The Online Railbird Report: Polk & "Denoking" Keep Things Interesting During Slow Week

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Sep 26, 2014 5 min read

With the 2014 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in full swing on PokerStars, the high-stakes online cash games on Full Tilt Poker were fairly slow this week.

Last week, Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton was the biggest winner with $712,954 in profit, but this week the biggest winner, “Sanlker,” had just $222,545 in profit, which came from 2,913 hands over 22 sessions on Full Tilt. Not far behind was Ben “Ben86” Tollerene, who was PokerStars’ biggest winner with $212,748 in profit from 1,262 hands over 10 sessions.

On the flip side, “bbvisbadforme” was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $276,666 in 2,682 hands over 18 sessions on Full Tilt. The second-biggest loser was “Ravenswood13,” who lost $187,142 in 1,717 hands over nine sessions on PokerStars.

While the winners and losers were modest, there was still some interesting action over the week, specifically the matches between Doug “WCGRider” Polk and “Denoking.” Those matches are just a few of the things highlighted in this week’s Online Railbird Report.

“bbvisbadforme” Finishes as Saturday’s Biggest Winner

There was only one six-figure winner on Saturday, September 20, and it was “bbvisbadforme,” who banked $109,100 playing 2-7 triple draw. Much of that — $20,200 to be exact — came from a one-hour session against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom at the $500/$1,000 tables, and then the two upped the stakes to $1,000/$2,000 where “bbvisbadforme” won $57,100 more. Blom lost $77,000 in the matches, but salvaged his day with a $108,000 win against Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby.

Not long after his match against Blom, “bbvisbadforme” found himself back at the $500/$1,000 2-7 triple draw tables against “Follow The Hawk,” who he promptly relieved of $31,000. That vaulted him to the top of the daily leaderboard with a six-figure score.

The “Denoking” vs. Polk Battle Continues to Wage

Over the weekend, “Denoking” and Doug WCGRider” Polk continued their back-and-forth feud, which was well documented in last week’s Online Railbird Report. Polk had won heartily the last time the two met, but this time things went Denoking’s way as he pulled out to a $300,000 lead within an hour and end up finishing the short match a $308,000 winner. Here’s a look at the three biggest pots of the match.

Hand #1: Denoking ($159,007.50) opened for $1,800 and then called when Polk ($120,000) three-bet to $7,200, which brought about a flop of Q♣7♣10♣. Polk check-called a bet of $9,000, and then check-called one of $24,600 on the 9♥ turn. When the 6♣ completed the board on the river, Polk opted to shove all in for $79,200 and Denoking snap-called. Polk tabled the Q♥10♥ for a flopped two pair, but it was no good as Denoking rolled over the A♣Q♠ for the flush and $240,000 pot.

Hand #2: Polk ($180,474.25) raised to $1,320 from the button only to have Denoking three-bet to $4,200. Not to be outdone, Polk four-bet to $12,600, Denoking called, and the flop came down 2♠5♥8♣. Denoking led out for $9,300, Polk popped it to $29,010, and Denoking called. When the A♥ appeared on the turn, Denoking check-called a bet of $22,200 and the both players checked the 8♥ river. Polk tabled the Q♦Q♣ for two pair, and it was good enough to win the $127,620 pot as Denoking sent his cards to the muck unseen.

Hand #3:

“Denoking” vs. Polk Round II

All that money Denoking won… he gave most of it back to Doug “WCGRider” Polk in a $100/$200 no-limit hold’em match on Monday. It was there the two played for 10 hours, during which time Polk won $278,000 to finish as the day’s biggest winner. As usual, the duo played several large pots. Have a look.

Hand #1: Polk ($71,367) opened for $440 on the button and Denoking ($65,613.35) responded with a three-bet to $1,800. Polk then four-bet to $5,400, Denoking five-bet to $13,800, and Polk called to see a flop of 8♥K♦K♣. Denoking bet $1,800, Polk called, and the 2♦ appeared on the turn.

