The Online Railbird Report: Ivey Week's 2nd-Biggest Winner, Blom Loses Momentum & More
The 2015 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) is happening now on PokerStars. One of the benefits of the online poker's premiere tournament series is it brings players to the virtual felt, which inevitably leads to increased cash game traffic. That's certainly been the case as of late, as we'll explore in this week's Online Railbird Report.
In our last edition, we talked about Viktor "Isildur1" Blom winning millions to take over the top spot on the yearly leaderboard. Blom still sits on top, but his momentum died this past week as he dropped $462,608 in 22,372 hands over 125 sessions, enough to make him the week's biggest loser. Others who finished in the red were Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky (-$138,412 in 40 sessions/5,618 hands) and "bodamos" (-$129,206 in 11 sessions/411 hands).
Of course that opened the door for others to rise to the top, which is exactly what Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey did when he won $283,824 in 14,312 hands over 71 sessions. That was enough to make him the second-biggest winner of the week behind "fjutekk," who won $312,325 in 3,032 hands over 47 sessions.
Others who won big were Ike Haxton (+$271,925 in 24 sessions/2,144 hands) and Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen (+$251,031 in 22 sessions/1,497 hands).
Haxton Takes from Blom; Ivey Wins Saturday's Biggest Pot
On Saturday, September 5, the high-stakes cash games were going strong, especially at the $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha tables. That's where Ike Haxton, who recently spoke to PokerNews about the WCOOP and upcoming $51,000 Super High Roller, put in more than 1,100 hands and ended up winning $304,200, enough to make him the day's biggest winner. Most of that came from a heads-up match against Viktor "Isildur1" Blom.
However, the biggest pot of the day happened elsewhere, at the $100/$200 PLO tables to be exact. Action was four-handed when Sean "WithColor" Rafael ($61,099) opened for $500 from the button, "JayP-AA" ($214,191.25) called from the small blind, and Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey ($87,868.25) three-bet to $2,160. Both his opponents called and three players took a flop of 7♥8♥Q♠.
"JayP-AA" checked, Ivey bet $5,200, and Rafael called. "JayP-AA" then check-raised to $27,435, Ivey moved all in, and Rafael got out of the way. "JayP-AA" made the call and suddenly there was $183,256.50 on the line.
"JayP-AA": 8♠8♣9♠3♣
Ivey: A♥10♥J♦7♠
"JayP-AA" had flopped middle set, while Ivey was drawing to both straight and flush draws. The J♥ turn gave Ivey the said flush, and the 9♦ river failed to pair the board for "JayP-AA." Despite losing that pot, "JayP-AA" went on to win $199,100 on the day, making him Saturday's second-biggest winner.
Ivey Finishes as Sunday's Biggest Winner; "WRUUUUM" Wins Big
On Sunday, September 6, Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey finished as the biggest winner with $254,900 in profit. Ivey got off to a rough start dropping down nearly $100,000, but was able to recover after winning $139,000 at the $1,000/$2,000 fixed-limit Omaha hi/lo (FLO8) tables against Viktor "Isildur1" Blom.
The duo then played more than 1,800 hands of $400/$800 8-Game over approximately eight hours with Ivey squeaking out a slim $10,000 profit, and from there the two switched to both 8-Game and FLO8, where Ivey won $47,000 and $72,000 respectively.
Meanwhile, "WRUUUUM" finished as the day's second-biggest winner after banking $185,100 at the $200/$400 PLO tables, which is where the biggest pot of the day went down. In it, action was six-handed when Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky ($67,355.45) raised to $1,400 from the button, "bodamos" ($51,587.35) called from the small blind, and "Bullitos" ($37,019.50) three-bet to $5,600 from the big. Both his opponents called and the flop fell 3♠5♣J♣.
"bodamos" led out for $16,795, "Bullitos" folded, and Sulsky called to see the 7♠ turn. "bodamos" moved all in for $29,192.35, and Sulsky made the call to create a $108,774.40 pot.
"bodamos": 7♥5♥4♦3♦
Sulsky: A♠4♠6♥J♥
Sulsky got it in good, but the 7♣ river paired the board to give "bodamos" a full house and the win.
In another juicy pot, action was six-handed when "n0d1ceb4by" ($45,800.67) raised to $1,200 from the cutoff and "WRUUUUM" ($137,996.20) three-bet to $4,200 from the button. Sami "LrsLzk" Kelopuro ($47,406.50) then four-bet to $1,4,200 from the small blind, "n0d1ceb4by" folded, and "WRUUUUM" called to see the 4♦J♠8♠ flop. Kelopuro led out for $29,995, "WRUUUUM" raised to $90,200, and Kelopuro called off his last $3,211.50.
