The Online Railbird Report: Alex Kostritsyn Wins $1.2 Million; Gus Hansen Drops $376K

February 01, 2013

The NBC National Heads-Up Championship and 2013 Aussie Millions dominated the poker headlines this week, but there still plenty of high-stakes action taking place on the virtual felts. There there were some pretty big winners and losers this, including Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn—who won a staggering $1,258,234 at Full Tilt Poker.

That win, which came in 9,904 hands over 52 sessions, made Kostritsyn the week’s biggest winner by a considerable margin. The next biggest was “kipu” (+$454,311 in 54 sessions/7,822 hands), while “andrewkirk” (+$376,947 in 106 sessions/23,153 hands), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (+$316,915 in 64 sessions/4,726 hands) and “Sallywoo” (+$215,972 in 4 sessions/306 hands) rounded out the top five.

On the other end of the spectrum, “patpatpanda” was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $554,292 in 12,944 hands spread across 62 sessions. He was followed closely by both “punting-peddler” (-$535,068 in 77 sessions/12,780 hands) and “CRAIN85” (-$481,786 in 27 sessions/3,738 hands). Other losers included Gus Hansen (-$376,064 in 51 sessions/7,639 hands), Davin “davin77” Georgi (-$338,245 in 148 sessions/29,530 hands) and Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$333,162 in 32 sessions/4,181 hands).

The Rise of Kostritsyn Begins

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn won $405,900 playing mixed games against the likes of “punting-peddler” and “Poker_KaMI” at Full Tilt Poker. However, it was against Andrew “good2cu” Robl, who would go on to win the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge over the weekend, that Kostritsyn did the most damage. Robl ended up losing $345,000 on the day, which included a six-figure loss to Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky.

“Kipu” Relieves Kostritsyn of $272,000

On Thursday, Jan. 24, PLO regular “kipu” took a break from his bread-and-butter game to take a shot at the 2-7 Triple Draw tables against Kostritsyn. It proved a fruitful decision as he promptly relieved the Russian of $272,000. Toss in another $80,000 playing PLO later in the evening, and “kipu” ended as the day’s biggest winner with $352,200 in profit.

Kostritsyn, meanwhile, went on to lose the $405,900 he won on Wednesday, but he rebounded by day’s end to win it all back and then some. He did so by dismantling “punting-peddler”, who lost more than $500,000 to Kostritsyn, as well as “Erik1223” ($313,700) and “patpatpanda” ($280,600).

According to HighStakesDB, the day’s biggest hand came at the $200/$400 CAP PLO tables and involved “kipu”. It happened at a three-handed table when Davin “davin77” Georgi ($80,191) opened for $800 under the gun and Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky ($42,839) three-bet to $2,800 from the small blind. “Kipu” ($36,922.50) then four-bet to $27,722.50, Georgi capped it at $16,800, and both his opponents called.

Georgi: 5♦7♣10♣8♦
Sulsky: 10♦J♦9♥Q♠
“kipu”: K♠K♥J♣5♣

The 7♦3♠2♦ flop gave Georgi a pair of sevens and a flush draw, but he was still behind “kipu’s” kings. The 8♥ turn gave Georgi the lead with two pair, but “kipu” snatched it right back when the river brought the K♣, the only card he could catch to win. Ship the $48,000 pot to “kipu”.

Some $200/$400 NLHE & Another Kostritsyn Win on Saturday

You already know from reading this far that it was a great week for Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn, and that was due in part to a $296,200 win on Saturday. Nearly $80,000 of that came from playing 2-7 Triple Draw against “CRAIN85," and an additional $123,000 at the $300/$600 mixed games table against the same opponent. Despite losing to Kostritsyn, “CRAIN85” managed to recoup his losses elsewhere and finished a small winner on the day.

Saturday also featured some juicy $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em action between “punting-peddler” and “RookieNFL”. Here’s a look at the two biggest hands they played:

Hand #1: “punting-peddler” ($62,947.75) opened with a raise to $800 on the button only to have “RookieNFL” ($57,049.25) three-bet to $2,800 from the big blind. “Punting-peddler” responded with a four-bet to $6,000, “RookieNFL” called, and the flop came down 4♠10♥5♥. “RookieNFL” checked, “punting-peddler” bet $6,000, and “RookieNFL” responded with a check-raise to $15,000. “Punting-peddler” then moved all in and “RookieNFL” called off his remaining $36,049.25.

“RookieNFL”: A♣10♦
“punting-peddler”: Q♦5♦

“Punting-peddler” flopped middle pair with a queen kicker, but he was well behind the top pair of “RookieNFL”. Neither the K♦ turn nor 6♥ river changed a thing, and “RookieNFL” was pushed the $114,098 pot.

Hand #2: “Punting-peddler” ($56,020.34) raised to $800 on the button and then made it $5,600 to go after “RookieNFL” ($43,534.09) three-bet to $2,800. “RookieNFL” called and both players checked the 4♠6♠2♥ flop, The10♥ appeared on the turn, and “RookieNFL” took the opportunity to bet $6,720. “Punting-peddler” raised to $16,200, and “RookieNFL” moved all in for $37,934.09. “Punting-peddler” called with 5♦3♠ for the nuts, but he needed to dodge a heart as “RookieNFL” had a flush draw with K♥9♥. That’s exactly what “punting-peddler” did as the harmless J♣ peeled off on the river, and the $87,068 was shipped to “punting-peddler”.

