The Online Railbird Report: Can Anyone Possibly Catch Viktor "Isildur1" Blom?
While the European Poker Tour attracted some of the world's best players to the Portomaso Casino in Malta, some stayed behind to ply their trade online at PokerStars.
Viktor "Isildru1" Blom is one such player, and after finishing as the week's biggest winner – banking $284,377 in 13,384 hands over 82 sessions – one has to wonder if anyone can catch the Swede, who sits atop the yearly leaderboard with more than $4.8 million on PokerStars. To put that in perspective, the next closest is Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen, who has just over $1.05 million.
Other winners this week included Patrik "Fake Love888" Antonius (+$103,815 in 21 sessions/4,071 hands) and Shaun Deeb (+$76,575 in 3 sessions/355 hands), both of who were at the EPT12 Malta.
On the flip side, Doug "WCGRider" Polk was the week's biggest loser after dropping $174,335 in 2,145 hands over 15 sessions, while Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky (-$138,395 in 15 sessions/2,593) didn't fare much better.
Not surprisingly, Blom dominated the headlines this week.
Blom Banks $412K at the 2-7 Triple Draw Tables
Last Sunday, Blom took to the $1,000/$2,000 2-7 triple draw tables and managed a hefty $412,000 score, which was more than enough to make him the day's biggest winner. In fact, the next closest was "Ravenswood13," who banked a mediocre $34,100 at the $300/$600 fixed-limit Omaha hi/low tables.
According to HighStakesDB, Blom kicked things off with a three-hour heads-up match against Cort "thecortster" Kibler-Melby. Things stayed even keeled during the first 90 minutes, but in the latter half everything came up Blom, who ended up winning $247,200 in 521 total hands.
Ten minutes later, Blom was back at it, albeit against "RaulGonzales." The two played more than 1,000 hands over six hours, and in the end Blom profited $165,000.
A Look at "cumicon's" Big PLO Wins
On Saturday, "cumicon" finished as the day's biggest winner after taking $339,700 from Blom, whom he played in a nine-hour multi-table $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha match.
According to HighStakesDB, the match started off with "cumicon" pulling out to a six-figure lead, but Blom managed to get it back and pull out to a $100,000 lead of his own. From there, around halfway through their 2,800-hand match, "cumicon" held a $300,000 lead, and then Blom hit a $600,000 heater to turn the tables. It was during that heater he took down the biggest pot of the day.
It happened when Blom ($254,392) raised to $1,360 from the button and "cumicon" ($128,422) called to see the J♣6♠7♦ flop. "cumicon" checked, Blom bet $2,878, and "cumicon" check-raised to $9,000. Blom not only called that bet, but also called when "cumicon" led out for $15,600 on the 5♣ turn. When the 6♥ completed the board on the river, "cumicon" checked, Blom bet $52,078, and "cumicon" check-raised all in.
Blom made the call to create a $256,604 pot, and "cumicon" tabled the 7♥7♠3♠9♥ for a full house. Unfortunately for him, he'd gotten extremely unlucky as Blom hit the river to make quads with the 6♦6♣J♦10♥.
Despite losing that pot, "cumicon" took over the reigns and managed to erase the deficit and begin to build. In what turned out to be the second-biggest pot of the day, Blom ($119,130) raised to $1,360 from the button and then called when "cumicon" ($256,180) three-bet to $4,240. The 5♣Q♦6♠ flop saw "cumicon" check-call a bet of $8,638, and then check-call one of $25,914 on the 9♠ turn.
When the 6♥ completed the board on the river, "cumicon" checked for a third time but still called when Blom bet $77,742. Blom missed his straight draw with the 4♦7♣A♦2♠, and "cumicon" took down the $233,228 pot with his 6♣8♦4♠5♦ full house.
HighStakesDB reported that the two ended up playing 35 six-figure spots, nine of which eclipsed $200,000.
On Sunday, the two were back at it and once again things went well for "cumicon," who won an additional $339,000. However, this time it took "cumicon" just one hour to dismantle his opponent at three of the four tables played.
In the biggest pot of the day, Blom ($99,920) opened for $1,360 only to have "cumicon" ($122,834) three-bet to $4,240. Blom responded with a four-bet to $12,880, "cumicon" called, and the flop came down 6♥K♠7♦. "cumicon" checked, Blom bet $25,918, and "cumicon" check-raised to $103,672. Blom called off for $87,040 total and just like that there was a $200,000 pot on the line.
"cumicon": 10♠10♣7♠9♥
Blom: 9♣6♣A♦8♦
Both players had flopped a pair with straight draws, and then the 9♦ turn improved them both to two pair. Blom held the inferior two pair, but he had a diamond flush draw as a backup. The 8♥ river improved "cumicon" to the aforementioned straight, and he was pushed the pot.
Blom ended up losing $175,200 on the day after mitigating his losses playing other games.
Blom Returns to His Winning Ways
On Monday, Blom bounced back by booking a winning session. The $135,800 he won wasn't huge, but it was enough to make him the biggest winner of the day. It started when he won $61,400 from "Yoghii" in 22 minutes at the $1,000/$2,000 fixed-limit hold'em tables (FLHE), and then a couple hours later he took to the $1,000/$2,000 2-7 triple draw table and won $23,000 from "RaulGonzales" over the course of 130 minutes.
From there, Blom hopped over to the 8-Game tables and squared off against Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey. The Swede was up $200,000 at one point, but gave some back to finish $96,000 winner.
One day later, Blom once again finished as the day's biggest winner, this time with a robust $322,400. It started by extracting $17,900 from the FLHE tables, and then he moved to the $1,000/$2,000 2-7 triple draw tables where he won $93,000 from "RaulGonzales" in a little more than 4.5 hours.
Next up was "Ravenswood13," who played a 200-minute session against Blom at the $1,000/$2,000 pot-limit Omaha hi/low tables. Things stayed even for the first couple hours, but then Blom hit his stride in the third to win $211,500.
HighStakesDB also reported that Antonius won $120,200 in 943 hands at the 8-Game tables against Sulsky and "Ravenswood13," while Ivey won $103,500 playing the same game against Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov.
Wheeler Shares His Thoughts on Third-Party Software
Finally, as a bonus, check out this video from the EPT12 Malta where Jason Wheeler shared his opinion on the movement away from third-party software.
Biggest Winners/Losers from October 22-29
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $284,377 |
Doug "WCGRider" Polk | $174,335 | |
|
Patrik "Fake Love888" Antonius | $103,815 |
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $138,395 | |
|
Shaun Deeb | $76,575 |
"BiggestFish" | $70,618 | |
|
Alex "Kanu7" Millar | $54,395 |
"ham1l_l0n" | $43,983 |
Year's Biggest Winners/Losers
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $4,807,356 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $1,688,070 | |
|
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 | |
|
Ike "luvtheWNBA" Haxton | $341,519 |
"Sanlker" | $910,746 | |
|
Mikael "punting-peddler" Thuritz | $286,772 |
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz | $696,881 |
Data, hands, and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
