The Online Railbird Report: Phil Ivey Rebounds with $387,000 Win and More

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Nov 21, 2014 6 min read

The online high-stakes action was going strong this week on both Full Tilt and PokerStars. Once again, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey, who is currently in Macau, was a driving force, and after finishing as last week’s biggest loser, he rebounded by winning $387,651 after playing 11,076 hands over 52 sessions on Full Tilt. It was a nice score, but only good enough for fourth on the weekly leaderboard.

The week’s biggest winner was “EireAbu,” who won $563,429 in 10,182 hands over 44 sessions on PokerStars. Not far behind was Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev, who won $487,585 in 9,146 hands over 38 sessions on the same site. As for the third-place finisher, “Sanlker,” he won $442,928 in 2,394 hands over 16 sessions on Full Tilt.

Oppositely, “AthaCliath” was the week's biggest loser after dropping $304,852 in 2,202 hands over 26 sessions on Full Tilt, and he was joined in the loser’s column by Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz (-$237,679 in 4 sessions/1,884 hands), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (-$101,902 in 7 sessions/1,351 hands), and Noah “Exclusive” Boeken (-$80,735).

In other news, PokerStars historic Billionth Tournament is rapidly approaching, and in preparation PokerNews has reached out to both George “Jorj95” Lind and Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz, which you can read by clicking here and here.

Ivey Finishes as Friday’s Biggest Winner

On Friday, Nov. 14, Ivey finished as the day’s biggest winner with $199,100 in profit. His day began with a seven-hour heads-up battle at the $1,000/$2,000 8-game tables against “HoldemJill9,” who pulled out to a $235,000 lead after six and a half hours. Fortunately for Ivey, he was able to mitigate the damages in the last half hour down to $163,000. “HoldemJill9” went on to finish the day $119,900 in the black, which made him Friday’s second biggest winner.

From there, Ivey jumped over to the $1,500/$3,000 tables and took on Thuritz. Over the course of 1,016 hands, Ivey erased his losses from his previous match and pulled out to a six-figure profit on the day. All told, Ivey won $317,400 in the match, which produced the two biggest pots of the day.

Hand #1: In a round of $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha, Thuritz ($64,498.50) opened for $1,800 from the button and then called when Ivey ($265,919.75) three-bet to $5,400. When the flop came down 9♥3♦7♣, Ivey led out for $6,600 and Thuritz raised to $18,600. Ivey responded with a four-bet to $66,600 and Thuritz called off to create a pot of $128,997.

Thuritz: Q♥10♥7♥7♦
Ivey: K♣8♣10♠J♦

Ivey flopped a wrap, and he needed to hit it to overcome Thuritz’s flopped set. The A♣ turn gave Ivey an added flush draw, but the K♥ bricked on the river and he watched the pot pushed to Thuritz.

Hand #2: In a round of $300/$600 no-limit hold’em, Ivey ($50,571) opened for $1,200 and was met by a three-bet to $4,200 from Thuritz ($226,232.75). Ivey pushed back with a four-bet to $12,600 and then called off his remaining $37,971 after Thuritz five-bet all in.

Ivey: A♠K♣
Thuritz: A♥Q♠

Both players shared an ace, but of course Ivey’s kicker made him an overwhelming favorite. Thuritz managed to pair his queen on the Q♣2♦7♠ flop, but his lead was only temporary as the K♥ spiked on the turn. The 5♥ river failed to help Thuritz, and he watched the $101,142 shipped to Ivey.

“EireAbu” Gets His Week Started with $362K Win

“EireAbu,” who if you recall was one of online poker’s biggest winners back in 2012, played 3,726 hands over 15 hours on PokerStars. By the time he logged off, he was $362,300 richer, which was more than enough to make him the days biggest winner.

“EireAbu,” who virtually disappeared in 2013 and was known as a pot-limit Omaha specialist, actually played at the 8-Game and 2-7 triple draw tables. It was a nearly five-hour morning session against Alex “joiso” Kostritsyn in the former variant that netted him $174,400, which he followed up by relieving the Russian of another $148,500 in 504 hands and two hours of $1,000/$2,000 triple draw.

Toss in a $71,000 win at the $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha tables, which included a $52,000 win from “supernova9,” and it proved a profitable day for “EireAbu.”

In other Sunday news, Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby finished as the day’s second-biggest winner with $123,000, which came from the 2-7 triple draw tables on Full Tilt Poker. More than half of that, $72,000 to be exact, came against Ivey in just 27 hands, while $32,000 of it came off “Trueteller.”

