The Online Railbird Report: Ruthenberg and Blom Win Big; Hansen's Bad Year Continues

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Aug 22, 2014 6 min read

In this week’s Online Railbird Report, which recaps the high-stakes cash-game winners and losers from PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, Sebastian “taktloss47” Ruthenberg finished as the biggest winner after banking $628,544 over six sessions in a six-day period.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ended his month-long downswing by profiting $510,793 in 7,474 hands over 67 sessions, while Russia’s Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn won $404,628 in 8,477 spread out over 54 sessions. Other winners included last week’s second-biggest winner Dan “jungleman12” Cates (+$273,034 in 43 sessions/5,950 hands) and Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton, who erased last week’s $173K loss by winning $266,131 in 3,572 hands over three sessions.

Of course, not everyone was so fortunate. Gus Hansen finished as this week’s biggest loser after dropping $457,212 in 12,365 hands over 69 sessions. Not too far behind was “Sanlker,” who lost $410,024 in 725 hand over 15 sessions. Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou (-$183,012 in 31 sessions/3,455 hands) and “Denoking” (-$178,351 in 6 sessions/3,889 hands) also lost on Full Tilt Poker, while “Trueteller” was PokerStars’ biggest loser after giving away $170,584 in 1,717 hands spread across 11 sessions.

Hansen Finishes as Friday’s Biggest Winner

It’s actually a bit surprising the “Great Dane” finished as the week’s biggest loser as he kicked the week off with a big win by profiting $275,700 on Aug.15. That came from an afternoon 8-Game match against Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn, Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau, and Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz.

Hansen's biggest pot of the day came during a heads-up match against Kostritsyn ($60,000) in a round of $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha. Hansen ($77,244.25) kicked the hand off with a raise to $1,800 from the button and then called a three-bet to $5,400 from his Russian opponent, which brought about a flop of 2♠7♣A♣. Kostritsyn led out for $3,564, Hansen called, and the 9♠ appeared on the turn.

This time Kostritsyn checked, Hansen bet $17,928, and Kostritsyn sprung to life with an all-in check-raise to $51,036. Hansen called and just like that there was a $120,000 pot on the line.

Hansen: A♠9♣4♦10♦
Kostritsyn: A♦5♦Q♥7♥

Both players held two pair, but Hansen’s aces and nines had him out front. The two agreed to run the river twice, but neither the 3♠ on the first nor K♦ on the second helped Kostritsyn, and Hansen was pushed the pot.

The next day, Hansen would go on to win the biggest pot of the month against Kostritsyn. Check out this $334,100 monster:

Despite winning that hand, Hansen finished as Saturday’s biggest loser after dropping $226,000. Two players that fared well on the weekend were Dan “jungleman12” Cates and Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau, who finished Saturday with $300,700 and $198,200 in profit respectively.

The Online Railbird Report: Ruthenberg and Blom Win Big; Hansen's Bad Year Continues 101 — Gus Hansen

Luneau’s win came from the 8-Game tables, though he got off to a rocky start being down $150,000 at one point. Fortunately a late morning heater turned things around and allowed him to finish in the black. As for Cates, his win came in a six-hour early morning against Hansen, Luneau, and Kostritsyn.

In one hand, Cates ($98,609.60) was playing a round of $300/$600 PLO against Hansen ($102,540.90) when the dynamic duo played a big pot. It began when Cates raised to $1,800 from the button and then called Hansen’s three-bet to $5,400. When the flop fell J♣4♦K♣, Hansen led out for $10,800, Cates called, and the 9♣ appeared on the turn.

Hansen check-called a bet of $21,000 and then checked for a second time when the 3♣ completed the board on the river. Cates responded by shoving all in for $61,709.60 and Hansen called to create a pot of $197,819.20. Cates rolled over the A♣6♣4♣4♥ for an ace-high flush, and it was good enough to win as Hansen mucked his cards.

Ruthenberg Finishes as Sunday’s Biggest Winner

Sebastian “taktloss47” Ruthenberg was able to finish as the week’s biggest winner due in no small part to his excellent outing on Sunday, August 17. It was then that he squared off against fellow German “Sanlker” for 212 hands of $1,500/$3,000 2-7 triple draw at three tables. That’s all it took for Ruthenberg to take “Sanlker” for $397,000.

According to HighStakesDB, the first session the pair played lasted just 20 minutes and consisted of 44 hands. Ruthenberg won $44,200 in that match. More than three hour later, the two returned for 84 more hands, which took 40 minutes to play out. Ruthenberg banked $186,000 and $165,000 wins at the two tables the Germans played.

