The Online Railbird Report: Ivey Online Poker's Biggest Loser of 2015 By Large Margin
After a one-week hiatus, the Online Railbird Report is back to bring you all the latest from the nosebleed action on PokerStars.
A few things have changed over the last two weeks. The first is the position of Viktor "Isildru1" Blom. He is still the year's biggest winner, but now with a bit more money. In fact, Blom won $1,045,366 in 24,995 hands over 138 sessions from October 9-21, which brought his yearly winnings up to a massive $4,522,979! That makes him the year's biggest winner by quite a margin (the next closest in Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen with $1,055,941).
However, Blom had also been the biggest loser of the year. That's because he was down $1,367,244 on Full Tilt. However, over the last two weeks Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey lost $761,400 in 16,182 hands over 72 sessions, which put his yearly losses on PokerStars down to $1,644,550 – which doesn't even take into account the $1,250,806 he's down on Full Tilt.
Taking both sites into account, Blom is still the year's biggest winner by a large margin, while Ivey is actually online poker's biggest 2015 loser by a nearly 3:1 margin over Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande (-$952,903).
Blom Banks $559,400 in Wednesday Action
On Sunday, October 11, Blom finished as the day's biggest winner after banking a hefty $559,400. He got started playing 8-Game against Ivey for nine hours, during which time the Swede won a modest $41,000. The rest came a bit later when he took a seat in the $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha table where he proceeded to play for five hours against the likes of Ivey, Ike Haxton, and Sam "tr1cky7" Trickett, just to name a few.
Blom played over five different tables, and he won at each, including $247,500 at table Lorcia, which is where he took down the biggest pot of the day. It happened at a five-handed table when Blom ($137,110.80) opened for $1,800 from the cutoff only to have Haxton ($102,749.55) three-bet to $6,400 from the button. The blinds both folded, Blom four-bet to $20,200, and Haxton called to see the 10♣8♣K♦ flop.
Blom led out for $41,395, and then called when Haxton shipped all in for $82,544.55.
Haxton: A♦6♦K♣4♣
Blom: A♠5♠K♥10♥
Blom had flopped top two pair, while Haxton held a club draw. The 8♦ turn was no help to Haxton, and neither was the 9♠ river. With that, Blom was pushed the $206,499.10 pot, while Haxton went on to lose $345,000 on the day.
Blom's Rollercoaster Ride; Tollerene Tuesday's Biggest Winner
Unfortunately for Blom, he went on to lose $500,000 to "cumicon" in a heads-up match on Monday, and then returned on Tuesday for more action. He got off to a good start winning $300,000 early on playing no-limit hold'em and 2-7 triple draw, but then became involved in a heads-up PLO match against Ben "Ben86" Tollerene, who went on to finish as the day's biggest winner with $207,300 in profit. It was during that match that Tollerene won the two biggest pots of the day.
Hand #1: Tollerene ($164,071.36) raised to $1,360 on the button and then called when Blom ($113,021.92) three-bet to $4,240, which brought about a flop of 3♦4♥A♠. Blom proceeded to check-call a bet of $6,132.98, and then check-called bets of $20,903.96 and $62,711.88 on the 10♥ turn and 8♣ river respectively. Tollerene tabled the 5♠2♣Q♣J♥ for the flopped nuts, and it earned him the $188,137.64 pot as Blom sent his cards to the muck unseen.
Hand #2: Tollerene ($102,635.28) opened for $1,360, Blom ($97,108.72) raised to $4,240, and Tollerene called to see the J♦7♠K♣ flop. Blom bet $5,600, Tollerene called, and the 3♥ appeared on the turn. Blom bet again, this time $14,800, and Tollerene came along to the 7♣ river. Blom fired out $49,438, and this time Tollerene raised to $77,995.28. Blom, who only had $23,030.72 back, opted to give up on the $148,316 pot.
Blom ended up losing $100,000 on the day, but followed it up by winning a massive $829,900 the next day to see him vault up to a yearly high of +$3.9 million. He wouldn't stop there.
Ivey Loses to Kuznetsov; Blom Gets Back to Winning Ways
After Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov took Ivey for $163,500 over 1,700 hands of $400/$800 8-Game, which occurred over 12 hours on Thursday, October 15, Blom was back at the virtual felt on Friday. He returned to his winning ways by profiting $171,400, enough to make him the day's biggest winner.
Blom, who had lost $70,000 in Thursday action, returned to the $1,000/$2,000 2-7 triple draw tables for an eight-hour session againstCort "thecortster" Kibler-Melby. The Swede won $199,000 in the match, and then continued to play into early Saturday morning, albeit at the $200/$400 PLO tables, where he won another $216,000 against the likes of "JayP-AA" and "BB1985."
Then, on Sunday, Blom won an additional $226,700 in just a 90-minute session against "cumicon." In the biggest pot of the day, "cumicon" ($78,550) opened for $1,360 and then called when Blom ($183,411) three-bet to $4,240. The 6♠K♠4♥ flop saw Blom bet $5,600, "cumicon" call, and the 9♥ appear on the turn. Blom bet $14,800, "cumicon" raised to $64,238, and Blom made it $173,571 to go. "cumicon" only had $4,472 remaining can called it off to create a $157,260 pot.
"cumicon": Q♥8♥7♠5♣
Blom: J♠10♠K♥8♣
The two agreed to run it twice, but neither the 9♣ river on the first nor 7♦ on the second had a bearing on the hand. That meant Blom scooped the pot with his king.
For a more thorough look at Blom's rapid rise, which saw him win $4 million in two months, check out HighStakesDB, who wrote an article documenting his journey. Here's a short excerpt:
"In total, from 21st August - 21st October, Isildur1's profit is $4,148,375, with over $3.5m coming from Pot Limit Omaha, $360k from 2-7 Triple Draw, $202k from Fixed Limit Omaha 8/B, $81k coming from No Limit Hold'em, and $45k coming from Fixed Limit Hold'em."
Biggest Winners/Losers from October 9-21
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $1,045,366 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $761,400 | |
|
Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen | $216,276 |
Ike Haxton | $629,429 | |
|
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $75,784 |
Phil "MrSweets28" Galfond | $225,652 | |
|
"supernova9" | $56,900 |
Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies | $196,215 |
Year's Biggest Winners/Losers
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $4,522,979 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $1,644,550 | |
|
Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen | $1,055,941 |
 Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $1,367,244 | |
|
"bbvisbadforme" | $965,770 |
Phil "Polarizing" Ivey | $1,250,806 | |
|
Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky | $743,015 |
Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande | $952,903 | |
|
"Yoghii" | $479,581 |
"Sanlker" | $910,746 | |
|
Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton | $341,519 |
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz | $696,881 | |
|
Mikael "punting-peddler" Thuritz | $286,772 |
"8superpoker" | $664,931 |
Data, hands, and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
