,469,790 respectively over that time, making the latter the year’s new biggest loser and Hansen close behind.

Other worthwhile happenings included Hac “trex313” Dang winning nearly a million dollars in the first two weeks of June; Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton winning $792,700 playing $400/$800 no-limit hold’em in the third week of June; “RagingHeart” fueling the high-stake action by putting in 23,500 hands at the nosebleeds from June 15-21; and Blom winning $2 million in a week here in July.

This past Monday, Blom banked $653,500 playing a mix of fixed-limit Omaha Hi/Lo, no-limit hold’em and 2-7 Triple Draw to give him $2.1 million in profit for July, which bumped him up to $5,225,188 on the year.

Instead of focusing on each individual storyline, which are now ancient history by nosebleed standards, we’ve decided to take a look back at the ten biggest online hands from May 23 (our last Online Railbird Report) to the present, most of which took place at the $400/$800 NLHE tables. Without further adieu…

Hand #10 ($369,913)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-20-2013: Action was six handed when “Denoking” ($157,008.50) opened for $2,400 under the gun only to have “KidPoker705” ($108,450), who is not Daniel Negreanu, three-bet to $7,200 from the cutoff. The button folded, as did the small blind, and then “MalACEsia” ($130,308.10) shoved all in from the big. “Denoking” then moved all in over the top and “KidPoker705” called off.

“KidPoker705”: K♣K♦
“Denoking”: Q♣Q♥
“MalACEsia”: A♥K♠

All three players held big hands, but as it stood “KidPoker705” was out in front with pocket kings. The board ran out a dry 6♦J♥8♣9♥2♦ and “KidPoker705” took down the $369,913 pot.

Hand #9 ($396,982)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-24-2013: Action was five handed when Blom ($198,067.50) opened for $2,400 under the gun and cleared the field to “MalACEsia” ($525,469.19) in the big blind. He three-bet to $8,400, Blom four-bet to $24,000 and “MalACEsia” five-bet to $47,200. Blom then six-bet shoved and “MalACEsia” called.

“MalACEsia”: K♦K♠
Blom: Q♠Q♣

It was a bit of a cooler as Blom had run the third-best starting hand into the second-best, but in this case the Swede would get lucky as the 9♦Q♥3♥ flop delivered him a set. Neither the 7♥ turn nor J♦ river allowed “MalACEsia” to catch back up and he watched the $396,982 pot pushed to Blom.

Hand #8 ($401,758)—Full Tilt Poker $250/$500 NLHE on 7-7-2013: Action was five handed when “samrostan” ($164,552.50) opened for $1,350 under the gun and Blom ($312,776) three-bet to $4,500 from the hijack. “MalACEsia” then moved all in for $71,956 from the button, “samrostan” moved all in over the top and Blom called to put them both at risk.

“samrostan”: A♠A♣
“MalACEsia”: A♦Q♥
Blom: K♣K♦

Once again Blom was dominated but would get luck when the flop came down 6♠7♣K♠. Blom hit a set and was pushed the $401,758 pot after the 2♠ appeared on the turn followed by the 9♦ on the river.

Hand #7 ($402,397)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-24-2013:

Hand #6 ($421,704)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-20-2103: In a six-handed game, “HelicopterBen82” ($136,168) opened for $2,400 from the hijack only to have “MalACEsia” ($209,353.50) three-bet to $8,000 from the small blind. “Denoking” ($264,289) then four-bet to $19,200 from the big, “HelicopterBen82” folded and “MalACEsia” five-bet to $36,800. “Denoking” called and it was heads-up action to the 8♦6♥Q♦ flop. “MalACEsia” led out for $50,800, “Denoking” called and the Q♥ turned. “MalACEsia” proceeded to shove for $121,753.50 and “Denoking” called with the Q♠Q♣ for quads. “MalACEsia” was drawing dead with the A♦A♣, and after the 10♦ completed the board on the river, “Denoking” took down the $421,704 pot.

Hand #5 ($426,481)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-22-13: In a six-handed game, action folded to “MalACEsia” ($144,374) on the button and he opened for $2,400. Haxton ($259,849.50) then three-bet to $9,600 from the small blind, “Trueteller” ($208,142) called from the big and “MalACEsia” came along making it three-way action to the A♣Q♠K♣ flop. Haxton led out for $19,602, “Trueteller” called and “MalACEsia” got out of the way.

