The Online Railbird Report: Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies Up Nearly $1 Million in Two Weeks
In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we delved into the upswing of Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, who erased half of his 2012 losses. This week, Sahamies continued to thrive and banked $350,347 in 3,592 hands spread across 32 sessions, making him the biggest winner for two weeks in a row with a combined profit of nearly $1 million.
Another man who got things back on track was this year's current leader, Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen, who won $262,118 (27 sessions/1,014 hands); likewise, both Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($201,631 in 38 sessions/6,198 hands) and “EireAbu” ($165,335 in 111 sessions/10,841 hands) had decent weeks, rounding out the top four winners.
Isaac “philivey” 2694” Haxton was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $500,000 to Blom in the $1 Million SuperStar Showdown, and “RaiseOnce,” rumored to be Phil Ivey, was next on the loser's list after dropping $323,400 (12 sessions/950 hands).
Graham Takes__An__Hit on Thursday
On Thursday, March 29, Australian pro Jarred “Try__An__Hit” Graham took a beating, dropping $262,000 in approximately 2,150 hands. That made him far and away the day’s biggest loser, which included losing the day’s biggest pot.
It happened at a heads-up $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha table against Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($117,626) when Graham ($139,725.01) opened for $800 on the button and Sahamies three-bet to $2,560. Graham made the call and then called a bet of $5,278 from Sahamies on the 8♦10♦4♥ flop. When the 3♥ turned, Sahamies led out for $15,834, Graham raised to $63,336 and Sahamies moved all in for $109,788 total. Graham made the call and suddenly there was a $235,250 pot on the line!
Showdown
| Graham | 9♥10♥J♥5♦ |
| Sahamies | K♠J♣10♠8♠ |
Graham held top pair with both straight and flush draws but still needed to improve against Sahamies' top two pair. Unfortunately for Graham, the 6♣ blanked on the river and he watched his opponent rake in the monster pot.
Sahamies and Graham battled for just 90 hands, and at the end of the day, Sahamies profited $80,000. The rest of Graham’s losses had come earlier in the day when he played $100/$200 PLO against Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky and Ben “Ben86” Tollerene, with the former winning $136,000 on the day and the later dropping $88,000, becoming the biggest winner and second biggest loser respectively.
In one notable hand, action was three-handed when Sulsky ($92,025.67) opened for $400 on the button, Tollerene ($91,613.11) three-bet to $1,400 from the small blind, and Graham ($18,044) folded the big. With action back on Sulsky, he four-bet to $4,800, Tollerene five-bet to $13,400, Sulsky six-bet to $45,200, and Tollerene called, leading to the Q♠3♥8♥ flop. Tollerene immediately moved all in for over $46,000 and Sulsky called off for about the same.
Showdown
| Tollerene | J♠7♠9♦10♥ |
| Sulsky | A♦A♣J♥4♦ |
Suslky was ahead with pocket aces but needed to dodge Tollerene's straight draw. Dodge he did when the 5♠ appeared on the turn followed by the K♥ river. Sulsky raked in the $183,421 pot.
In another hand, action was heads-up between Graham ($102,960) and Sulsky ($62,038) when the former opened for $600. Sulsky responded with a reraise to $1,880, Graham four-bet to $5,720, Sulsky five-bet to $17,240, Graham called, and the flop came out 5♠7♥5♥. From there, Sulsky led out for $34,558, Graham min-raised to $69,116, and Sulsky called off his remaining $34,558.
Showdown
| Sulsky | A♠A♣4♣4♠ |
| Graham | K♥J♥9♦7♦ |
Graham had flopped sevens and fives with a flush draw, but was behind the aces and fives of Sulsky. Neither the K♠ turn nor 3♦ river changed a thing, and Graham watched the $124,074 pot pushed to Sulsky.
Kyllönen Wins $258,000 in 542 Hands on Monday
The new week proved kind to Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen, who won $258,000 in just 542 hands — no doubt a relief after having dropped $600,000 in March. Kyllönen also won the day's largest pot, which turned out to be quite the doozy.
It happened at a five-handed $100/$200 PLO table when Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($116,506.69) opened for $900 under the gun and Kyllönen ($119,038.65) three-bet to $3,200 from the button. Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($47,200) called from the small blind, and Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser ($17,222.50) exercised his option in the big with a four-bet to $13,900.
At that point, Blom called, Kyllönen five-bet to $62,000, and Sahamies called off. Kaiser called off, as well, and Blom came along for the ride. The flop came out 8♠A♠J♠ and Blom and Kyllönen got the rest of the money in, creating a pot worth $297,471.
Showdown
| Kaiser | A♣A♣8♥7♥ |
| Sahamies | 8♦6♥7♠5♠ |
| Blom | A♥10♠4♠Q♥ |
| Kyllönen | A♦J♥K♥10♥ |
Both Sahamies and Blom had flopped flushes, while Kaiser and Kyllönen each held two pair. The Q♠ turn wasn’t that exciting, but the J♣ river was, because it paired the board and gave Kyllönen a full house, which was good enough to scoop the massive pot.
Kyllönen was the day’s biggest winner; meanwhile, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ended up the second-biggest loser after dropping $213,000 in 538 hands, behind only Isaac “philivey2694” Haxton, who dropped $218,000 in his loss to Blom in the $1 Million SuperStar Showdown.
Kaiser and Blom Hit Hard on Tuesday
The $100/$200 PLO games were going strong on Tuesday, and though there were no six-figure winners, there were a couple of big losers in Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom who lost $181,000 and $156,000 respectively.
In the biggest pot of the day, action was four-handed when Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($106,565) opened for $860 under the gun and Kaiser ($87,539.25) three-bet to $2,940 from the small blind after the button had folded. After the big blind got out of the way, Sahamies made the call and then turned around and called Kaiser’s bet of $5,400 on the 8♣8♦6♥ flop.
When the 7♠ peeled off on the turn, Kaiser check-called a bet of $17,035, and proceeded to check-call a bet of $51,105 on the 6♣ river. Kaiser mucked after Sahamies revealed Q♠10♦7♥6♠ for sixes full, which was good for the $153,160 pot. Sahamies went on to win $72,000 on the day, making him the third biggest winner behind Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$96,000) and Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$92,000).
In another hand, Sulsky ($118,482.86) opened for $400 and was met with a three-bet to $1,280 by Blom ($53,134). Sulsky opted for a four-bet to $3,920, Blom called, and the flop came down A♦Q♠6♠. From there, Blom checked, Sulsky bet $5,111, and Blom check-raised to $23,251. Not to be outdone, Sulsky three-bet and Blom called off his remaining $25,963.
Showdown
| Sulsky | Q♣Q♦10♣7♦ |
| Blom | A♠9♠K♥8♠ |
Blom had flopped top pair with the nut-flush draw but needed to improve against Sulsky’s flopped set of queens. The 10♦ turn was a blank for Blom, as was the 6♦ river. Sulsky's improving to queens full of sixes was good enough to win the $106,228 pot.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (3/30-4/5): Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$350,347), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$262,118), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$201,631), “EireAbu” (+$165,335)
Week’s biggest losers: Isaac “philivey” 2694” Haxton (-$500,000), “RaiseOnce” (-$323,400), “doncarignano” (-$151,934), Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (-$116,294)
Year-to-date winners: Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,509,917), “bernard-bb” (+$1,054,075), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$878,355), Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$862,455), “EireAbu” (+$767,417), “patpatman” (+$685,623)
Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$620,497), “long90110” (-$557,059), “julia753” (-$512,746), “Fake Love888” (-$472,875), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$468,450)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
