Two-time Olympic gold medalist Petter "NorthugJr" Northug was busy grinding the virtual poker felts this week and booked a massive six-figure win. Northug, who competed in two cross-country events in Sochi but was unable to medal, won $129,000 during an eight-hour session at the $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha tables at PokerStars on Monday. Northug has long been a regular at the high-stakes games and also has a PokerStars SCOOP final table to his credit. Now that the 2014 Olympics are in the past, we may see the Norwegian skiing legend at the poker tables more often.
Meanwhile, for the second week in a row, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom finished as online poker’s biggest loser. In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we highlighted his $362,608 loss, and this week he dropped an additional $487,101 in 5,398 hands over 49 sessions.
That dropped him out of the top spot for 2014, which means Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene is the year’s biggest winner right now with $1,530,215 in profit according to HighStakesDB.com. Others who did not fare well this week were “PimpyLimpy,” who dropped $274,060 in 9,531 hands in 46 sessions on PokerStars; Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$230,088 in 15 sessions/2,149 hands); “daguman” (-$195,804 in 24 sessions/2,776 hands); and Philipp “philbort” Gruissem (-$114,392 in 6 sessions/2,256 hands).
On the flip side, this week’s biggest winner was Harry “Schoitl” Cassagrande with $378,270 in profit from 4,440 hands over 37 sessions. Other winners included “Tight-Man1” (+$325,857 in 9 sessions/1,597 hands), Ola “no_Ola” Amundsgard (+$216,369 in 27 sessions/3,884 hands), “Cort "thecortster" Kibler-Melby” (+$193,496 in 9 sessions/1,553 hands), and Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (+$163,043 in 41 sessions/2,498 hands).
Some Big Thursday Action on PokerStars
On Thursday, Feb. 20, PokerStars played host to the biggest game of the day — $200/$400 no-limit hold’em. It was there that “n0d1ceb4by” played for nearly 90 minutes and walked away with $118,200, enough to make him the day’s biggest winner.
In the biggest pot of the day, “OtB_RedBaron” ($18,394) raised to $1,084 on the button and “n0d1ceb4by” ($32,049.20) called from the big blind. Both players checked the 8♠3♣2♦ flop, and then “n0d1ceb4by” check-called a bet of $4,599.20 on the 4♣ turn. When the K♠ completed the board on the river, “n0d1ceb4by” led out with a big bet and “OtB_RedBaron” called off his remaining $12,710.80. “n0d1ceb4by” tabled the K♣5♣ for a rivered pair of kings, and it was good enough to win the $36,800 pot as “OtB_RedBaron” simply sent his cards to the muck.
Olympic Gold Medalist Scores Big in Monday Action
The aforementioned Northug played nearly 3,500 hands in approximately eight hours on Monday, during which time he managed to win $129,800. The vast majority of that came from “PimpyLimpy,” who actually pulled out to an early $45,000 lead. However, Northug stormed back late in the session and won $61,900 and $109,600 at two different tables. Here’s a look at the two biggest pots from the match.
Hand #1: “PimpyLimpy” ($27,497.32) opened for $300 and then called when Northug ($33,098.28) three-bet to $900, which brought about a flop of 5♠A♠9♥. Northug led out for $1,400, “PimpyLimpy” called, and the 10♣ turned. Northug fired out $3,650, “PimpyLimpy” called, and the 3♣ completed the board on the river. Northug fired once again, this time $9,400, and “PimpyLimpy” called. Northug rolled over the A♦A♣K♥8♦ for top set, and it was good enough to win the $30,700 pot as “PimpyLimpy” sent his cards to the muck.
