The Online Railbird Report: Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Cleans Up on PokerStars

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Petter “NorthugJr” Northug

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Petter "NorthugJr" Northug was busy grinding the virtual poker felts this week and booked a massive six-figure win. Northug, who competed in two cross-country events in Sochi but was unable to medal, won $129,000 during an eight-hour session at the $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha tables at PokerStars on Monday. Northug has long been a regular at the high-stakes games and also has a PokerStars SCOOP final table to his credit. Now that the 2014 Olympics are in the past, we may see the Norwegian skiing legend at the poker tables more often.

Meanwhile, for the second week in a row, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom finished as online poker’s biggest loser. In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we highlighted his $362,608 loss, and this week he dropped an additional $487,101 in 5,398 hands over 49 sessions.

That dropped him out of the top spot for 2014, which means Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene is the year’s biggest winner right now with $1,530,215 in profit according to HighStakesDB.com. Others who did not fare well this week were “PimpyLimpy,” who dropped $274,060 in 9,531 hands in 46 sessions on PokerStars; Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$230,088 in 15 sessions/2,149 hands); “daguman” (-$195,804 in 24 sessions/2,776 hands); and Philipp “philbort” Gruissem (-$114,392 in 6 sessions/2,256 hands).

On the flip side, this week’s biggest winner was Harry “Schoitl” Cassagrande with $378,270 in profit from 4,440 hands over 37 sessions. Other winners included “Tight-Man1” (+$325,857 in 9 sessions/1,597 hands), Ola “no_Ola” Amundsgard (+$216,369 in 27 sessions/3,884 hands), “Cort "thecortster" Kibler-Melby” (+$193,496 in 9 sessions/1,553 hands), and Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (+$163,043 in 41 sessions/2,498 hands).

Some Big Thursday Action on PokerStars

On Thursday, Feb. 20, PokerStars played host to the biggest game of the day — $200/$400 no-limit hold’em. It was there that “n0d1ceb4by” played for nearly 90 minutes and walked away with $118,200, enough to make him the day’s biggest winner.

In the biggest pot of the day, “OtB_RedBaron” ($18,394) raised to $1,084 on the button and “n0d1ceb4by” ($32,049.20) called from the big blind. Both players checked the 8♠3♣2♦ flop, and then “n0d1ceb4by” check-called a bet of $4,599.20 on the 4♣ turn. When the K♠ completed the board on the river, “n0d1ceb4by” led out with a big bet and “OtB_RedBaron” called off his remaining $12,710.80. “n0d1ceb4by” tabled the K♣5♣ for a rivered pair of kings, and it was good enough to win the $36,800 pot as “OtB_RedBaron” simply sent his cards to the muck.

Olympic Gold Medalist Scores Big in Monday Action

The aforementioned Northug played nearly 3,500 hands in approximately eight hours on Monday, during which time he managed to win $129,800. The vast majority of that came from “PimpyLimpy,” who actually pulled out to an early $45,000 lead. However, Northug stormed back late in the session and won $61,900 and $109,600 at two different tables. Here’s a look at the two biggest pots from the match.

Hand #1: “PimpyLimpy” ($27,497.32) opened for $300 and then called when Northug ($33,098.28) three-bet to $900, which brought about a flop of 5♠A♠9♥. Northug led out for $1,400, “PimpyLimpy” called, and the 10♣ turned. Northug fired out $3,650, “PimpyLimpy” called, and the 3♣ completed the board on the river. Northug fired once again, this time $9,400, and “PimpyLimpy” called. Northug rolled over the A♦A♣K♥8♦ for top set, and it was good enough to win the $30,700 pot as “PimpyLimpy” sent his cards to the muck.

Hand #2:


PLO Specialist “Schoitl” Takes on “Bttech86” and “Isildur1”

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, some big PLO action spread on Full Tilt Poker. It started with Harry “Schoitl” Cassagrande taking on Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom at the $100/$200 CAP tables. It was there that Cassagrande added $30,000 to his bankroll.

Around lunchtime, Cassagrande played two tables of $200/$400 CAP PLO against Blom, and during an hour or so the Austrian pro relieved the Swede of $170,000. Things got worse for Blom as he dropped $130,000 to Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn at the 8-Game tables to end the day a $341,000 loser.

Here’s a look at a few of Cassagrande’s more notable hands.

Hand #1: Cassagrande ($31,390.50) limped and then called when Blom ($28,595.50) bumped it to $1,200. When the flop came down 9♣8♦4♣, Blom led out for $1,600, Cassagrande raised to $6,400, and Blom capped it at $14,800. Cassagrande called and the cards were turned up.

Blom: A♣7♣A♥J♦
Cassagrande: 9♦8♥2♦3♠

Cassagrande held top two pair, but Blom was drawing live to a flush and gutshot straight draw. The two agreed to run it twice, and the 4♠ turn and 10♦ river actually gave Blom half the pot with a straight. However, the 9♥ turn on the second run assured Cassagrande the other half with a full house, and after the J♠ was put out on the river, the two split the $32,000 pot.

Hand #2: Cassagrande ($54,582.50) raised to $800, Blom ($19,998.50) called, and the flop came out J♥K♦5♥. Blom check-called a bet of $800, the 5♠ hit the turn, and Blom checked for a second time. Cassagrande upped his bet to $1,600, but this time Blom sprung to life with a check-raise to $4,400. Cassagrande called, the A♥ completed the board on the river, and Blom checked for a third time. Cassagrande capped it with a $10,000 bet, and Blom called only to muck when his opponent rolled over the A♣J♣7♣5♣ for a full house. The $32,000 pot was shipped over to Cassagrande.

Hand #3:


Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Week's Biggest Winners (2/21-2/27): Harry “Schoitl” Cassagrande (+$378,270), “Tight-Man1” (+$325,857), Ola “no_Ola” Amundsgard (+$216,369), Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby (+$193,496), Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (+$163,043)

Week's Biggest Losers (2/21-2/27):) Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$487,101), “PimpyLimpy”* (-$274,060), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$230,088), “daguman” (-$195,804), “Yoghii” (-$119,694), Philipp “philbort” Gruissem (-$114,392)

Year's Biggest Winners: Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene (+$1,530,215), Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (+$1,361,008), Doug "WCGRider" Polk (+$680,725), "mikki696" (+$591,906), “Tight-Man1” (+$506,141)

Year's Biggest Losers: Gus Hansen (-$1,563,041), Alex "IReadYrSoul" Millar (-$660,044), "Sanlker" (-$362,743), Patrik "FinddaGrind" Antonius (-$303,590), “tyme2gamb0|111” (-$287,479), “samrostan” (-$215,511)

*Denotes PokerStars

Lead photo courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.

Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com

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PR & Media Manager

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

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