The Online Railbird Report: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky Moves into Top Spot on Yearly Leaderboard
Last week, “EireAbu” took over the top spot on PokerStars’ yearly leaderboard with almost $1.3 million in profit. Unfortunately for him, his reign lasted just one week as Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky continued his heater and won $138,172 this week, giving him $1,343,986 in winnings thus far in 2012 and putting him on top.
While all eyes were on Sulsky, a few other players were making waves in the online realm. One was Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, who won $347,000 in one day. “Phisherman36” and “muha84,” also had great weeks, winning $272,506 and $141,841 respectively to become the two biggest winners of the week.
Benny “toweliestar” Spindler finished as the biggest loser after dropping $169,343 in 914 hands spread across 22 sessions, while “LhhmMaoly” (-$141,907 in 11 sessions/382 hands), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$140,823 in 49 sessions/3,199 hands) and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$123,164 in 9 sessions/671 hands) rounded out the top four losers.
Sahamies Wins $347,000 in a Day Filled with Big Action
On Thursday, April 26, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies played two sessions, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, destroying the $100/$200 and $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha games. In fact, he profited $347,000 in just seven hours of play.
He took on most of the high-stakes regulars and took down some juicy pots. In his biggest, Sahamies ($55,541.75) was playing three handed when he opened for $800 on the button. David “Deldar182” Eldar ($15,980.25) made the call from the small blind, but Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($58,443) opted for a three-bet to $3,320 from the big blind. Sahamies called, but Eldar four-bet to $14,100. Both his opponents made the call, and the flop fell K♥3♥10♦. Eldar led out for his last $1,880.25, Blom moved all in, and Sahamies called off for $41,441.75.
Showdown
| Eldar | Q♠5♠9♣7♣ |
| Sahamies | 5♥6♥4♥3♠ |
| Blom | K♦Q♦J♣9♠ |
Blom hit the flop the best with a pair of kings and a wrap but needed to dodge Sahamies' flush draw. Unfortunately for Blom, the 8♥ spiked on the turn to complete Sahamies' flush. The meaningless A♠ was put out on the river and Sahamies was shipped the $127,059 pot.
In another hand, Sahamies ($54,826) was playing $200/$400 PLO heads up against “RaiseOnce” ($50,012). The former opened the pot on the button with a raise to $1,360, which was met with a three-bet to $4,240 by the latter. Sahamies made the call before raising “RaiseOnce’s” $6,800 bet on the 9♠3♦4♣ flop up to $29,038. “RaiseOnce” responded by moving all in for $45,772 total and Sahamies called.
Showdown
| “RaiseOnce” | K♠A♦9♣7♦ |
| Sahamies | 9♥9♦10♦7♣ |
Sahamies was way out in front with his flopped set of nines and stayed there as the 7♥ was put out on the turn followed by the J♠ on the river, and Sahamies took down the $100,022 pot.
Ben “Ben86” Tollerene joined Sahamies as a big winner on Thursday, banking $270,000, and Daniel “w00ki3z” Cates, won $152,000 upon his return after a long absence from the online felt. “Yiyi01” and “RaiseOnce” were the day’s biggest losers, dropping $216,000 and $204,000 respectively.
Interestingly, the day’s biggest pot didn’t involve any of the aforementioned players, nor did it occur at a PLO table. Instead, it happened at a six-handed $200/$400 no-limit hold’em game when “LhhmMaoly” ($86,488.85) opened for $1,200 under the gun and was immediately met with a three-bet to $3,600 by Niklas “ragen70” Heineckerragen ($114,281.89). The rest of the field got out of the way, “LhhmMaoly” four-bet to $11,200, and a call ensued, bringing about the 4♥3♠10♥ flop.
“LhhmMaoly” wasted little time in betting $7,200, Heineckerragen called, and the J♣ appeared on the turn. Again Heineckerragen called a bet from his opponent, this time $14,200, before the 7♠ peeled off on the river. “LhhmMaoly” slowed down with a check and opened the door for Heineckerragen to move all in. “LhhmMaoly” called off for $53,888.84, creating a pot worth $173,573, but he could only muck when Heineckerragen rolled over Q♥Q♦.
After a Slow Weekend, Sulsky Makes a Splash on Monday
The weekend was uncharacteristically slow online, but things picked up on Monday when Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky won $107,000 playing $25/$50 PLO. That was also the day “!P0krparty¡” put in an incredible 7,579 hands, though it didn’t do him any good as he finished as the day’s biggest loser $96,000 in the red.
