The Online Railbird Report: Doc Sands Challenges Doug Polk to Fight for $500,000
In last week's Online Railbird Report, we told you how Daniel "Jungleman" Cates lost $5 million playing in high-stakes cash games in Manila. Granted, it wasn't online news per se, but he is one of online poker's biggest names.
Likewise, some of the biggest news this week didn't involve online action, but did involve an online poker player when Doug "WCGRider" Polk accepted a $500,000 fight challenge from David "Doc" Sands. You can read more about the rumored bout below.
Meanwhile, this week's biggest winner was "Yoghii," who seemingly came out of nowhere to win $432,368 in 4,974 hands over 60 sessions on PokerStars. Others atop the weekly leaderboard were "jama-dharma" (+$79,018 in 17 sessions/1,000 hands), "riverdave" (+$73,355 in 20 sessions/1,535 hands), and "flong78" (+$46,616 in 42 sessions/3,346 hands).
On the other end of the spectrum, "Krafty_It" was the week's biggest loser after dropping $285,330 in 1,434 hands over 12 sessions. Others who finished in the red were Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande (-$164,272 in 4 sessions/126 hands), Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies (-$67,541 in 3 sessions/249 hands), and "honeybee088" (-$49,356 in 36 sessions/4,753 hands).
Fight Night: Polk vs. Sands for $500,000?
On Wednesday, August 19, Doug "WCGRider" Polk sent out the following tweet:
Today @Doc_Sands asked to fight me for 500k, I said yes. He needs 24 hours to get back to me. Let's see what happens #challengeaccepted
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkPoker)
Polk went on to explain that Sands originally wanted to fight him that night, but admitted he was not in shape to do so. Apparently Sands then offered to fight six months down the road, which Polk accepted. Each player will apparently put $500,000 in the purse.
"That's not exactly true," Sands tweeted back. "I told you I would box you last night or in three weeks, but not in six months."
"Yeah also fair," Polk tweeted back. "I declined this offer."
PokerNews reached out to both Polk and Sands, who did not respond. At this point it doesn't look as if the fight will actually happen, though the poker community certainly seemed excited by the prospect.
Of course a Polk vs. Sands match wouldn't be the first of its kind. Back in 2009, Gus Hansen and Theo Jorgensen famously squared off in the boxing ring, with the latter prevailing for $35,000. Meanwhile, in 2011 Lex Veldhuis knocked out fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier in Round 2 of their highly-touted kickboxing match. Veldhuis reportedly won $50,000 for the victory. Video of both those fights can be found online.
Of course there was also the $50,000 impromptu wrestling match during the 2015 World Series of Poker between Terrence Chan and Huck Seed, where the latter needed to last two minutes against his MMA opponent. Check it out.
How "Yoghii" Won $432,368
It's been awhile since someone one came close to half a million win online in a single week, but "Yoghii" accomplished the feat. His run good started on Friday, August 14 when he won $367,800 from over 1,500 hands of limit hold'em. That's right, LIMIT hold'em.
According to HighStakesDB, "Yoghii" began by winning $33,000 from a morning $500/$1,000 match that included "Krafty_It," "JesusLebtNOT," and "nimzon," just to name a few. Later on, he sat down at a $1,000/$2,000 table and played for 738 hands, most of which were against the aforementioned "JesusLebtNOT," who lost $219,000. "Yoghii" ended up winning $218,800 in the match.
As if that wasn't enough, "Yoghii" went on to win $99,400 in 93 hands playing the same stakes against "Krafty_It," "Debline_Ucho," "St1ckman," and Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov. Speaking of Kuznetsov, he finished as the day's second-biggest winner with $45,600 in profit.
A couple days later, on Sunday, August 16, "Yoghii" was back at it and padded his bankroll with another $100,400, which came in a little more than three hours of play. He played various stakes, but did the most damage at the $1,000/$2,000 tables, especially in a two-hour, 303-hand session against many of the aforementioned players in which he won $83,200.
Meanwhile, "jama-dharma" won $88,400 on Sunday, which put him second on the daily leaderboard, while "Ravenswood13" came in third with $79,200. "Ravenswood13's" win came after six hours at the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha tables, which is where the biggest pot of the day took place; however, it didn't go to "Ravenswood13."
