The Top 10 PokerStars Hands of 2012 — So Far

May 17, 2012

If past years are any indication, the high-stakes online action will slow down over the next two months as many grinders pay a visit to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. However, right now the action is in full swing as the 2012 SCOOP is under way. That means there are plenty of juicy cash games running alongside the tournament slate, and will no doubt result in some big winners and massive pots. According to our latest Online Railbird Report, there are five players who are up $1,000,000-plus this year: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$1,726,448), “EireAbu” (+$1,598,915), “bernard-bb” (+$1,249,688), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,123,713) and Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$1,029,005).

Surprisingly, these players only account for winning three of the years top ten pots. Kyllönen won the second and fifth largest, and “bernard-bb” took down the seventh. What's not so surprising is the fact that all 10 were won by recognizable names — Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, “Fake Love888,” and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom — with the latter taking down the year’s biggest pot thus far.

Here are the top ten hands, all of which took place on PokerStars, from the beginning of the year up until May 14.

Hand #10: $232,284 — $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha on January 12, 2012

This particular hand was played in January in a heads-up match between Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen ($116,043) and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($178,913). It began when the former opened for $600 on the button only to have the latter three-bet to $1,880 from the big blind. Berndsen made the call and then raised Blom’s $3,838 bet up to $12,473 on the 7♣Q♥4♣ flop. Not to be outdone, Blom three-bet $23,600, Berndsen four-bet $51,673, Blom five-bet $141,200 and Berndsen called off his remaining $62,590.

Showdown

Blom had flopped the nut-flush draw, but was behind the bottom set of Berndsen. The 6♥ turn was of no consequence, and neither was the 2♦ river. With that, Berndsen was pushed the $232,284 pot.

Hand #9: $235,250 — $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha on March 30, 2012

Action was heads up when “Try__An__Hit” ($139,725.01) opened for $800, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($117,626) three-bet $2,560 and “Try__An__Hit” called, bringing about the 8♦10♦4♥ flop. Sahamies was first to act and fired out $5,278, “Try__An__Hit” called, and the 3♥ appeared on the turn.

Again Sahamies fired out, this time $15,834, but instead of calling “Try__An__Hit” popped it to $63,336. Sahamies responded by moving all-in for $109,788 and “Try__An__Hit” made the call.

Showdown

Sahamies was ahead with two pair when the money went in, but “Try__An__Hit” had plenty of outs. Fortunately for Sahamies, the 6♣ river wasn’t one of them and he took down the $235,250 pot.

Hand #8: $237,133 — $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha on January 24, 2012

In a four-handed $100/$200 PLO game, Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi ($39,954) opened for $800 only to have Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($292,713) three-bet $2,160 from the small blind and “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($98,572) four-bet $7,240 from the big. Georgi responded by making it $24,640, Blom called and “1Il|1Il|1il|” six-bet $96,320. Georgi called off his remaining $15,314, Blom called and the flop fell 10♦3♠3♥. Blom led out and “1Il|1Il|1il|” called off his remaining $2,252.

Showdown
Blom: A♦6♦K♣8♣
“1Il|1Il|1il|”: A♣J♣K♥10♥
Georgi: A♠A♥8♠2♦

The pot stood at $237,133, but after the 5♣ was put out on the turn followed by the 5♥ on the river, it was split as “1Il|1Il|1il|” took down the side pot while Georgi took down the main.

Hand #7: $243,107 — $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha on January 24, 2012

In a full six-handed game, “patpatman” ($115,382) opened for $600 from the hijack and was met with a three-bet to $2,340 by “bernard-bb” ($12,128) on the button. Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($210,225) made the call from the big blind, “patpatman” four-bet $5,200, “bernard-bb” moved all-in, Blom called and “bernard-bb” six-bet $53,892. Once again Blom called, and then turned right around and led out for $109,807 on the K♠2♣Q♠ flop. “Bernard-bb” called off his remaining $61,490 and the cards were turned up:

Showdown

Blom was up against two pocket pairs of aces but had to like his chances at the $243,107 pot as he held a big straight draw. Unfortunately for Blom, neither the 5♣ turn nor K♣ river completed it and he watched “patpatman” take down the sizable side pot and then split the main with “bernard-bb.”

Hand #6: $247,140 — $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha on April 21, 2012

In another six-handed game, “Fake Love888” ($69,630.03) opened for $1,200 from the hijack and “bernard-bb” ($202,145.32) put in the three-bet to $4,680 from the button. “Zypherin” ($88,537.60) then four-bet $4,680 from the big blind, “Fake Love888” five-bet $20,600, “bernard-bb” six-bet $68,240 and “Zypherin” moved all-in for $88,537.60. “Fake Love888” called off $50,150.04 and “bernard-bb” put both at risk.