Viktor "Islidur1" Blom Ends Downswing, Wins Almost $1 Million in 24 Hours

According to a dedicated article by Jason Glatzer here on PokerNews, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom hit the gas this week and won almost $1 million in only 24 hours. Here is how Glatzer described it:

Blom won $617,900 on Aug. 19, and was up about another $300,000 early on in the day on Aug. 20. All of the action happened at Full Tilt Poker, which is usually where the nosebleed poker players go to battle.

Blom started off his impressive run in the late afternoon on Aug. 19, and three hours into his session propelled himself to a $250,000 profit at the $1,500/$3,000 8-game tables. Blom's day wasn't an entire upswing, since a few hours later he found himself giving all this profit back and eventually found himself about $50,000 in the hole.

While this was a low-point in the day for Blom, it was the high point in the day for American Dan "jungleman12" Cates, who found himself ahead more than $600,000 on the day. In hindsight, though, he should have quit while he was ahead. By the time Cates quit for the day his profit had dwindled to just $57,800, a far cry from his peak.

The biggest win for Blom and the biggest loss for Cates came during a 3-handed $300/$600 no-limit hold'em round at 8-game Table Khan. Cates started the preflop action by raising from the button to $1,500. Blom three-bet to $5,400 from the small blind with 7♥6♥ and Gus Hansen let those two battle it out and folded from the big blind.

Cates called Blom's three-bet and the two went to the 8♦9♦K♣ flop. Blom led out with a $7,200 bet and Cates just called. The 5♥ came on the turn giving Blom one of the three outs to give him a nut straight. Never one to slow down whether he has it or not, Blom led out with a $17,400 bet. Cates then raised to $48,600, which Blom just called in an attempt to disguise his strong hand.

The Q♠ on the river was a potential scare card for Blom if Cates was holding any Jx10x combination. Blom continued disguising his hand by checking the action to Cates, who then led out with most of his remaining stack with a $98,400 bet. Blom check-raised all-in, committing Cates to call with his remaining $26,231. Cates called and mucked without showing, shipping the huge $372,260 pot to Blom.

After Cates called it a day, Blom kept playing heads-up against Hansen before finishing with nearly $1 million added back into his bankroll after a horrendous 30-day downswing.

Haxton vs. “Denoking” in Big Wednesday $300/$600 NLHE Game

The Online Railbird Report: Ruthenberg and Blom Win Big; Hansen's Bad Year Continues 102 — Isaac Haxton

In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we told you how “Denoking” won $289,000 from Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton at the $300/$600 no-limit hold’em tables. This week Haxton got it all back and then some as he took $346,100 from “Denoking” in a three-table, ten-hour battle on Wednesday. Here are the three biggest pots from that match:

Hand #1: Haxton ($225,425.95) opened for $1,320 from the button and was met by a three-bet to $4,980 from “Denoking” ($335,518.50). Haxton pushed back with a four-bet to $14,940, “Denoking” called and the flop came down 5♦8♠10♦. “Denoking” bet $13,600, Haxton raised to $43,500, and “Denoking” called to see the J♥ turn.

“Denoking” checked and then called when Haxton bet $58,440, which brought about the 6♣ on the river. “Denoking” checked for a second time and then folded when Haxton bet $108,545.95.

Hand #2: “Denoking” ($112,180) raised to $1,500, Haxton ($366,458.85) called, and the 3♣4♥Q♥ appeared on the flop. Haxton check-called a bet of $1,800 and then checked for a second time on the 9♣ turn. “Denoking” bet $4,620, Haxton check-raised to $22,000, and “Denoking” called to see the 9♥ river. Haxton shoved all in and “Denoking” wasted little time calling off his remaining $86,880. Haxton tabled the 6♠3♦ for two pair, but it was no good as “Denoking” held the J♥3♥ for a flush and the $224,360 pot.

Hand #3:

Biggest Winners/Losers from August 15-20

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Sebastian “taktloss47” Ruthenberg	$628,544	Gus Hansen	$457,212
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$510,793	“Sanlker”	$410,024
Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn	$404,628	Chun Lei “samrostan” Zhou	$183,012
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$273,034	“Denoking”	$178,351
Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton	$266,131	“Trueteller”	$170,584

Year's Biggest Winners/Losers

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$2,833,805	Gus Hansen	$4,128,372
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$1,750,224	Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$1,815,817
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$1,196,595	Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$1,377,118
Niki Jedlicka	$971,849	Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond	$1,297,854
Doug “WCGRider” Polk	$754,099	Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion	$1,104,969
Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang	$649,240	Paul “MalACEsia” Phua	$823,325