In the hand, six players were seated when "Ravenswood13" ($31,007.50) raised to $700 from the hijack only to have Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen ($45,383.51) three-bet to $2,400 from the cutoff. When action reached "bodamos" ($30,859.44) in the big blind, he four-bet to $4,000, "Ravenswood13" folded, and Kyllönen called to see the Q♦3♣5♦ flop. "bodamos" bet $10,795, Kyllönen raised to $33,590, and "bodamos" called off for $22,859.44 total.
"bodamos": A♦J♦5♥2♥
Kyllönen: Q♥8♦9♠10♠
Kyllönen had flopped top pair, while "bodamos" held middle pair with both straight and flush draws. Kyllönen was a 2:1 underdog, but he defied the odds when the 10♥ appeared on the turn followed by the 10♦ river to give him a full house and the $62,518.88 pot.
A Good Monday for "WithColor"
On Monday, August 17, a $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha game spread with some big names seated including Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies, "WithColor," and Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky, just to name a few. "WithColor" ended up the big winner with $65,000 in profit from 250 hands. One of those hands happened to be the biggest pot of the day.
In a six-handed game, Sulsky ($25,387.03) raised to $700 from the cutoff and "WithColor" ($21,587.92) three-bet to $2,300 from the small blind. Sahamies ($20,000) called from the big, Sulsky came along, and then all three players checked the Q♠2♥9♣ flop. When the 6♠ appeared on the turn, "WithColor" led out for $6,895, Sahamies called, and Sulsky got out of the way.
The 4♥ river saw "WithColor" bet $12,392.92, and Sahamies called off his last $10,805 with the 10♣10♥J♣8♣ for a missed wrap that resulted in a pair of tens. "WithColor" then rolled over the A♠A♥K♦2♠ for a pair of aces and the $42,300 pot.
"Ravenswood13" Destroys Blom; Kostritsyn Wins Thursday's Biggest Pot
On Thursday, August 20, "Ravenswood13" finished as the day's biggest winner after banking $184,900, almost all of which came at the $1,000/$2,000 limit Omaha hi/lo (FLO8) against Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, who was actually up approximately $130,000 on the day heading into the match. The two played for 610 hands, and by the end of it Blom was down $42,100 on the day while "Ravenswood13" was up $178,200.
Meanwhile, Thursday's biggest pot took place in a $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha round at the $400/$800 Mixed Games tables. It began when "aba20" ($45,426.50) raised to $600 from the hijack and "spaise411" ($53,668) called from the cutoff. Alexander "joiso" Kostritsyn ($39,200) came along from the button, "flong78" ($44,547.25) did the same from the big blind, and four players saw a flop of J♦2♠3♠.
Three checks saw Kostritsyn bet $1,871.25, "flong78" called, and "aba20" folded. "spaise411" then check-raised to $7,400, Kostritsyn called, and "flong78" got out of the way to make it heads-up action to the 9♦ turn. "spaise411" bet $19,166.25, Kostritsyn called, and the 5♠ completed the board on the river. "spaise411" bet all in, and Kostritsyn quickly called off his last $12,033.75. "spaise411" tabled the J♣J♠4♥2♥ for top set, but it was no good as Kostritsyn had rivered a straight flush with the A♠4♠Q♠3♥. Ship the $81,571.25 pot to the Russian.
Biggest Winners/Losers from August 13-19
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 "Yoghii" | $432,368 |
"Krafty_It" | $285,330 | |
|
"jama-dharma" | $79,018 |
Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande | $164,272 | |
|
"riverdave" | $73,355 |
Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies | $67,541 | |
|
"flong78" | $46,616 |
"honeybee088" | $49,356 |
Year's Biggest Winners/Losers
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 "bbvisbadforme" | $965,770 |
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $1,367,244 | |
|
Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky | $743,015 |
Phil "Polarizing" Ivey | $1,250,806 | |
|
"Yoghii" | $655,124 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $944,980 | |
|
Ike Haxton | $432,213 |
"Sanlker" | $910,746 | |
|
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $371,828 |
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz | $590,145 | |
|
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $363,685 |
"natalie724" | $508,015 | |
|
Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton | $341,519 |
Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande | $492,075 |
Data, hands, and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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