The Online Railbird Report: Alex Luneau Wins $1.1 Million; Viktor Blom Drops $976K
In this edition of the Online Railbird Report, which recaps the week’s high-stakes cash-game action on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, we take a look at the first week of August, which produced big winners and losers.
Last week’s biggest winner, German online pro “Sanlker”, actually lost $198,021 this week, though he was far from being the biggest loser. That title went to Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who followed up last week’s $397,586 win by losing $976,238 in 8,738 hands spread across 57 sessions.
Likewise, Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou (-$575,149 in 51 sessions/8,818 hands), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (-$475,113 in 22 sessions/3,829 hands), and “Denoking” (-$461,402 in 15 sessions/7,806 hands) all had bad weeks on Full Tilt Poker. Meanwhile the biggest loser on PokerStars was “Aron0621,” who dropped a modest $81,534 in 166 hands over three sessions.
On the flip side, Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev was PokerStars’ biggest winner after banking $147,847 in 2,030 hands over 10 sessions. However, there were five bigger winners on Full Tilt Poker, includingAlex “Alexonmoon” Luneau who raked in a massive $1,123,445 in 5,818 hands over 36 sessions. The other winners include “Trueteller” (+$777,686 in 26 sessions/4,157 hands), Dan “jungleman12” Cates (+$768,603 in 25 sessions/8,887 hands), Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz (+$472,972 in 30 sessions/5,330 hands), and “Carlooo13” (+$396,474 in 8 sessions/1,590 hands).
“Trueteller” Cleans Up Playing Triple Draw
On Friday, Aug. 1, “Trueteller” was busy playing “Sanlker,” Sebastian “taktloss47” Ruthenberg, and Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou at the $1,500/$3,000 2-7 triple draw tables. In a morning session, he played against “Sanlker” for nearly four hours and won $266,800. He ended up losing $53,300 at another table, but later that afternoon he won $75,000 back to finish as the day’s biggest winner with $288,600 in profit.
Zhou also did well in the game, winning $139,500. He also won over on PokerStars, where he plays under the screenname “SamRostan.” He did so at the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha tables, which is where he won the biggest pot of the day.
It happened at a six-handed table when action folded to Zhou ($54,300.31) on the button and he raised to $940. Ike Haxton ($35,195.04) called him from the big blind, and it was heads-up action to the 5♥5♦J♠ flop. Haxton checked, Zhou bet $1,300, and Haxton check-raised to $3,300. Zhou called and then called a bet of $5,400 from Haxton on the Q♦ turn.
When the 8♣ completed the board on the river, Haxton bet $12,000 and then called off when Zhou shoved all in for $44,660.31. Haxton tabled the 8♥8♦J♦3♠ for a rivered full house, but it was no good as Zhou rolled over the Q♥Q♣7♣A♥ for a better full house.
On Saturday, “Trueteller” became the day’s biggest winner for the third time in four days after winning $257,700 at the 2-7 triple draw tables. He played both the $1,000/$2,000 and $1,500/$3,000 limits, and took most of his profit off players like Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond. The win put “Trueteller” up more than $1 million since Tuesday.
Luneau Comes Out on Top
At the beginning of the week, action was going strong over on Full Tilt Poker. It was there that French player Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau won $350,900 playing mixed games for eight hours to finish as the day’s biggest winner. More than half of that — $180,900 to be exact – came from 514 hands in an evening session.
Here are some other highlights from the day’s action:
- Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz won $151,900 playing mixed games.
- Gus Hansen returned to the virtual felt for the first time since the 2014 World Series of Poker. He played for 12 hours and logged off a $123,200 winner.
- Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou made bank for the sixth day in a row, winning $277,300 at the 2-7 triple draw tables.
- ”Trueteller” won $32,000, which put him on a six-day winning streak.
- ”Denoking” won $96,400 over 4,100 hands of $100/$200 no-limit hold’em against Dan “jungleman12” Cates. It was there that the two biggest pots of the day occurred, which you can see below.