Meanwhile, Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton won $91,300, which came from a heads-up match at the $50/$100 and $100/$200 no-limit hold’em tables against “Denoking.” It was at the latter stakes that the biggest pot of the day took place. Have a look:

“Sanlker” Books a $235K Win on Tuesday; Ivey Wins Nearly $88K

On Tuesday, Nov. 18 the $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw tables were going strong, and it was there German pro “Sanlker” played a 100-minute session against Kibler-Melby that spanned 208 hands. After that time “Sanlker” walked away a $239,000 winner.

The two were back at it three hours later, which is when they played another 324 hands. Kibler-Melby managed to win back $53,000, but just $4,000 of it came from “Sanlker.” That’s because Ivey sat down for an hour and lost $49,000.

Not a great showing for the 10-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, but he managed to finish in the black on Tuesday thanks in no small part to winning $121,000 from “HoldemJill9” at the $1,500/$3,000 8-Game tables, which is where the day’s biggest pot occurred.

It happened in the $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha round when “HoldemJill9” ($37,289.50) raised to $1,500 and then called Ivey’s ($113,628) three-bet to $4,500, which brought about a flop of 4♦10♥9♦. Ivey bet $9,000, “HoldemJill9” moved all in for $32,789.50, and Ivey called to create a pot of $74,579.

“HoldemJill9”: Q♦J♦8♣5♠
Ivey: K♦K♣8♦9♥

Both players flopped a flush draw, but of course Ivey was best in that department. “HoldemJill9” had a wrap to fall back on, and he hit it when the Q♣ appeared on the turn. Unfortunately for him, the J♥ followed it on the river, which gave Ivey a winning king-high straight.

Wednesday Fruitful for Both “EireAbu” and Ivey

On Wednesday, Nov. 19, “EireAbu” won $242,600 on PokerStars to finish as the day’s biggest winner. Meanwhile, Ivey won $210,100 over on Full Tilt, which put him second on the daily leaderboard.

Most of “EireAbu’s” win came from the $400/$800 mixed game tables against the likes of Jason Mercier, Kostritsyn, and Shchemelev. The rest of it, which accounted for $46,800, came off Alex “BiatchPeople” Luneau at the $500/$1,000 2-7 triple draw tables.

As for Ivey, he won $96,400 off “HoldemJill9” in just 34 hands of $1,500/$3,000 8-Game, and then won 282,000 after four hours of $2,000/$4,000 fixed-limit Omaha hi-lo against “Carlooo13.” Ivey gave away some of his profit later in the day especially to “bbvisbadforme,” who finished the day a $162,000 winner.

As for Wednesday’s two biggest pots, they occurred at the $100/$200 no-limit hold’em tables on Full Tilt between “Denoking” and Haxton, which is where the former logged off an $84,300 winner.

Hand #1: “Denoking” ($61,952) raised to $600, Haxton ($46,922.50) called, and the flop came down 3♦Q♣8♦. Haxton checked, “Denoking” bet $960, and Haxton check-raised to $3,200. Not to be outdone, “Denoking” three-bet to $8,000 and then called when Haxton four-bet to $14,200. When the A♥ appeared on the turn, Haxton bet all in for $32,122.50 and “Denoking” called.

Haxton: Q♦8♥
“Denoking”: A♠8♣

Haxton had flopped two pair, but little did he know he fell behind on the turn when “Denoking” made a bigger two pair. The river was run twice, but neither the 2♦ on the first nor 10♦ on the second helped Haxton and “Denoking” scooped the $93,845 pot.

Hand #2: “Denoking” ($74,809.50) opened for $600 on the button and then called when Haxton ($48,997.50) three-bet to $2,100. After the flop fell 6♦8♣9♣, both players checked and the A♥ peeled off on the turn. Haxton checked, “Denoking” bet $6,200, and Haxton check-raised to $13,800. “Denoking” called and then called when Haxton shoved all in for $33,097.50 on the 2♠ river.

Haxton showed the 6♠5♠ for a pair of sixes, but it was no good as “Denoking” had looked him up with the A♠5♦ for a pair of aces. Ship the $94,995 pot to “Denoking.”

Biggest Winners/Losers from Nov. 13-20

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
“EireAbu”	$563,429	“AthaCliath”	$304,852
Vladimir “GVOZDIKA55” Shchemelev	$487,585	Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$237,679
“Sanlker”	$442,928	Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$101,902
Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$387,651	Noah “Exclusive” Boeken	$80,735
“bbvisbadforme”	$192,150	Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton	$33,119
Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion	$114,278	Doug “WCGRider” Polk	$32,041

Year's Biggest Winners/Losers

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$2,807,509	Gus Hansen	$5,522,853
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$2,333,556	Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$1,967,238
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$1,652,546	Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$1,395,340
Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton	$1,266,456	Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion	$1,172,590
Doug “WCGRider” Polk	$1,077,969	Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond	$1,082,089
“EireAbu”	$797,683	Paul “MalACEsia” Phua	$823,325
Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang	$666,783	“AthaCliath”	$662,889