In Sulsky’s ($19,689.09) biggest pot of the day, action was three-handed when he opened for $150 on the button, “Phisherman36” folded the small blind, and “!P0krparty¡” ($18,427.11) three-bet to $505 from the big. Sulsky made the call and then watched “!P0krparty¡” fire out $700 on the 8♠3♥4♣ flop. Sulsky responded with a raise to $2,177.80, “!P0krparty¡”three-bet $6,360.06, Sulsky four-bet $19,564.38 and “!P0krparty¡” called off his remaining $11,562.04.
Showdown
| “!P0krparty¡” | A♣A♦2♦8♥ |
| Sulsky | J♦8♦6♥5♠ |
Sulsky flopped top pair with an open-ended straight draw but needed to improve against “!P0krparty¡’s” pocket rockets. The 2♣ turn allowed him to do just that as it completed his straight draw, leaving “!P0krparty¡” drawing dead headed to the river, which was the 10♦. With that, Sulsky claimed a $36,887 pot.
In Sulky’s second-biggest hand, action was six-handed when “Fake Love888” ($16,342) opened for $150 under the gun only to have David “Deldar182” Eldar ($4,821) three-bet to $585. Action folded around to Sulsky ($45,540.84) in the big blind and he called, prompting “Fake Love888” to four-bet $2,050. Eldar decided to get out of the way, Sulsky called, and the flop fell J♣J♦3♦.
Sulsky ended up check-raising “Fake Love888’s” $1,800 bet up to $5,111, and the former chose to move all in for $14,292 total. Sulsky made the call and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
| “Fake Love888” | A♣A♦J♥Q♥ |
| Sulsky | K♥4♥K♦7♦ |
It was a classic ace-versus-kings situation preflop, but “Fake Love888” was in the lead with a flopped trip jacks; however, that changed when the K♠ spiked on the turn. Suddenly Sulsky held kings full of jacks and “Fake Love888” needed either an ace or jack on the river to win the $33,331 pot. Unfortunately, the 6♠ blanked and the pot was sent Sulsky’s way.
“!P0krparty¡” Gets Back on Track
After finishing Monday as the biggest loser, “!P0krparty¡” turned around and became the biggest winner on Wednesday when he booked a $122,000 win, which he accrued over an unbelievable 11,500 hands.
In one of his biggest pots, action was six-handed at a $25/$50 PLO table when “Phisherman36” ($14,937.50) opened for $175 under the gun. “0Human0” ($5,504) and “EireAbu” ($18,526.27) were both next to act and called, and after the button and small blind folded, “!P0krparty¡” ($18,057) three-bet to $960. His three opponents called and it was four-way action to the K♦4♦3♣ flop.
“!P0krparty¡” led out for $2,150, “Phisherman36” raised to $10,372 and “0Human0” called off for $4,544. “!P0krparty¡” then moved all in himself and “Phisherman36” called off his remaining $3,595.50. The 4♣ was then run out on the turn, followed by the Q♥ on the river, and “!P0krparty¡” rolled over A♠Q♠K♥3♥, which was good enough to win the $36,391 pot as both his opponents mucked.
Grimason ended up dropping $168,000 on the day, making him the biggest loser. What’s worse, it also dropped him from the top spot on PokerStars’ yearly leaderboard behind Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky. Ironically, Grimason won the day’s biggest pot.
It happened at a six-handed table when “!P0krparty¡” ($31,906.31) opened for $200 from the cutoff. Action folded to Grimason ($24,321.45) in the big blind and he three-bet to $685, which was met by a four-bet from “!P0krparty¡” to $2,340. Grimason opted for a five-bet to $6,505, which led to the 8♥J♦8♦ flop after “!P0krparty¡” called. At that point, Grimason led out for $13,092, “!P0krparty¡” moved all in and the former called off his remaining $4,724.46.
Showdown
| Grimason | A♠A♣6♠5♠ |
| “!P0krparty¡” | K♣4♣Q♦10♦ |
Grimason was ahead with aces and eights but needed to dodge the straight and flush draws of “!P0krparty¡.” He managed to do just that on the 5♣ turn and 3♥ river. With that, the $48,705 pot was pushed to Grimason.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (4/27-5/3): “Phisherman36” (+$272,506), “muha84” (+$141,841), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$138,172)
Week’s biggest losers: Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$169,343), “LhhmMaoly” (-$141,907), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$140,823), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$123,164)
Year-to-date winners: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$1,343,986), “bernard-bb” (+$1,263,693), “EireAbu” (+$1,243,350), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,154,544), Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$1,150,270), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$1,123,469)
Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$1,796,952), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$773,975), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$766,003), “VietRussian” (-$562,061), “long90110” (-$557,059), “julia753” (-$526,609)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