When the A♦ turned, Haxton bet $44,000, “Trueteller” called and the 3♥ completed the board on the river. Haxton moved all in and “Trueteller” wasted little time in calling off for $134,940. Haxton showed the 5♣4♣ for a missed flush and of course it was no good as “Trueteller” won the $426,481 with the A♥Q♣ for a full house.

Hand #4 ($436,100)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-24-13: “MalACEsia” ($321,452.70) opened for $2,000 under the gun and was met by a three-bet to $9,600 by “Call_911” ($217,351.50) in the small blind. After the big got out of the way, “MalACEsia” four-bet it to $25,200, “Call_911” called and the flop came down 5♠3♦2♣. “Call_911” proceeded to check-called a bet of $27,600 before check-calling one of $54,000 on the 7♦ turn. “Call_911” checked for a third time on the 3♠ river and then called off for $112,401.50 when “MalACEsia” moved all in. “MalACEsia” tabled the K♠K♥ and it was good as “Call_911” simply mucked. Ship the $436,100 pot.

Hand #3 ($446,499)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-24-13: Action was five-handed when “Rhje” ($267,070.75) opened for $2,400 under the gun and “Denoking” ($265,620.59) and Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar ($246,767) called from the cutoff and button respectively. When action reached “MalACEsia” in the big blind, he three-bet to $12,400, “Rhje” folded and the other two players called, brining about a flop of 7♠8♦9♠. “MalACEsia” checked, “Denoking” bet $13,800 and two calls followed.

After the 3♦ turned, “MalACEsia” checked and “Denoking” moved all in for $239,420.60. Millar quickly folded and then “MalACEsia” called off for $182,176.20. “Denoking” flipped over the 3♠3♥ for a turned set, and it was well out in front of “MalACEsia’s” K♥K♣. The 7♦ river failed to change a thing and “Denoking” won the $446,499 pot.

Hand #2 ($475,081)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-21-2013: At a six-handed table, Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky ($237,042.39) opened for $2,400 on the button and “MalACEsia” ($343,288.90) three-bet to $8,400 from the big blind. Sulsky called and then called a bet of $12,000 on the 10♠K♣7♦ flop. Sulsky then bet $26,400 on the 6♠ turn, “MalACEsia” raised to $72,800 and a called was made, leading to the A♠ on the river. “MalACEsia” checked and then called when Sulsky moved all in for $143,842.39. Sulsky showed the 10♣8♠ for a pair of eights but it was no good as “MalACEsia” held a flush with the Q♠9♠.

Hand #1 ($498,026)—Full Tilt Poker $400/$800 NLHE on 6-22-2013:

Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Biggest Winners From 5/23-7/9: Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$1,751,034 in 425 sessions/39,260 hands), Hac “trex313” Dang (+$1,169,884 in 342 sessions/28,902 hands), “Rhje” (+$1,029,857 in 177 sessions/19,012 hands), Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$904,610 in 9 sessions/1,221 hands), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$806,818 in 45 sessions/3,802 hands), “no_Ola” (+$671,835 in 392 sessions/30,117 hands)

Biggest Losers From 5/23-7/9: Gus Hansen (-$1,689,108 in 121 sessions/14,324 hands), “samrostan” (-$1,469,790 in 155 sessions/12,522 hands), “MalACEsia” (-$1,076,258 in 75 sessions/13,136 hands), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$860,456 in 80 sessions/11,314 hands), Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau (-$662,704 in 15 sessions/2,400 hands)

Year’s biggest winners: Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$5,225,188), Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$3,172,574), Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$2,714,965), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$2,399,931), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$1,768,758), “Odd_Oddsen”* (+$1,553,930), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$1,484,451), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$1,445,924), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$1,380,309), Hac “trex313” Dang (+$1,363,288)

Year’s biggest losers: “samrostan” (-$3,518,002), Gus Hansen (-$3,428,777), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$2,297,409), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$1,636,503), “patpatpanda” (-$1,330,885), “MalACEsia” (-$1,279,732), Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver (-$1,220,399), Kyle “KPR16” Fray (-$1,269,836), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$1,210,343), “punting-peddler” (-$1,092,610)

*Denotes PokerStars

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

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Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

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

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