The Online Railbird Report: Phil Ivey Disappears from Nosebleeds; On His Way to WSOP?

June 19, 2015

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

Is Phil Ivey on his way to the 2015 World Series of Poker? Chances seem pretty good as he was nonexistent at the virtual felt this week. Ivey was the lifeblood of the online games since the start of the WSOP, so it's no surprise that with his absence the nosebleeds slowed down considerably on both PokerStars and Full Tilt.

In fact, the week's biggest winner was the relatively unknown "$CAMMIN," who won a modest $52,668 in 4,758 hands over 73 sessions. Other winners included "Cobus83" (+$52,333 in 15 sessions/3,093 hands) and "RomanHLD" (+$36,195 in 1 session/272 hands).

On the flip side, Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies was the week's biggest loser after dropping $215,020 in 514 hands over half a dozen sessions.

Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, who won his second WSOP gold bracelet in Vegas last week, says "nosebleeds have gotten a lot worse." Read what he had to say by clicking here.

Where is Phil Ivey?

That's the question everyone's been asking at the 2015 WSOP. According to reports, Ivey was happily grinding away, both live and online, in Macau; however, rumor has it he'll be in Vegas for this weekend's $50,000 Poker Players' Championship.

Ivey has headlined the Online Railbird Report over the past few weeks – including last week when he dropped $750K – and while he's booked both big wins and losses, the first half of June didn't treat him well. According to HighStakesDB, Ivey is the month's biggest loser after dropping $1,047,781 in 3,709 hands over 10 sessions.

Despite losing so much, Ivey did pull in a few big pots this month. His biggest came on June 3 in a game of $200/$400 no-limit hold'em against Alex "Kanu7" Millar. It happened when Millar ($137,704.46) opened for $400 with the Q♣10♦ and Ivey ($63,762.88) three-bet to $1,200 with the J♦10♥. Millar called and then both players checked the 5♣7♣9♠ flop.

Ivey then checked when he turned the nuts and Millar bet $791.34. Ivey check-raised to $3,600, Millar called, and the 6♦ spiked on the river. Ivey coyly checked, and Millar, who could beat the straight on the board, bet $14,397. Ivey check-raised all in for $58,962.88 and Millar watched his money disappear after he made the call. Ship the $127,525.76 pot to Ivey.

Obviously that hand was nice, but Ivey will have his work cut out for himself if he hopes to mitigate his online losses at the 2015 WSOP.

"WithColor" Takes Sahamies for $225K in Friday PLO Action

On Friday, June 12, the biggest action was found on PokerStars as Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies and "WithColor" squared off at the $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha tables. The match only lasted 75 minutes, and that's all it took for "WithColor" to win $225,000. Because of an earlier loss, "WithColor" finished the day a $217,700 winner, which was more than enough to make him the day's biggest winner.

Here's a look at the three biggest pots from the match:

Hand #1: In what would be the biggest pot of the day, Sahamies ($78,575.01) raised to $1,200 on the button only to have "WithColor" ($92,196.99) three-bet to $3,600. Sahamies pushed back with a four-bet to $10,800, "WithColor" called, and the flop fell 4♠8♠J♦.

"WithColor" checked, Sahamies bet $21,598, and "WithColor" check-raised all in. Sahamies called off for $67,750.01 total and the cards were revealed.

"WithColor": J♣J♠10♠7♥
Sahamies: 7♠6♠5♦9♦

"WithColor" had flopped top set, but Sahamies was drawing to a ton of straight outs. Unfortunately for the Finn, his sweat dried up quick when the J♥ spiked on the turn to give "WithColor" quads. The meaningless K♦ was put out on the river for good measure, and Sahamies watched the $157,150.02 pot pushed to "WithColor."

Hand #2: Sahamies ($132,387.60) opened for $1,360, "WithColor" ($197,714.27) called, and the flop came down J♠7♥2♦. "WithColor" checked, Sahamies bet $2,878, and "WithColor" woke up with a check-raise to $9,094.48. Sahamies called and then called a bet of $16,800 on the 3♥ turn. When the 6♦ completed the board on the river, "WithColor" bet $46,800 and Sahamies called. "WithColor" tabled the 7♦7♠6♣5♥ for a set of sevens, and it was good for the $148,300 pot as Sahamies simply mucked.

Hand #3: Sahamies ($108,751) raised to $1,360 and was met by a three-bet to $4,240 by "WithColor" ($154,233.87). Sahamies proceeded to pop it to $12,880, "WithColor" called, and then both players checked the 4♣8♣8♥ flop. "WithColor" then led out for $15,200 on the 4♠ turn, Sahamies called, and the K♠ completed the board on the river. Sahamies called another bet from "WithColor," this time $39,200, but mucked when his opponent tabled the 7♥Q♥J♦8♦. Ship the $134,720 pot to "WithColor."

Thuritz Finishes Atop Saturday Leaderboard

On Saturday, June 13, Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz finished as the day's biggest winner after taking $71,200 from "Cobus83," who had won a couple previous matches. The latest took place at PokerStars' $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha tables and lasted a bit over three hours.

In the biggest pot of the day, Thuritz ($55,460.26) raised to $300 and "Cobus83" ($44,178.72) raised to $894. Thuritz responded with a four-bet to $2,682, "Cobus83" called, and the flop came down K♣8♦2♦. "Cobus83" check-called a bet of $2,841.86 and then check-called ones of $8,050 and $27,145.72 on the A♥ turn and 5♣ respectively. Thuritz tabled the A♠A♣J♣10♠ for top set, and it was good enough to win the $81,439.16 pot as "Cobus83" sent his cards to the muck unseen.

Biggest Winners/Losers from June 11-17

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
"$CAMMIN"	$52,668	Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies	$215,020
"Cobus83"	$52,333	Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz	$105,510
"RomanHLD"	$36,195	"Johnthefast"	$49,708
"Apotheosis92"	$27,199	"tempel22"	$36,507

Year's Biggest Winners/Losers

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
"bbvisbadforme"	$965,770	Viktor "Isildur1" Blom	$1,618,816
Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky	$743,015	Phil "Polarizing" Ivey	$1,227,809
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom	$653,476	Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey	$953,315
Elior "Crazy Elior" Sion	$533,902	"Sanlker"	$925,239
Ike Haxton	$479,211	"natalie724"	$508,015
Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton	$341,519	Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates	$488,533
Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies	$338,286	Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond	$470,721

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

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