The Online Railbird Report: Blom Continues to Drive Action; Kostritsyn Big Winner

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Oct 18, 2014 5 min read

In most editions of the Online Railbird Report, the biggest winner of the week comes from Full Tilt Poker. Not this time, though. This week, PokerStars was home to the week’s biggest winner, and it was Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn, who won $226,725 in 3,726 hands over 41 sessions.

While Kostritsyn was busy winning on PokerStars, Blom was busy driving the action on their sister site, just like he had done the week before when he won $117,457. It proved profitable for the Swede as he won $121,105 on the week, which came from 5,273 hands spread across 34 sessions.

Others winners included Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz (+$164,449 in 6 sessions/381 hands) on Full Tilt, and both Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev (+87,219 in 37 sessions/4,960 hands) and Rui “PepperoniF” Cao (+$62,836 in 9 sessions/682 hands).

As for the losers, German pro “Sanlker,” who was last week’s biggest loser after finishing $576,753 in the red, lost $429,774 in 2914 hands over 16 sessions to finish as the biggest loser for the second week in a row. Others who lost, albeit a lot less, were Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$71,088 in 425 hands over 7 sessions) and “ajve_xx” (-$59,120 in 864 hands over 14 sessions.

Blom and Kostritsyn Kick Off the Week with Wins

On Monday, October 13, Blom played “Sanlker” for five hours at the $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw tables. The duo played two separate matches, and at one point the Swede was up nearly $300,000; however, “Sanlker” battled back and Blom finished the first match with $133,000 in profit.

A little while later the two sat down at another table — this time at the $1,000/$2,000 limits — and after an hour Blom had won an additional $185,000. Like before, he was unable to hold onto it. Sanlker battled back, recouped his losses, and actually finished that match a $62,000 winner. Still, over the course of both matches Blom was $71,100 in the black, which was enough to make him the day’s second-biggest winner.

In one $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw hand, Blom ($23,9680.50) raised to $4,000 and then called when Sanlker ($65,746.50) three-bet to $6,000. Sanlker drew one, Blom three, and then the latter called a bet of $2,000 from the former. This time Sanlker stood pat and Blom drew two. Sanlker bet $4,000, Blom called, and then Sanlker broke and drew one. Blom stood pat and then called a bet of $4,000 from his German opponent. Sanlker tabled the 8♠6♣5♦4♣3♦, and then Blom rolled over the 8♥6♥5♣4♥3♣ for the same low. With that, the two chopped it up.

In another hand, Blom ($107,478) raised to $4,000 and Sanlker ($123,723) called. Both players drew three, Sanlker bet $2,000, and Blom called. Sanlker stood pat, Blom drew one, and then Sanlker bet $4,000. Blom raised to $8,000, Sanlker called, and then both players stood pat. Blom tabled the 8♦7♦4♥3♥2♦, and it was good enough to win the $32,000 pot as Sanlker simply mucked.

According to HighStakesDB, the only player to do better than Blom was Kostritsyn, who won $124,300 playing on PokerStars. It was there he played $500/$1,000 2-7 triple draw and $400/$800 8-game, with him winning $69,800 in the former game in just 30 minutes and 103 hands against Sebastien “Seb86” Sabic. As for the latter, Kostritsyn played for five hours and won $61,800 against the likes of Jason Mercier, Dan “w00ki3z” Cates, and Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev, just to name a few.

Blom Wins Again; Thuritz Finishes as Tuesday’s Biggest Winner

Blom was back at it on Tuesday and won an additional $93,800 playing a variety of games. He started out at the $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw where he won $31,000 in two hours against Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau, and then he and Thuritz took to the 8-game mixed tables. It took just 142 hands for Thuritz to relieve Blom of $180,900. Next up was “Carlooo13” at the fixed-limit Omaha hi/lo (FLO8) tables, and in an hour Blom strung together a $250,000 win.

Here’s a look at one of the bigger hands from his match against Luneau:

“Carlooo13” Makes a Comeback; Kostritsyn and Blom Battle

After losing to Blom on Tuesday, “Carlooo13” returned with a vengeance on Wednesday. He and the Swede returned to the FLO8 tables, and while Blom started off by winning $47,000, a later 90-minute session saw Carlooo13 walk away a $167,900 winner. As the day wore on the duo played two more sessions, and both times Carlooo13 finished in the black. All told he took Blom for $355,700 to finish as the day’s biggest winner.

In between matches with "Carlooo13," Blom also took on Kostritsyn at the 8-game tables. It was there the two played two large pots in the $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha rounds.

Hand #1: Blom ($77,517.50) opened for $1,800, Kostritsyn ($188,012.25) called, and the flop came down 8♠9♠3♥. Kostritsyn bet $2,880, Blom called, and the 2♥ appeared on the turn. Kostritsyn bet again, this time $9,360, and Blom called, which brought about the 6♥ on the river.

Kostritsyn led out for $14,040 and then called when Blom raised to $42,600. Blom tabled the K♦Q♥J♥8♥ for a heart flush draw, and he was pushed the $113,280 pot after Kostritsyn mucked.

Hand #2: Blom ($130,836.10) raised to $1,800, Kostritsyn three-bet to $5,400, and Blom four-bet to $16,200. Kostritsyn called and then both players checked the 4♦9♠10♦ flop. When the 5♥ appeared on the turn, Kostritsyn bet $32,400, Blom called, and the 10♥ completed the board on the river.

Kostritsyn checked and then called when Blom bet all in for $62,236.10. Blom rolled over the A♦A♣Q♣10♣ for trip tens with an ace kicker, and he was pushed the $261,672.20 pot after Kostritsyn mucked his cards.

Blom Drives Thursday Action; Sanlker Loses Big

On Thursday, October 16, Blom once again drove the high-stakes action. His day began when he took on “Carlooo13” at the $2,000/$4,000 FLO8 table and won $85,000 in 70 minutes. From there he squared off against “Sanlker” at four different tables of $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw, and Blom bled his opponent of more than $400,000.

However, Blom decided to jump to the FLO8 tables to take on Kyle “KPR16” Ray, and things didn’t go so well. He lost $143,700 in forty minutes, and then after the clock ticked into Friday, he lost another $115,000 in 18 minutes. All told Blom finished the day a $202,700 winner.

Biggest Winners/Losers from Oct. 9-15

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Alex “joiso” Kostritsyn	$226,725	“Sanlker”	$429,774
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$164,449	Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$71,088
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$121,105	“ajve_xx”	$59,120
Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev	$87,219	“JcPark”	$56,658
Rui “PepperoniF” Cao	$62,836	“nickframe”	$37,057

Year's Biggest Winners/Losers

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$2,820,011	Gus Hansen	$5,522,853
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$2,562,379	Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$2,469,753
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$1,757,199	Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$1,280,387
Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton	$1,229,576	Elior “Crazy Elior” Scion	$1,098,928
Doug “WCGRider” Polk	$1,110,009	“Sanlker”	$1,020,785
Alex “joiso” Kostritsyn	$771,877	Paul “MalACEsia” Phua	$823,325
Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang	$663,177	Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky	$705,594