The Online Railbird Report: Blom Fuels Action on Way to Top of 2014 Leaderboard

Chad Holloway
PR & Media Manager
5 min read
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom

There are three common occurrences in online poker in the last year or so. First, Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene tends to win, and that was no different this week as he banked $610,908 in 1,765 hands over 27 sessions, which brought him up to a leading $1.36 million in profit for the year.

Second, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom’s swings are sick. He started the year off dropping more than half a million, and then he won over $800,000 last week to finish as the week’s biggest winner. He captured that title again this week by winning an additional $794,717 in 15,250 hands over 98 sessions.

Finally, Gus Hansen can’t seem to win. He dropped another $463,742 this week in 1,799 hands over 23 sessions, which brings his lifetime losses to over $16 million! While that was bad, two other players actually faired worse in Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$753,937 in 39 sessions/5,124 hands) and Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$659,520 and in 10 sessions/1,389 hands).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some other players had superb weeks, including Doug “WCGRider” Polk (+$665,786 in 8 sessions/3,386 hands) and Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$503,606 in 7 sessions/474 hands) on Full Tilt Poker, and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$303,066 in 161 sessions/1,422 hands) on PokerStars.

Blom Takes Top Spot on 2014 Leaderboard

On Friday, Jan. 17, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom won $813,000 to bring his yearly winnings up to $1.7 million. The young Swede strung together his win throughout several games beginning with a $64,500 win over "AtherCliath” at the $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw tables. He followed that up by winning $150,000 at the pot-limit Omaha (PLO) tables, and then he switched over to the $1,500/$3,000 8-Game tables against rival Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn, who he relieved of $289,000.

Blom went on to lose $150,000 to Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker at 2-7 triple draw, and then won $32,000 off Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon playing $200/$400 PLO. After that, Blom sat down with “SallyWoo” at the $2,000/$4,000 fixed-limit Omaha hi-lo (FLO8) tables and played for six hours, during which Blom skinned his opponent for $410,700.

Blom Gives Most of It to Polk

The Online Railbird Report: Blom Fuels Action on Way to Top of 2014 Leaderboard 101
Doug “WCGRider” Polk

The next day, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom played a five-hour session of $500/$1,000 CAP no-limit hold’em against Doug “WCGRider” Polk. The match happened late at night, and up to that point Blom was up $364,000 on the day, most of which had come off Kyle “KPR16” Ray at the $2,000/$4,000 FLO8 tables.

That said, Blom got off to a bad start against Polk by dropping $250,000. Blom made a comeback, but then Polk hit a heater of his own. When the dust finally settled, Polk was up $666,000.

Here’s a look at three capped $60,000 pots from that match.

Hand #1: Polk ($100,499.50) opened for $2,000 and then called when Blom ($37,499.50) three-bet to $5,500, which brought about a flop of 7♣10♣4♣. Blom led out for $4,000, Polk raised to $10,000, and Blom capped it at $24,500. Polk called and the cards were turned up.

Polk: J♣10♥
Blom: A♦A♣

Polk had flopped top pair, but it was in bad shape against the overpair and nut-flush draw of Blom. The pair agreed to run it twice, and Blom secured half the pot when the 3♦ and 7♥ appeared on the first run. Fortunately for Polk, he got his money back when the 10♦ and J♥ on the second run gave him a full house.

Hand #2: Polk ($95,599.50) opened for $2,000 only to have Blom ($34,399.50) three-bet to $5,500. Polk called, the flop fell 2♣Q♣9♦, and Blom led out for $4,000. Polk responded with a raise to $9,000, Blom capped it with a three-bet to $24,500, and Polk made the call.

Polk: 10♥Q♠
Blom: 7♣3♣

Polk was ahead with top pair, but he had to sweat Blom’s flush draw. Again, the two ran it twice, but Blom would come up empty handed as neither the 3♠ and 4♦ on the first run nor 6♠ and J♠ on the second run delivered him a club. Ship the $60,000 pot to Polk.

Hand #3:


It was a bad day for Blom, but he rebounded on Monday by finishing as the day’s biggest winner with $446,900 in profit from the FLO8 and 2-7 triple draw tables.

Blom Fuels Tuesday Action; Haxton Benefits Half a Million

Surprise, surprise... Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was mixing it up once again on Tuesday. The Swede destroyed Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar for $630,000 playing $300/$600 NLHE, and because the clock ticked over, Blom officially finished as the day’s biggest winner with $563,300 in profit. Sounds nice, right? Of course it does, but things didn’t stop there.

The Online Railbird Report: Blom Fuels Action on Way to Top of 2014 Leaderboard 102
Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton

After midnight, Blom sat down at the $400/$800 NLHE tables against Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton for an hour-long match. What could go wrong in such a short period of time? A lot, apparently, as Haxton won more than $500,000, of which 80% came in the last eight minutes.

Here’s a look at the two biggest hands from that match.

Hand #1: Blom ($163,142.10) opened for $2,150 and then called when Haxton ($160,247.40) three-bet to $7,750. When the flop came down 7♦6♦10♦, Haxton led out for $11,200, Blom called, and the 3♥ turned. Haxton bet a hefty $34,000, Blom called, and the J♥ completed the board on the river. Haxton proceeded to bet all in for $107,697.40 and Blom wasted little time in making the call. Haxton tabled the Q♦J♦ for a flopped flush, and it was good enough to win the $322,094 pot as Blom sent his cards to the muck unseen.

Hand #2: Haxton ($228,956.85) opened for $2,450 and then called Blom’s ($133,731.50) three-bet to $9,350, which brought about the 9♣5♠8♦ flop. Blom led out for $12,800, Haxton called, and the K♦ turned. Blom led out again, this time for $32,800, and again Haxton came along. When the 2♦ completed the board on the river, Blom bet all in for $79,181.50 and Haxton made a quick call. Blom showed the A♦10♠ for a three-barrel bluff, but it was no good as Haxton was pushed the $269,063 pot after tabling the K♥9♥.

Blom was still up around $100,000, but then he sat down against Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene, who would take about $122,000 from the Swede including this large pot:


It looked like another collapse for Blom, but he found some vindication by winning $307,500 from Kyle “KPR16” Ray at the $2,000/$4,000 FLO8 tables.

Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Week's Biggest Winners (1/17-1/23): Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$794,717), Doug “WCGRider” (+$665,786), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$610,908), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$503,606), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies* (+$303,066), “Tight-Man1” (+$275,588)

Week's Biggest Losers (1/17-1/23): Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$753,937), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$659,520), Gus Hansen (-$463,742), “SallyWoo” (-$457,439)

Year's Biggest Winners: Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$1,362,654), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$1,019,522), Doug “WCGRider” Polk (+$700,925), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$400,676), “mikki696” (+$385,757)

Year's Biggest Losers: Gus Hansen (-$1,161,939), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$659,520), “Sanlker” (-$316,646), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (-$303,590), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$195,283)

*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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