Hand #1: Cates ($94,371.75) opened for $2,200 from the small blind and then called when “Denoking” ($91,923) three-bet to $6,950, which brought about a flop of 2♠3♦J♣. Cates check-called a bet of $3,825, the 8♣ appeared on the turn, and Cates checked for a second time. “Denoking” took the opportunity to bet $13,605, Cates check-raised to $27,210, and “Denoking” called.
When the 6♠ completed the board on the river, Cates shoved for $56,386.75 and “Denoking” wasted little time in calling off his remaining $53,938 to create a pot of $183,846. Cates flipped over the A♥K♣ for nut no pair, but it was no good as “Denoking” held a pair of queens with the Q♠Q♥.
Hand #2:
Cates Gets Revenge on “Denoking” with $699K Win
On Tuesday, Aug. 5, Dan “jungleman12” Cates and “Denoking” were back at it playing $200/$400 no-limit hold’em. The duo played for seven hours across three tables, and Cates managed to dismantle his opponent to the tune of $620,000. During that time the two played 16 six-figure pots.
In the largest, “Denoking” ($156,235) raised to $1,000, Cates ($163,565.25) called, and the flop came down 10♦3♦Q♥. Cates proceeded to check-call a bet of $1,000 and then check-called a bet of $6,000 on the 5♣ turn. When the 5♥ completed the board on the river, Cates checked for a third time and “Denoking” bet $35,400. Cates woke up with a check-raise to $97,200, but it didn’t work as “Denoking” shoved all in for $148,235. Cates folded and “Denoking” won the $210,400 pot without a showdown.
The mixed game tables were also going strong on Tuesday, which is where Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn won a hefty $657,100 over 13 hours of play. Gus Hansen was also at the game, and he actually played for 24 hours straight, during which time he won $287,300. Despite the win, Hansen lost the two biggest pots of the day.
Hand #1: In a hand of $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha, action was five-handed when Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou ($70,079.50) opened for $1,500 from the button only to have Hansen ($167,708.25) three-bet to $5,100 from the small blind. Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau ($173,163) then four-bet to $16,800 from the big, Zhou folded, and Hansen pushed back with a five-bet to $51,900. Not to be outdone, Hansen six-bet to $157,200, Luneau called, and the flop came down 8♣2♣5♠.
Hansen led out with a bet, and Luneau called off his remaining $10,508.25 before both players agreed to run it twice.
Luneau: A♦A♣9♠6♣
Hansen: K♠10♠9♦7♦
Luneau held pocket aces, while Hansen only held a gutshot straight draw. The 10♥ turn and Q♣ river on the first run secured Luneau half the $336,916.50 pot, while the 9♥ and 5♥ on the second run gave him the scoop.
Hand #2:
Blom went on to lose $194,000 on the day, while Luneau won $298,100.
Biggest Winners/Losers from August 1-8
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau | $1,123,445 |
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom | $976,238 | |
|
“Trueteller” | $777,686 |
Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou | $575,149 | |
|
Dan “jungleman12” Cates | $768,603 |
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond | $475,113 | |
|
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz | $472,972 |
“Denoking” | $461,402 | |
|
“Carlooo13” | $396,474 |
“kagome kagome” | $245,092 |
Year's Biggest Winners/Losers
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dan “jungleman12” Cates | $2,123,898 |
Gus Hansen | $3,783,270 | |
|
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius | $1,183,736 |
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom | $1,868,519 | |
|
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz | $1,095,494 |
Phil “Polarizing” Ivey | $1,815,817 | |
|
Niki [Removed:552] | $1,039,214 |
Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion | $1,048,475 | |
|
Doug “WCGRider” Polk | $755,773 |
Paul “MalACEsia” Phua | $823,325 | |
|
Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang | $649,240 |
Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond | $781,502 |
Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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