The Online Railbird Report: Brian "$tinger 88" Hastings Returns with $379,000 Win
With PokerStars’ 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker well under way and the World Series of Poker right around the corner, one might expect the online high-stakes cash games to take a back seat. Although that may be the case in a couple of weeks, nothing was further from the truth this week as hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands.
The week’s biggest beneficiary was a man we haven’t written too much about this year — Brian “$tinger 88” Hastings, who won $379,976 in a modest 3,844 hands spread across 55 sessions. That was more than $100,000 more than the next two biggest winners, “patpatman” and Chris “Genius28” Lee, who won $257,662 (26 sessions/2,076 hands) and $241,245 (99 sessions/8,764 hands) respectively.
Of course, where there are winners there are also losers as “doncarignano” can attest. He was the week’s biggest loser, dropping $208,081 in 3,392 hands across 94 sessions. Not far behind was “!P0krparty¡,” whose hot streak we told you about last week came to end as he lost $198,110 (152 sessions.13,452 hands), and Andrew “Kanu7” Millar, who gave away $133,954 in just 1,400 hands over 25 sessions.
Lee Wins Big on Monday While Sahamies Loses Two Big Pots
On Monday, WSOP bracelet winner Chris “Genius28” Lee played an early morning session at the $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha tables and pretty much won against every opponent he played. In less than five hours, he won $155,000 and became the day’s biggest winner.
In one of Lee’s ($46,613.90) most notable hands, action was six handed at a $50/$100 PLO table when “LUFCBas” ($78,566.36) opened for $300 under the gun and cleared the field all the way to “YoussefAhmed” ($11,725) in the small blind. After he made the call, Lee decided to three-bet to $1,320 from the big, prompting a call from “LUFCBas.” After “YoussefAhmed” got out of the way, the flop fell 9♣10♦7♦ and Lee fired out $2,000.
“LUFCBas” wasted little time in bumping it up to $5,450, Lee called, and then the latter then check-called a bet of $7,775 on the 5♠ turn before leading out for $24,000 on the 5♣ river. “LUFCBas” made the call but mucked when Lee rolled over 10♥10♣A♥A♦ for tens full and the $77,505 pot was sent in Lee's direction.
Lee’s profit was more than twice the amount of the day’s second and third biggest winners, Gabriel “verve.oasis” Goffi (+$77,000) and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$75,000). Sahamies was mixing it up at the $100/$200 and $200/$400 PLO tables and became entangled in two of the biggest pots we’ve seen as of late.
In the first, which happened at a heads-up $100/$200 table, Sahamies ($228,876.30) opened for $680 on the button and “Phisherman36” ($151,956) three-bet to $2,120 from the big blind. After a call, the flop came out 6♦7♦Q♠ and “Phisherman36” fired out $3,600, which Sahamies also called.
When the 7♥ peeled off on the turn, “Phisherman36” bet $7,400, Sahamies raised to $33,718 and the former called, bringing about the 9♣ on the river. “Phisherman36” ended up check-calling a bet of $65,100 with 6♣6♥4♣4♥ for sixes full of sevens, which was good enough to take down the $209,154 pot after Sahamies revealed the mediocre Q♣9♥10♥4♠.
In the other hand, which was played at the same stakes and between the same players, Sahamies ($309,070.29) once again opened for $680 on the button and “Phisherman36” ($71,814) three-bet to $2,120; however, instead of just calling this time Sahamies put in a four-bet to $3,560. “Phisherman36” made the call and then proceeded to check-call a bet of $5,400 on the 2♥A♠6♥ flop. The 5♣ turn saw “Phisherman36” check again, opening the door for Sahamies to fire out $11,800. This time “Phisherman36” opted for a check-raise to $53,398, Sahamies three-bet and “Phisherman36” called off his remaining $9,456.
Showdown
| Sahamies | 9♦9♣5♦5♠ |
| “Phisherman36” | K♥K♣7♠3♥ |
The turn had given Sahamies the lead with a set of fives, but to win he needed to dodge “Phisherman36’s” outs on the river, which included both straight and flush draws. Much to Sahamies' dismay, he couldn’t do it as the 9♥ spiked to give “Phisherman36” the king-high flush and the $143,626 pot.
Tuesday Belongs to Hastings and “patpatman”
On Monday, Brian “$tinger 88” Hastings lost $83,000. On Tuesday, Hastings returned to the virtual felt and erased that loss by banking an impressive $292,000 — enough to make him the day’s biggest winner. Much of that came at the $50/$100 PLO tables at the expense of “Phisherman36,” who finished as the biggest loser after dropping $186,000.
Also in action was “patpatman," who finished as the day’s second biggest winner with $229,000 in profit. That came in some no-limit hold’em action against Alex “Kanu7” Millar and Daniel “w00ki3z” Cates, who dropped $136,000 and $84,000 respectively.
