The Online Railbird Report: Heinecker Biggest Winner for Third Week in a Row

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Nov 22, 2013 5 min read

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

The Online Railbird Report: Heinecker Biggest Winner for Third Week in a Row 101 — 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.

Here’s a look at a hand from that match:

Heinecker Looks to Finish the Year Strong; “Denoking” vs. “bbvisbadforme” Round 2

Perhaps no player has been hotter in 2013 than Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker, who continues to crush both live and online. On Tuesday, November 19, Heinecker played a 37-minute lunchtime session against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who he promptly relieved of $102,000 over 109 hands.

The win put Heinecker up $1,360,000 million on the month, which meant he was up more than $4,600,000 million on the year.

Tuesday also saw “Denoking” and “bbvisbadforme” face off once again, this time at the $200/$400 NLHE tables. The lead switched between the two five times, but eventually it was “bbvisbadforme” who would walk away a $112,200 winner. Here’s a look at the two biggest pots from their match.

Hand #1: “bbvisbadforme” ($153,525.50) opened for $800 on the button only to have “Denoking” ($124,275.50) three-bet to $3,400. “Bbvisbadforme” responded with a four-bet to $9,350 and “Denoking” called. When the flop fell 10♦K♣8♥, “Denoking” led out for $9,600, “bbvisbadforme” called, and the 6♠ hit the turn. “Denoking” bet $24,800, a call was made, and the 4♠ was put out on the river. “Denoking” slowed down with a check, and he called off his last $80,525.25 after “bbvisbadforme” moved all in. “Bbvisbadforme” showed the 9♠9♣, and it was good enough to win the $248,551 pot as “Denoking” mucked his cards.

Hand #2: “Denoking” ($105,628.50) raised to $1,000 from the button and “bbvisbadforme” ($178,796) three-bet to $3,200 from the big blind. “Denoking” popped it to $9,800, “bbvisbadforme” called and the flop came out 4♦3♦J♠. “Bbvisbadforme” check-called a bet of $7,800 and then check-called a bet of $23,800 when the 3♠ turned. When the 9♣ completed the board on the river, “bbvisbadforme” checked for a third time and then called when “Denoking” moved all in for $64,228.50. “Denoking” flipped over the Q♣Q♥ for an overpair, and it was enough to win the $211,257 pot.

Gus Hansen Strings Together Some Wins

The Online Railbird Report: Heinecker Biggest Winner for Third Week in a Row 102 — Gus Hansen

Gus Hansen has had a rough year, but on Wednesday, November 20, he enjoyed a rare winning session. The “Great Dane” ended up winning $236,800 at both the 2-7 triple draw and fixed-limit Omaha hi/low (FLO8) tables. The latter win was for $116,000 in a 50-minute, 96-hand session against Kyle “KPR16” Ray, while the former win for $101,000 came from a 2.5-hour match against Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn.

The next day, Hansen added to his bankroll thanks to some heads-up matches at the 2-7 triple draw tables — $26,000 of came from “Kagome Kagome” in a morning session, while $94,400 came in the afternoon from Kostritsyn.

Hansen then switched to the FLO8 tables to play 215 hands against Ray, who hit a heater to wash out Hansen’s earlier win. Fortunately the Dane caught fire during the last 40 hands and finished the match a $42,000 winner, which put him up $136,400 on the day. It was a good score, but second to Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who won $177,100 from Kostritsyn in Thursday action.

Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Week's Biggest Winners (11/15-11/21): Niklas "ragen70" Heinecker (+$461,790), Gus Hansen (+$340,911), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$183,888), “joiso”* (+$174,894), “bbvisbadforme” (+$150,748)

Week's Biggest Losers (11/15-11/21): Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (-$586,323), “Trueteller”* (-$171,717), “Denoking” (-$168,882), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$151,862), Rui Cao (-$121,626)

Year's Biggest Winners: Niklas "ragen70" Heinecker (+$4,654,242), Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene (+$3,086,142), Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (+$2,454,477), Alex "IReadYrSoul" Millar (+$2,103,269), Hac "trex313" Dang (+$1,884,132), "no_Ola" (+$1,867,520), "Odd_Oddsen"* (+$1,766,309), Patrik "FinddaGrind" Antonius (+$1,718,717)

Year's Biggest Losers: Gus Hansen (-$7,168,680), "samrostan" (-$4,409,927), "MalACEsia" (-$3,773,524), Phil "Polarizing" Ivey (-$2,433,773), "punting-peddler" (-$1,567,657), Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky (-$1,441,088), "patpatpanda" (-$1,330,885), Scott "mastrblastr" Seiver (-$1,220,399), "davin77" (-$1,026,809), "Johnbest" (-$992,253)

*Denotes PokerStars