The Online Railbird Report: Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz Biggest Winner with $491K

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Aug 15, 2014 6 min read

It’s time for your weekly Online Railbird Report, which recaps the high-stakes cash-game winners and losers from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. However, before we get there remember a couple weeks back when Viktor “Isildur1” Blom outed Mikael Thuritz as the man behind two screennames?

"I'd have to say Mikael Thuritz. He plays online as "punting-peddler" and "ChaoRen160" and is a pretty big long-term winner," Blom said in an interview — which you can read here — when asked who he thought was the best online player.

This week, Thuritz lived up to the praise by finishing as the biggest winner with $491,639 in profit from 3,398 hands over 23 sessions. Added to the $472,972 he won last week, Thuritz is up nearly a million in two weeks and now sits second on the 2014 leaderboard with $1,699,657 in profit, second only to Dan “jungleman12” Cates’ $2,560,770. Cates was the week’s second-biggest winner after profiting $456,877 in 9,098 hands over 56 sessions.

Other weekly winners include “Denoking” (+$456,877 in 18 sessions/5,892 hands), Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (+$250,176 in 62 sessions/10,293 hands), and Gus Hansen (+$167,115 in 67 sessions/11,894 hands).

On the flip side, it was another terrible week for Macau’s Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou, who finished as the biggest loser after dropping $588,330 in 8,729 hands over 61 sessions. Combined with the $575,149 he lost last week, and Zhou is down nearly $1.2 million in August. Likewise, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, who lost $475,113 last week, dropped $522,275 this week, enough to make him the second-biggest loser.

Two other notable losers include Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby (-$320,743 in 2 sessions/872 hands) and Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (-$173,736 in 6 sessions/2,359 hands).

Plenty of Six-Figure Winners in Friday Foray

On Friday, Aug. 8, four players managed to profit six figures. Last week’s biggest winner, Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau, ended up banking a hefty $510,300 and jumped up to $1.26 million in profit in four days. Similarly, Dan “jungleman12” Cates was a big winner, profiting $376,000 after playing for 13 hours at the mixed games. That win put him up a million dollars in four days.

The Online Railbird Report: Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz Biggest Winner with 1K 101 — Mikael Thuritz

“Trueteller” was the day’s third-biggest winner after pulling in $203,000 playing an early-morning heads-up mixed games match against Gus Hansen, and Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz won $129,600 to round out the top four daily winners. Thuritz was involved in the three biggest pots of the day. Have a look:

Hand #1: In a $300/$600 round of pot-limit Omaha, action was six handed when Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn ($67,436.50) opened for $1,800 under the gun and Thuritz ($177,050) three-bet to $6,300 from the hijack. Cates ($122,412.50) called from the small blind, Kostritsyn came along, and three players saw a flop of K♥4♠8♠.

Two checks saw Thuritz bet $11,400, only Cates called, and the 5♥ appeared on the turn. Cates seized the initiative and fired out $42,300, but Thuritz came along to see the J♠ river. Cates returned to checking, but called off his last $62,412.50 when Thuritz moved all in. Thuritz tabled the A♠10♠A♣A♦ for the nuts, while Cates mucked his cards. The $251,725 pot was shipped to Thuritz.

Hand #2: Thuritz ($74,991.75) was playing $300/$600 no-limit hold’em heads up against “Patriktortonius” ($173,935.50) when Thuritz raised to $1,500 and then called a three-bet to $4,200, which brought about a 2♠3♥9♣ flop. “Patriktortonius” led out for $4,800, Thuritz raised to $12,600, and “Patriktortonius” called to see the 8♦ turn. “Patriktortonius” checked, Thuritz bet $15,600, and “Patriktortonius” check-raised all in. Thuritz called off his remaining $42,000 or so and a $149,983.50 pot was created.

“Patriktortonius”: 8♠8♣
Thuritz: 10♥10♦

“Patriktortonius” had gotten lucky on the turn to make a set, but Thuritz had two pulls at a ten as the duo agreed to run the river twice. Unfortunately for Thuritz, neither the 5♣ on the first run nor K♦ on the second helped him and he watched the pot pushed to “Patriktortonius.”

Hand #3:

Cates Profits $677,400 After Marathon Session; Surpassed $10 Million on FTP

On Saturday, Aug. 9, Dan “jungleman12” Cates played for 26 hours with only a one-hour break to tide him over. Cates got off to a slow start, and it wasn’t until after ten hours or so that he managed to amass his winnings. During that time he took on players including “Osama_no_Brunch,” Gus Hansen, and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, just to name a few.

