The Online Railbird Report: Ivey Takes Blom in Big Pot, Rare Thuritz Interview & More
The 2015 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) is nearing an end on PokerStars, but the nosebleed cash games have showed no signs of slowing down.
It's been two weeks since we've recapped the high-stakes cash game action in the Online Railbird Report, and a lot has went down in that period of time. For instance, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom's recent heater came to an end (he lost $137,861 in 27,751 hands over 172 sessions), while Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky finished as the biggest loser over the last two weeks, dropping $687,026 in 5,317 hands over 56 sessions. Other losers included Jason Mercier (-$236,002 in 64 sessions/6,784 hands), Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey (-$206,288 in 64 sessions/12,261 hands), and Ike Haxton (-$162,823 in 53 sessions/5,451 hands).
On the flip side, "kardioloq" was technically the biggest winner from the two-week period with $166,416 in profit from 1,769 hands over 22 sessions. We say "technically" because "JayP-AA" won much more than that (probably close to $1.5 million), but numbers aren't known as he has opted out of long-term tracking.
Others who notched a profit include Richard "CHUFTY" Ashby (+$121,223 in 135 sessions/11,752 hands) and Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen (+$111,403 in 33 sessions/3,032 hands).
Blom and Sulsky Square Off in Big PLO Action
On Sunday, September 11, the $200/$400 tables were going strong thanks to Blom, who was already down $180,000 to Sebastian "taktloss" Ruthenberg at the $1,000/$2,000 2-7 triple draw tables.
Blom squared off in a five-hour PLO match against Sulsky, with "JayP-AA" joining the fracas for half an hour. Still, that's all it took him to bank $102,300, which made him the day's second-biggest winner behind Ruthenberg, who won $148,100. Needless to say, that PLO match produced some big pots.
Hand #1: In the biggest pot of the day, "JayP-AA" ($86,251.10) raised to $1,640 from the button, Blom ($174,359.90) folded from the small blind, and Sulsky ($98,668) three-bet to $5,360 from the big. "JayP-AA" made the call, the flop fell 6♥Q♥8♦, and Sulsky led out for $5,019.75. "JayP-AA" popped it to $14,312.55, Sulsky three-bet to $54,092.65, and "JayP-AA" moved all in. Sulsky called the additional $12,416.90 and the cards were turned up.
"JayP-AA": K♥4♥7♠5♣
Sulsky: 5♥A♥A♦5♠
"JayP-AA" had flopped a flush draw with a wrap, but he needed to hit the latter as Sulsky held aces with the better flush draw. The two agreed to run it twice, and the 10♦ turn and J♣ river on the first secured Sulsky half the $172,942.20 pot with bare aces. The J♥ turn on the second run out gave both players a flush, but of course Sulsky's was best. The 10♠ was put out on the river for good measure, and Sulsky scooped the pot.
Hand #2: In the second-biggest hand of the day, action was heads-up when Sulsky ($128,269) raised to $1,360 from the small blind and Blom three-bet to $4,240 from the big. Sulsky opted to four-bet to $12,880, Blom called, and the flop came down 10♥5♣6♠. Blom checked, Sulsky bet $25,918, and Blom check-raised all in for $60,834.70. Sulsky made the call and the cards were revealed.
Blom: 10♣J♦K♦Q♠
Sulsky: A♠A♦7♣6♣
Blom had flopped top pair, but it was behind the aces of Sulsky. Again, the turn and river were run twice, but neither the 8♠2♥ on the first nor 7♦5♥ on the second helped Blom. Ship the $147,589.40 pot to Sulsky.
Blom ended up winning $140,000 in that match, mitigating his daily loss to $50,000.
Within 90 minutes, Blom had lost $600,000 and went on to finish the day a $260,000 loser.
"JayP-AA" Banks $873,000; Wins One of the Biggest Pots of the year
On Saturday, September 12, "JayP-AA" was back at the $200/$400 PLO tables, and to say he tore it up against some of the game's best – including Sulsky, Blom, and Haxton, just to name a few — would be an understatement.
"JayP-AA" got started by winning $200,000 in an early afternoon session (Sulsky lost more than $300,000 in the same match), and then a couple hours later "JayP-AA" decided to sit down with Blom, who by that point was up more than $400,000 on the day. Within 90 minutes, Blom had lost $600,000 and went on to finish the day a $260,000 loser. Not only that, he lost out on one of the biggest pots of the year.