In one hand, action was three-handed when “patpatman” ($254,093.06) opened for $800 on the button and Cates ($92,940.63) three-bet $3,200 from the small blind. After Millar folded from the big, “patpatman” called and the flop came down 8♠6♥5♦. Cates led out for $4,800, “patpatman” raised to $11,800, Cates called and the 10♥ turned.
At that point, Cates ended up check-raising all-in over “patpatman’s” $18,800 bet, and the latter called.
Showdown
| “patpatman” | 9♦7♦ |
| Cates | 10♣10♦ |
Cates turned top set only to find himself behind the flopped straight of “patpatman.” The 4♥ river was of no consequence and “patpatman” took down the $186,276 pot.
Not long after, “patpatman” took down another sizable pot. It happened when Cates ($77,952.50) opened for $800 on the button, Millar ($84,980) called from the small blind, and “patpatman” ($91,340.19) three-bet to $3,600 from the big. Both his opponents made the call and then Millar checked the 8♠8♥9♣ flop, opening the door for “patpatman” to bet $4,000. From there, Cates decided on a raise to $10,400, Millar folded and “patpatman” made it $17,800 to go. Cates made the call and then fired out $14,800 when “patpatman” checked the Q♠ turn. The latter quickly check-raised all-in and Cates called off his remaining $41,752.50.
Showdown
| “patpatman” | A♣J♣ |
| Cates | 8♣6♣ |
Cates had flopped trips and was well out in front, but that changed when the 10♥ spiked on the river to give “patpatman” a straight and the $159,500 pot.
Feel the $ting of Hastings
Brian “$tinger 88” Hastings returned to action on Wednesday and picked up right where he left off the day before, winning $145,000 and becoming the biggest winner for the second day in a row. He did so in a short session of $100/$200 PLO, which happened to include Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky. Surprisingly, the year’s biggest winner didn’t add to his total but reduced it by $169,000, enough to make him the day’s biggest loser.
Even though he lost, Sulsky managed to win one of the day’s most interesting hands. It happened when action was three-handed and Hastings ($80,242.24) opened for $500 on the button. The small blind got out of the way and Sulsky ($58,326.50) exercised his option in the big blind by three-betting $1,720. Hastings made the call and then bet $2,000 after Sulsky checked the 2♥K♠3♣ flop. The latter woke up with a check-raise to $7,358.50, Hastings called and the K♣ appeared on the turn. Again Sulsky opted for a check-raise, making Hastings’ $6,800 bet $17,600 to go. Instead of just calling, Hastings pushed back to the tune of $35,200, which inspired Sulsky to four-bet $56,800. Another raise and call saw Sulsky’s stack in the middle and the cards on their back:
Showdown
| Sulsky | K♥K♦J♠7♦ |
| Hastings | 9♠8♣5♣2♠ |
Sulsky had flopped top set and improved to quads on the turn, which meant Hastings was drawing dead headed into the 10♦ river. Sulsky raked in the $116,788 pot.
Interestingly, Hastings lost another big pot a short time later. In that hand, Hastings ($134,313.25) opened for $600, Sulsky ($50,500) called from the small blind, and “patpatman” ($57,883.58) three-bet to $2,520 from the big. Hastings then four-bet $8,880, Sulsky folded and “patpatman” made the call, bringing about a flop of 7♣10♥6♥.
“patpatman” was first to act and didn’t hesitate to lead out for $10,200, which Hastings quickly raised to $47,875. “patpatman” responded by moving all-in for $49,563.58 and Hastings called the additional $1,128.57.
Showdown
| ”patpatman” | Q♣Q♦6♣6♠ |
| Hastings | J♠5♥4♥3♠ |
Hastings held a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw, and needed to hit to overcome ”patpatman's” bottom set. The 10♦ turn put an end to any suspense as it improved ”patpatman” to a full house and left Hastings drawing dead. After the meaningless J♦ was put out on the river, ”patpatman” was pushed the $116,402 pot.
Despite losing the two aforementioned hands, Hastings finished atop the day’s leaderboard and went on to become the week’s biggest winner.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (5/11-5/17): Brian “$tinger 88” Hastings (+$379,976), “patpatman” (+$257,662), Chris “Genius28” Lee (+$241,245), Gabriel “verve.oasis” Goffi (+$193,904), Ignat “0Human0” Liviu (+$169,488), Terje “Terken89” Augdal (+$147,747)
Week’s biggest losers: “doncarignano” (-$208,081), “!P0krparty¡” (-$198,110), “Phisherman36” (-$167,059), Andrew “Kanu7” Millar (-$133,954), “YoussefAhmed” (-$125,371), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$120,828)
Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (-$336,031), “Tsubi87” (-$250,516), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$220,829), Randy “nanonoko” Lew (-$192,339), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$181,068)
Year-to-date winners: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$1,714,587), “EireAbu” (+$1,680,930), “bernard-bb” (+$1,249,368), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,123,713), Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$1,029,005)
Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$1,869,000), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$1,125,871), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$839,722), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$754,060), Benny” toweliestar” Spindler (-$704,534)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
