For the third week in a row, German pro Niklas "ragen70" Heinecker has finished as online poker’s biggest winner, and he now sits with $4,654,242 in profit for 2013.
Heinecker’s latest win of $461,790 came in 2,074 hands spread across 19 sessions. The next biggest winner was actually the year’s biggest loser — Gus Hansen, who won $340,911 in 3,417 hands over 37 sessions. Other winners included Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$183,888 in 13 sessions/1,254 hands) and “bbvisbadforme” (+$150,748 in 16 sessions/1,870 hands).
As far as the losers were concerned, Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn was far and away the biggest after dropping $586,323 in 5,627 hands over 59 sessions. Other players to finish the week in the red were “Denoking” (-$168,882 in 17 sessions/1,784 hands), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$151,862 in 5 sessions/371 hands), and Rui Cao (-$121,626 in 14 sessions/876 hands).
“bbvisbadforme” Saturday’s Biggest Winner with Modest $92,600 Win
It was a rather slow on the virtual felt on Saturday. The nosebleeds produced no six-figure winners, which meant “bbvisbadforme’s” $92,600 win at the $300/$600 no-limit hold’em tables was enough to make him the day’s biggest winner.
It happened in a 100-minute match against “Denoking” over three tables. There were some big swings in the match, thanks in no small part to some monster pots. Here’s a look at two of them.
Hand #1: “bbvisbadforme” ($285,549.50) opened for $1,200 and then called when “Denoking” ($120,941.25) three-bet to $4,800, which brought about a flop of 5♥4♠7♦. “Denoking” led out for $5,000, “bbvisbadforme” called, and the 6♣ appeared on the turn. “Denoking” bet again, this time $9,000, and again “bbvisbadforme” called. When the 8♦ river put a straight on the board, “Denoking” moved all in for $102,141.25 and “bbvisbadforme” wasted little time in calling. “Denoking” tabled the 5♠6♠ for the straight, but “bbvisbadforme” held a higher straight with the 9♦7♣. Ship the $241,882 pot to “bbvisbadforme.”
Hand #2: “bbvisbadforme” ($120,899) opened for $1,200 from the button only to have “Denoking” ($235,993.50) three-bet to $4,800. Not to be outdone, “bbvisbadforme” four-bet to $11,500, “Denoking” called, and the flop came down 3♣3♦9♠. “Denoking” bet $8,000, “bbvisbadforme” called, and the 4♠ turned. “Denoking” kept the pressure on with a bet of $26,800, “bbvisbadforme” called and the 7♦ completed the board on the river. “Denoking” moved all in, “bbvisbadforme” called off for $74,599, and suddenly there was a $241,798 pot on the line. “Denoking” tabled the 6♦5♦ for a straight, and it was good as “bbvisbadforme” sent his cards to the muck unseen.
Monday Belongs to Galfond; Polk vs. Cao
Phil \"OMGClayAiken\" Galfond
On Monday, November 18, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond returned to the virtual felt for the first time in a month and spent 4.5 hours at the 2-7 triple draw tables, which is where he won $288,700. Galfond played at five tables against the likes of “Kagome Kagome,” Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker, and Gus Hansen.
Heinecker actually walked away from the game a $260,900 winner, while the big loser was Blom, who dropped $253,000 playing 2-7 triple draw. Despite the hit, Blom rebounded at the 8-game tables. Blom and Kostritsyn squared off on Monday for 6.5 hours, and Blom managed to win $317,600 to finish the day a $64,400 winner.
It’s also worth noting that Monday also saw Rui “PepperoniF” Cao and Doug “WCGRider” Polk battle it out at the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha tables. The duo played for over seven hours, and Polk walked away a $140,000 winner.