In it, action was three handed when Blom ($192,978.79) raised to $1,640 from the button. Haxton ($39,920) folded the small blind, "JayP-AA" ($193,888.01) three-bet to $5,360 from the big, and Blom called to see the 10♣J♠6♦ flop. Blom proceeded to call a bet of $7,366.24 and then called one of $18,415.60 on the 5♦ turn. When the 5♥ completed the board on the river, "JayP-AA" bet $26,376.83 and Blom raised to $141,849.17. "JayP-AA" made the call with the A♦A♠Q♦9♣ for aces and fives, and it proved to be a heck of a call as it bested Blom's J♦6♣K♦7♦ two pair. With that, "JayP-AA" took down a massive $346,422.02 pot.
As if things couldn't get any better, "JayP-AA" went on to finish as Sunday's biggest winner, albeit with a more modest $190,500, which put him up more than $1.6 million in a one-week period.
Ivey Wins $387,000 in Sunday Action
On Sunday, September 20, Ivey finished as the day's biggest winner after winning $387,000 playing a variety of games, though $178,000 of it came from the PLO tables against a plethora of players that included Blom, Kyllönen, and Ben "Ben86" Tollerene (who recently won the biggest buy-in tournament in online poker history). Ivey also won the biggest pot of the day.
It happened with six players seated at a $100/$200 PLO table when action folded to Blom ($104,855) on the button. He raised to $940, Ivey ($170,411.12) three-bet to $3,260 from the small blind, and after Kyllönen folded from the big, Blom four-bet to $10,220. Ivey called and then check-called a bet of $7,600 on the 5♣5♦6♠ flop. The Q♥ turn saw Ivey check again, but this time he check-raised to $38,600 after Blom bet $18,600.
Blom called, the 4♥ completed the board on the river, and Ivey bet $113,275. Blom only had $48,435 left, and he called it off with the 5♥K♥A♦7♦ for trip fives. Unfortunately for him, it was no good as Ivey had turned a full house with the Q♦Q♠A♥7♥. Ship the $210,150 pot to Ivey.
Toss in a $150,000 win at the 2-7 triple draw tables, and it was a good day for Ivey, though he ultimately lost in the two-week period covered in this edition of the Online Railbird Report.
How "kardioloq" Made His Money
While "JayP-AA" was likely the biggest online winner in recent weeks, he has opted out of long-term tracking, which means "kardioloq" is technically the biggest winner with $166,416 in profit. Most of that, $100,000 to be exact, came on Wednesday, September 23 when he put in some time at the $50/$100 PLO and $400/$800 8-Game tables.
However, "kardioloq's" biggest pot actually happened the day before. In it, action was heads-up when "edbighead" ($17,846) raised to $300 and "kardioloq" ($29,923.52) three-bet to $900. "edbighead" proceeded to four-bet to $2,700, "kardioloq" called, and then both players checked the 6♦6♠Q♣ flop. When the 10♣ appeared on the turn, "kardioloq" checked, "edbighead" bet $3,900, and "kardioloq" check-raised all in for $17,098. "edbighead" called off for $15,146 total and just like that there was $35,692 on the line.
The Q♥ completed the board on the river, and "kardioloq" tabled the Q♠9♥8♣2♥ for trip queens. It was good as "edbighead" simply sent his hand to the muck.
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz Grants Rare Interview
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz may be down $812,425 on PokerStars this year (he's actually up $286,772 on Full Tilt where he plays under the moniker "punting-peddler"), but that hasn't tarnished his reputation of being one of the best high-stakes players in the world.
Thuritz doesn't flock to the spotlight, which made his recent interview with Sweden's Poker Magazine all the more impressive. The video interview, which was in English, was conducted by poker media personality Rikard Aberg, who granted us permission to include the interview below:
Biggest Winners/Losers from September 11-24
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 "kardioloq" | $166,416 |
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $687,036 | |
|
Richard "CHUFTY" Ashby | $121,223 |
Jason Mercier | $236,002 | |
|
Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen | $111,403 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $206,288 | |
|
"Blessed" | $79,020 |
Ike Haxton | $162,823 |
Year's Biggest Winners/Losers
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $2,834,872 |
 Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $1,367,244 | |
|
"bbvisbadforme" | $965,770 |
Phil "Polarizing" Ivey | $1,250,806 | |
|
Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky | $743,015 |
"Sanlker" | $910,746 | |
|
Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen | $627,343 |
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz | $812,425 | |
|
"Yoghii" | $589, 394 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $802,690 | |
|
Ike Haxton | $541,315 |
Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande | $612,669 | |
|
Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton | $341,519 |
"8superpoker" | $598,406 |
Data, hands, and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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