Kostritsyn Wins Another $517,500 & Some Rare PokerStars Action

On Sunday, Jan. 27, Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn pushed himself over the $1 million mark in profit with a $517,500 win at the Full Tilt Poker mixed games tables, which is also where “patpatpanda” lost $636,600.

While Kostritsyn was continuing his winning ways on Full Tilt Poker, a $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha game sprung up on PokerStars. This wouldn’t have been too surprised three months ago, but ever since FTP relaunched it seems the high-stakes cash games at PokerStars have dried up a bit. The game included “1Il|1Il|1il|”, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies and Ignat “0Human0” Liviu, and it also produced the biggest two pots of the day.

In the largest, “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($60,826.50) opened for $880 from the button, Sahamies ($41,476) three-bet to $3,040, and Liviu ($9,562.50) folded. “1Il|1Il|1il|” called and then bet $4,400 after Sahamies checked the K♦8♣4♣ flop. The Finn then fired back with a check-raise to $19,675, “1Il|1Il|1il|” three-bet to $56,400, and Sahamies called off his remaining $18,761.

Sahamies: A♣Q♣J♥3♠
“1Il|1Il|1il|”: K♠4♠7♥9♥

“1Il|1Il|1il|” had flopped two pair, but Sahamies was drawing to the nut flush. The 10♦ turn gave Sahamies a Broadway wrap, but he missed when the 6♦ river, giving “1Il|1Il|1il|” a straight and the $83,347 pot.

“SennaBoris79” Takes TCOOP Tournament Winnings to the High-Stakes Cash Games

The PokerStars TCOOP concluded last weekend with their $665+$35 NL Hold’em Main Event. That event, which you can read all about in the Sunday Briefing, attracted 5,060 players and created a prize pool of $3,364,900. Eventually that tournament was won by “frma1103”, but not before a seven-handed deal saw “SennaBoris79”, who had qualified for the tournament through a $27 qualifier, walk away with $193,070.

Well, he didn’t exactly walk away.

Instead, after busting in seventh place, the Russian player headed straight for the $50/$100 NLHE tables and played against the likes of Diogo “phounderAA” Veiga, Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby and Tobias “KTOKP” Kuder, just to name a few. Usually that would be a recipe for disaster, but despite losing a buy-in quickly, “SennaBoris79” recouped his losses and eventually left a $27,000 winner.

The biggest hand from that session happened when action was six-handed. “SennaBoris79” ($28,130) opened for $200 from the hijack and “Trueteller” ($25,275) three-bet to $750 from the cutoff. The button and blinds folded, “SennaBoris79” called, and the flop came down 2♦4♠4♣. “SennaBoris79” led out for $500, “Trueteller” called, and the 5♥ peeled off on the turn. “Trueteller” ended up calling a bet of $1,600 and then called a bet of $7,400 on the 9♥ river. “SennaBoris79” then revealed 2♥2♣ for a full house, which was good enough to win the $20,765 pot as “Trueteller” sent his cards to the muck.

While that would have been a nice ending to the story, “SennaBoris79” returned in the early morning hours for some more action. He proceeded to lose three buy-ins in two hours, but in the next 40 minutes he won it all back plus $30,000.

In the biggest hand from that session, action was once again six-handed when “SennaBoris79” ($45,411) opened for $200 under the gun and “Trueteller” ($81,399.46) three-bet to $1,000 from the small blind. “SennaBoris79” called that bet and then raised to $3,200 after “Trueteller” led out for $1,240.40 on the 9♣6♠J♦ flop. “Trueteller” called and then fired out $5,350 on the 9♦ turn, which “SennaBoris79” called. When the 10♥ completed the board on the river, “Trueteller” bet $17,250 and “SennaBoris79” called with the J♣9♠ for a full house. “Trueteller” then showed the 8♠7♠ for a straight and watched the $53,815 pot pushed to his opponent.

“SennaBoris79” was up nearly $60,000 through Wednesday in the $50/$100 games, but we'll have more on the Russian player next week.

Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Week’s biggest winners (1/24-1/31): Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$1,258,234), “kipu” (+$454,311), “andrewkirk” (+$376,947), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (+$316,915), “Sallywoo” (+$215,972), “1Il|1Il|1il|”* (+$211,681), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (+$208,689)

Week’s biggest losers: “patpatpanda” (-$554,292), “punting-peddler” (-$535,068), “CRAIN85” (-$481,786), Gus Hansen (-$376,064), Davin “davin77” Georgi (-$338,245), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$333,162)

Year’s biggest winners: Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$2,692,119), Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$1,499,766), “SallyWoo” (+$1,482,977), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$1,358,345), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$976,508), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (+$687,465), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (+$554,899)

Year’s biggest losers: Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$1,759,588), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$699,378), Gus Hansen (-$695,877), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (-$531,348), “Schoitl” (-$525,289), “patpatpanda” (-$518,511)

*DenotesPokerStars

_{Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

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