The Online Railbird Report: Amit vs. Sahamies for Biggest Winner of 2011
With only a few more weeks until the end of 2011, the high-stakes online pros have been jockeying to finish as one of the top ten winners of the year. Right now, seven of the top ten winners come from Full Tilt Poker, meaning they made their fortunes prior to Black Friday; however, three players on PokerStars have positioned themselves to make the list. In this addition of The Online Railbird Report, we take a look at the week’s biggest action, including some from Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies who is primed to finish as the biggest PokerStars winner in 2011.
Ben “Ben86” Tollerene was the biggest winner after winning $277,334 in 7,394 hands spread across 106 sessions. He was followed closely by two other notables — Sahamies ($251,724 in 10 sessions/605 hands) and Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi ($246,668 in 68 sessions/5,561 hands), who finished in second and third respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum, "Fake Love888" was the biggest loser having lost $447,925 in 18 sessions comprised of 1,247 hands. It was a bumpy ride for "Fake Love888," which you can read about below.
Amit Closes in on Sahamies; No Love for "Fake Love888"
On Dec. 2, 2011, Rafi "refaelamit" Amit returned to the high-stakes tables, albeit for just 100 hands. He managed to profit $78,700 and won the biggest pot of the day. In that hand, Amit ($65,867) was playing three-handed $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha when he raised to $1,200 on the button. “Fake Love888” ($48,188), rumored to be Patrik Antonius, responded with a three-bet to $4,240 from the small blind, Peter “GARFIELD25” Chan folded from the big, and Amit made the call, leading to the J♥8♠7♥.
After "Fake Love888" check-called a bet of $5,200, the 10♠ hit the turn and he led out for $19,518. Amit called and watched as "Fake Love888" fired his last $19,230 into the pot on the 9♣ river. Amit made the call and revealed Q♦J♦A♠6♠ for a rivered queen-high straight, which defeated "Fake Love888’s" 9♠8♥6♣5♥ jack-high straight. Ship the $96,776 pot to Amit.
Friday’s win pushed Amit back over the $2 million mark in winnings for 2011, putting him just behind Sahamies as the year’s biggest winner on PokerStars. Meanwhile, "Fake Love888" ended up the day’s biggest loser, dropping $99,000. To make matters worse, he dropped an additional $103,000 the following day, including a loss in the biggest hand on Saturday.
In that hand, Tollerene ($33,450) and "Fake Love888" ($46,462) were playing $100/$200 PLO when the former opened for $600 on the button. "Fake Love888" exercised his option in the big with a raise to $1,800, Tollerene called, and the flop came down 2♦5♠8♠. "Fake Love888" led out for $2,800, Tollerene raised to $6,800, Fake Love888 three-bet to $23,998, and Tollerene moved all-in for $31,650. "Fake Love888" made the call and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
"Fake Love888": A♦4♦8♣3♣
Tollerene: A♠Q♥9♠3♠
"Fake Love888" had flopped top pair and a wrap but needed to sweat the nut-flush draw of Tollerene. Unfortunately for him, he could not do it as the J♠ spiked on the turn. The inconsequential 10♣ was put out on the river for good measure as Tollerene took down the $66,900 pot.
Georgi Cleans Up on Monday; Chan and Sahamies Square Off
On Dec. 5, Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi played 3,000 hands spread across 30 sessions, profiting $151,000 and becoming the day’s biggest winner. Most of his success came at the $25/$50 PLO tables, while his shot at the $100/$200 stakes proved disastrous, losing $40,000 in 63 hands.
While Georgi was the day’s biggest winner, he was not involved in the day’s biggest hand. Chan had that distinction, and it came when he squared off against Sahamies at the $200/$400 PLO tables. In the hand, Sahamies ($110,415) opened for $1,360, Chan ($81,819) three-bet to $4,240, and Sahamies called, bringing about a flop of K♣K♠8♠.
Chan took the initiative and led out for $5,096, Sahamies called, and the 5♦ appeared on the turn. Again Chan bet, this time $13,369, Sahamies called, and the 8♣ peeled off on the river. Chan slowed down with a check, opening the door for Sahamies to fire out a pot-sized bet of $45,568. Chan then woke up with a check-raise all-in to $59,114, just $14,000 more, and Sahamies insta-mucked. Chan took down the $136,626 pot without a showdown.
Even after losing that pot, Sahamies won $50,000 on the day. Fake Love888 was the biggest loser for the third day in a row, bringing his three-day total to minus $300,000.
Can Anyone Stop Sahamies?
On Wednesday, Sahamies put some more distance between himself and those chasing him on the biggest PokerStars winners of 2011 list. In just 76 hands, Sahamies banked $112,000, all of which came in 39 hands against “Fake Love888” and “Il|1Il|1il|” at the $200/$400 PLO tables.
In one significant hand, Sahamies ($156,884) was playing heads up against "Fake Love888" ($43,074) when the latter opened for $1,360 on the button. Sahamies made it $4,240 to go, "Fake Love888" called, and the flop came down 8♣5♠2♠. Sahamies checked, "Fake Love888" bet $5,200, and Sahamies made the call, bringing about the 2♣ on the turn.
At that point, Sahamies decided to lead out for $19,038 only to have "Fake Love888" move all-in for $33,554. Sahamies called the additional $14,596 and the cards were turned up.
Showdown
"Fake Love888": K♠J♣8♠7♥
Sahamies: A♥A♣K♥10♣
Sahamies was ahead with aces and deuces, not to mention his club-flush draw, but needed to dodge "Fake Love888's" spade-flush draw. The Q♥ river changed nothing and Sahamies raked in the $86,148 pot. Unfortunately for "Fake Love888", he would once again be the day’s biggest loser, dropping $88,000 and bringing his December losses to $447,000.
As we reported last week, Sahamies is primed to become the biggest winner on PokerStars for 2011. With his Wednesday win, Sahamies brought his December winnings up to $317,000, more than $400,000 ahead of Amit, the only player within striking distance on the PokerStars biggest winner’s list.
Who's Up? Who's Down?
Week’s biggest winners (12/2-12/8): Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$277,334), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$251,724), Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (+$246,668), wilhasha (+$176,832)
Week’s biggest losers: Fake Love888 (-$447,925), Peter “GARFIELD25” Chan (-$169,515), PimpyLimpy (-$140,672), EireAbu (-$133,288), Rui “PepperoniF” Cao (-$110,000)
Year-to-date winners: *Gus Hansen (+$3,941,000), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$2,388,000), Rafi “refaelamit” Amit (+$1,965,000), *Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$1,952,000), *Alexey “NoPasaran” Makarov (+$1,875,000), *Matt Hawrilenko (+$1,440,000), *bixiu (+$1,406,000), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,362,000)
Year-to-date losers: *Tom “durrrr” Dwan (-$2,474,000), *Eugene “fishosaurusREX” Yanayt (-$1,399,000), *kagome kagome (-$1,377,000), *cadillac1944 (-$1,336,000), *Esvedra (-$1,182,000), Richard “nutsinho” Lyndaker (-$1,038,000)
Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars
*Reflects Full Tilt Poker profit/loss
Data obtained from HighStakesDB.com
Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