Denoking bet again, this time $14,100, but he failed to shake Polk. When the K♥ completed the board on the river, Denoking moved all in for his last $29,913.35 and Polk snap-called. Denoking tabled the A♦A♠ for kings full of aces, but it was no good as Denoking had quads with the K♠A♥. Ship the $131,226.70 pot to Denoking.

The Online Railbird Report: Polk & "Denoking" Keep Things Interesting During Slow Week 101 — Doug "WCGRider" Polk

Hand #2: Denoking ($74,517) opened for $500 and then called when Polk ($62,996.50) three-bet to $2,200. The 8♥10♣J♦ flop saw Polk bet $3,200, Denoking called, and the 5♣ appeared on the turn. Polk bet $8,100, Denoking moved all in, and Polk wasted little time in calling off his stack to create a pot of $125,993.

Polk: J♣J♠
Denoking: 10♠8♣

Denoking had flopped two pair, but it was no good as Polk had flopped a set. The river was run twice, but neither the 2♣ on the first nor K♦ on the second changed a thing and Polk was pushed the pot.

Hand #3: Denoking ($61,266.25) raised to $600 and then called when Polk ($149,367.10) three-bet to $2,800. Polk then checked the 5♥J♦10♦ flop, Denoking bet $7,900, and Polk sprung to life with a check-raise to $23,600. Denoking shoved all in for $58,466.25 and Polk made the call.

Polk: Q♣Q♠
Denoking: J♥10♥

Denoking was ahead with two pair, but Polk had two shots at it as the turn and river were run twice. The 7♠ turn on the first run was no help to Polk, but the Q♥ river was as it gave him trips and half the pot. Likewise, the 8♠ turn on the second was a blank, but the 5♠ river counterfeited Denoking and allowed Polk to scoop the entire $122,532.50 pot.

Those pots were nice, but there weren’t the biggest of the day. That one went to Polk when he flops the nuts and Denoking decides to bluff at it. Check it out:

Tollerene Cleans Up in PokerStars PLO Action

On Wednesday, September 24, the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha game was going strong on PokerStars. That is where Ben “Ben86” Tollerene won $148,500 off players that included Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, Ola “Odd_Oddsen” Amundsgard, and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, just to name a few.

Much of Tollerene’s profit came from winning the second biggest pot of the day. It happened at a five-handed table when Galfond ($73,854.42) opened for $600 from the cutoff and “Ravenswood13” ($52,335) called from the button. Tollerene ($62,670.78) came along from the big blind and three players saw a flop of J♣7♠7♦. Tollerene checked, Galfond bet $512.30, and Ravenswood13 raised to $1,800. Tollerene called, Galfond three-bet to $6,571.95, and Ravenswood13 got out of the way. Tollerene called and it was heads-up action to the 5♦ turn.

Tollerene check-called a bet of $12,756.84 and then checked for a third time on the 3♥ river. Galfond took the opportunity to bet $42,552.58 and then called when Tollerene check-raised all in for less than $200 more. Galfond tabled the J♦J♠5♠5♥ for a flopped full house, but he was the victim of a cooler as Tollerene had flopped quads with the 7♥7♣4♥3♠. With that, Tollerene took down the $128,041.56 pot.

Biggest Winners/Losers from Sept. 19-25

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
“Sanlker”	$222,545	“bbvisbadforme”	$276,666
Ben “Ben86” Tollerene	$212,748	“Ravenswood13”	$187,142
Jason Mercier	$176,599	“Lottenice”	$158,705
“AckmaJin”	$172,842	Dan “w00ki3z.” Cates	$125,055
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$160,347	Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby	$123,144

Year's Biggest Winners/Losers

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$2,921,141	Gus Hansen	$5,522,853
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$2,251,349	Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$2,276,313
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$2,038,286	Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$1,510,253
Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton	$1,299,576	Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion	$1,138,037
Doug “WCGRider” Polk	$1,072,273	Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond	$1,082,089
Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang	$663,177	Paul “MalACEsia” Phua	$823,325
Niki Jedlicka	$624,921	Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky	$705,594