"WRUUUUM": 8♦6♣10♣9♦
Kelopuro: A♥A♣4♠4♥
Kelopuro had flopped a set, but "WRUUUUM" was drawing to numerous straights. The two agreed to run it twice, and much to the dismay of Kelopuro, "WRUUUUM" hit his cards on both the 5♣ turn and 7♥ river on the first run out, and the Q♣ turn and 3♣ river on the second. Ship the $96,413 pot to "WRUUUUM."
Kyllönen Emerges as Biggest Winner in Monday Action
On Monday, September 7, Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen finished as the day's biggest winner after winning $260,600 in 649 hands at both the $100/$200 and $200/$400 PLO tables. Kyllönen played for more than five hours against a plethora of tough players including "BERRI SWEET," Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey, and Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky, just to name a few.
In his biggest win of the day, action was six-handed when Kyllönen ($68,700.90) opened for $1,880 from the cutoff only to have Ivey ($101,828.08) three-bet to $6,720 from the button. Both blinds folded, Kyllönen called, and the flop came down Q♦7♠8♦. Kyllönen checked, Ivey bet $11,600, and Kyllönen check-raised to $49,315. Ivey three-bet to $87,030, and Kyllönen called off his remaining $12,665.
Kyllönen: Q♥Q♠10♠6♣
Ivey: Q♣9♦10♥8♥
Ivey had flopped top two pair with an open-ended straight draw, but he was way behind the top set of Kyllönen. The 7♦ turn gave Kyllönen a full house, meaning he had locked up the $138,481.80 pot even before the K♠ was put out on the river.
Sean "WithColor" Rafael Wednesday's Biggest Winner; "JayP-AA" Wins on Thursday
On Wednesday, September 9, Sean "WithColor" Rafael finished as the day's biggest winner after profiting $247,400 in 1,299 hands of PLO. One of those hands was a $271,600 monster, which was the biggest pot of the day.
It happened at a three-handed $100/$200 table when "JayP-AA" ($76,532.89) raised to $820 and Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey ($142,789.48) and Rafael ($97,489.85) called from the small and big blinds respectively. The J♣4♠5♣ flop saw action check to "JayP-AA," and he fired out $1,493.50, which both his opponents called.
The 2♠ turned out to be an action card after Ivey checked, Rafael bet $7,055.50, and "JayP-AA" called. Ivey then check-raised to $35,277.50, Rafael three-bet to $95,176.35, and "JayP-AA" called off for $74,219.39. Ivey called as well and suddenly there was $271,632.59 on the line.
Ivey: A♥6♥5♦3♦
Rafael: 3♥6♣5♠A♠
"JayP-AA": A♣9♣J♥4♦
Both Ivey and Rafael held the nuts, but the latter had a redraw to spades. Meanwhile, "JayP-AA" was drawing to the club flush. The 10♠ river was gin for Rafael, who improved to a flush to scoop the pot.
While "JayP-AA" lost that pot, he rebounded the next day when he finished as Thursday's biggest winner with $356,900 in profit, which came from more than 1,300 hands at various PLO stakes. Most of it was played against Viktor "Isildur1" Blom at the $200/$400 PLO tables, which included winning the biggest pot of the day.
It happened when Blom ($84,875.78) raised to $1,200 from the button and then called "JayP-AA's" ($90,112.22) three-bet to $3,600, which led to a 9♥6♥4♣ flop. "JayP-AA" bet $4,800, Blom called, and the 8♣ appeared on the turn. "JayP-AA" checked, Blom bet $12,800, and "JayP-AA" check-raised to $55,198. Blom made the call and then called off his last $21,277.78 after "JayP-AA" bet $26,514.22 on the 10♠ river.
Blom tabled the 10♥8♥J♥2♦ for a missed flush that turned into two pair, but it was no good as "JayP-AA" held a straight with the J♣Q♠A♣9♦. Ship the $169,751.56 pot to "JayP-AA."
Other big winners on Thursday included Sulsky (+$197,500), Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov (+$138,400), and Ivey ($131,800).
Biggest Winners/Losers from September 2-10
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 "fjutekk" | $312,325 |
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $462,608 | |
|
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $283,824 |
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $138,412 | |
|
Ike Haxton | $271,925 |
"bodamos" | $129,206 | |
|
Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen | $251,031 |
Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates | $73,540 | |
|
"belgarion55" | $92,527 |
"Johnthefast" | $54,464 |
Year's Biggest Winners/Losers
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $2,972,733 |
 Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $1,367,244 | |
|
"bbvisbadforme" | $965,770 |
Phil "Polarizing" Ivey | $1,250,806 | |
|
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $820,276 |
"Sanlker" | $910,746 | |
|
Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky | $743,138 |
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz | $720,280 | |
|
Ike Haxton | $704,138 |
Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande | $612,669 | |
|
"Yoghii" | $593,411 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $596,402 | |
|
Jens "Heans89" Kyllönen | $515,940 |
Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates | $564,664 |
Data, hands, and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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