According to PokerNews’ piece dedicated to Cates’ win, which put him up more than $10 million in lifetime winnings on Full Tilt Poker, here’s a look at Cates’ biggest pot from the marathon session:

The biggest pot of Cates's 26 hours of high-stakes games happened at a $750/$1,500 triple draw table where he played against Niki Jedlicka, Chun Lei "samrostan" Zhou and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond.

The action started with Jedlicka ($20,967) opening for $3,000 from under the gun and Cates ($137,783) quickly raising to $4,500. Cates’ decision pushed “samrostan” out of the pot, but Galfond ($21,986.50) stayed in as he decided to call from the big blind.

Once the action got back to Jedlicka, the Austrian player decided to go for a reraise to $6,000 which was called both by Cates and Galfond.

As the first draw started, Galfond and Jedlicka drew one card each, while Cates drew two.

From there, Galfond decided to check, Jedlicka bet $1,500 and Cates called. Galfond chose to raise Jedlicka's bet to $3,000 and both players called.

The action continued with Galfond and Jedlicka drawing one card each and Cates standing pat on the second draw.

The new betting round saw a check from Galfond and Jedlicka followed by a $3,000 bet from Cates that both the opponents decided to call.

As the third draw began, Galfond and Jedlicka chose to draw one card each, while Cates once again decided to stand pat. After the three players checked during the third betting round, Cates turned 9♠8♠6♠4♥3♣ and took the $33,750 pot.

Kostritsyn Cleans Up in Big 8-Game Action on Monday

The Online Railbird Report: Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz Biggest Winner with 1K 102 — Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn

On Monday, Aug. 11, the 8-Game tables were in full swing as some of the biggest names in the game played for hours on end. No one did better than Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn, who walked away a $481,100 winner after nearly 2,500 hands. The Russian did most of his damage in the evening when he won $318,800 playing against Gus Hansen, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Dan “jungleman12” Cates, and Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou.

Speaking of Cates, he won the two biggest pots of the day, though he ultimately finished as one of Monday’s biggest losers.

Hand #1: Action was three-handed in a $300/$600 no-limit hold’em round when Cates ($79,869.50) opened for $1,500 on the button. Hansen ($94,584) folded from the small blind, Kostritsyn ($82,818.50) three-bet to $5,400 from the big, and Cates pushed back with a four-bet to $13,800. Kostritsyn called, the flop came down 5♣7♣10♦, and both players checked.

When the 6♦ appeared on the turn, Kostritsyn bet $13,950, Cates called, and the 4♣ completed the board on the river. Kostritsyn moved all in, and Cates called off his remaining $52,119.50. Kostritsyn tabled the A♥Q♠ for ace-queen high, but it was no good as Cates had made a superb call with the A♣K♠ for ace-king high. Ship the $160,039 pot to Cates.

Hand #2: Hansen ($74,959.50) and Cates ($139,475.75) were playing heads up at a $300/$600 NLHE table when the former raise to $1,800 and was met by a three-bet to $5,400 from the latter. Not to be outdone, Hansen four-bet to $16,200 and Cates responded by five-betting all in. Hansen called off his remaining $58,759.50 and discovered the bad news.

Hansen: 3♥3♠
Cates: 10♠10♣

The two agreed to run it twice, but Hansen was unable to find a third three as the board ran out 2♠6♣Q♣8♥Q♦ on the first run followed by 2♥4♠4♥9♥J♠ on the second. Cates’ tens held and he scooped the $149,900 pot.

“Denoking” vs. Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton

On Tuesday, Aug. 12, “Denoking” and Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton squared off at three tables of $300/$600 no-limit hold’em in a match that lasted four hours. “Denoking” ended up taking $289,000 off Haxton, and with a smaller win from earlier in the day he finished Tuesday with $344,700 in profit. Not surprisingly, “Denoking” won the biggest pot of the day. Check it out.

Biggest Winners/Losers from August 9-14

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$491,639	Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou	$588,330
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$456,877	Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond	$522,275
“Denoking”	$339,132	Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby	$320,743
Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn	$250,176	“RMFG”	$199,048
Gus Hansen	$167,115	Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton	$173,736

Year's Biggest Winners/Losers

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$2,560,770	Gus Hansen	$3,671,160
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$1,699,657	Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$1,887,911
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$1,183,736	Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$1,815,817
Niki Jedlicka	$1,041,099	Phil “OMGClayAiken”	$1,297,840
Doug “WCGRider” Polk	$754,099	Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion	$1,048,475
Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang	$649,240	Paul “MalACEsia” Phua	$823,325