Showdown

With $247,140 in the middle, the board ran out K♦3♦4♦Q♥4♥ and “Fake Love888” took down the main pot with a flopped flush; meanwhile, “bernard-bb” took down the side with aces and fours.

Hand #5: $252,049 — $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha on February 23, 2012

Six-handed action seems to generate big pots, and this hand was no different. It began when “Tsubi87” ($12,422.50) opened for $600 under the gun and was immediately met with a three-bet to $2,340 by Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($151,610.20). Action folded around to Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi ($119,656.05) in the small blind and he called, prompting “Tsubi87” to do the same.

The A♣5♦4♦ flop saw Georgi led out for $4,800, “Tsubi87” moved all-in for $10,082.50 and Kyllönen three-bet $42,382.50. Georgi proceeded to move all-in for $117,316.05 and Kyllönen called.

Showdown

“Tsubi87” flopped a king-high flush draw, but it was in bad shape against the ace-high flush draw and top two pair of Georgi. Unfortunately for the latter, his two pair was no good as Kyllönen flopped top set. The 3♠ turn failed to change a thing, and so did the 10♥ river. With that, Kyllönen took down the $252,050 hand.

Hand #4: $258,709 — $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha on April 21, 2012

With action five-handed at a $200/$400 PLO game, Chris “Genius28” Lee ($270,421.40) opened for $1,600 under the gun and was met with a three-bet to $4,800 by “Zypherin” ($128,937.02) on the button. Both blinds got out of the way and Lee made the call, leading to the 2♥K♣10♠ flop. Lee proceeded to check-call a bet of $9,200 before leading out for $28,995 on the Q♣ turn. Not intimidated, “Zypherin” moved all-in for $114,937.02 and Lee called. The 10♦ was put out on the river and “Zypherin” rolled over A♠A♣5♣J♥ for Broadway, which is what Lee held with his A♦J♦3♦Q♠. With that, the $258,709 pot was chopped.

Hand #3: $267,785 — $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha on April 1, 2012

In a three-handed match, “RaiseOnce” folded the button and allowed Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser ($133,855) to opened for $800 from the small blind. Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($201,915) was in the big and three-bet $2,640, Kaiser called and the flop came down 2♣2♥3♥. Kaiser proceeded to check-raise Sahamies’ $5,515 bet to $18,400, Sahamies called, and the 5♦ peeled off on the turn. Kaiser fired out $28,800, Sahamies called, and the 8♣ was put out on the river. Kaiser ended up check-calling off his $84,015 with 6♥7♦4♥6♣, but it was no good against the 2♦8♠10♠4♣ of Sahamies, who took the $267,785 pot.

Hand #2: $297,470 — $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha on April 2, 2012

In a five-handed game, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($116,506.69) opened for $900 under the gun and Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($119,038.65) three-bet to $3,200 from the button. From there, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($47,200) called from the small blind, Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser ($17,222.50) four-bet $13,900 from the big, Blom called and Kyllönen five-bet $62,200. Sahamies and Kaiser both called off, Blom came along for the ride, and the flop fell A♠J♠8♠. Blom check-called Kyllönen’s all-in shove of $56,838.66 and all four players turned over their cards.

Showdown

Both Sahamies and Blom had flopped flushes, with the latter’s being out in front. Meanwhile, both Kyllönen and Kaiser had flopped two pair and needed some help. The Q♠ turn wasn’t all that exciting, but the J♣ that spiked on the river was because it gave Kyllönen a full house and the $297,471 pot.

Hand #1: $355,195 — $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha on January 24, 2012

In the biggest hand of the year thus far, action was four-handed at a $100/$200 PLO table when “patpatman” ($72,150) opened for $600 under the gun and was met with a three-bet to $2,260 by Viktor “Isildur1” Blom ($209,961) on the button. “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($158,480) made the call from the small blind, the big folded, and “patpatman” made it a smooth $10,000 to go. Blom just called, but “1Il|1Il|1il|” opted for a five-bet to $40,120, which both his opponents called.

When the 10♠4♠3♦ appeared on the flop, “1Il|1Il|1il|” led out for $114,235, “patpatman” folded and Blom moved all-in. “1Il|1Il|1il|” only had $4,125 behind and called off, creating a monster $355,195 pot.

Showdown
Blom: A♠Q♠Q♥10♣
“1Il|1Il|1il|”: A♣A♦6♠5♣

“1Il|1Il|1il|” held pocket aces and flopped an open-ended straight draw, but he needed to dodge the nut-flush draw of Blom. The J♠ spiked on the turn to fill the flush and put an end to any suspense as it left “1Il|1Il|1il|” drawing dead. The meaningless 8♠ was put out on the river for good measure as Blom took down what is currently the biggest pot of the year.

_{Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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