The Online Railbird Report: Galfond Banks $767,000 in Profit

March 09, 2012

It was a big week on the virtual felt, especially for Phil “MrSweets” Galfond and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom. The two butted heads on more than one occasion, with Galfond finally getting the better of the Swede.

Galfond finished as the week’s biggest winner with $767,701 in profit spread across 118 sessions. Although Blom didn’t do quite as well, and lost money to Galfond, he still managed to finish the week $254,580 in the black, thanks in large part to an early-week heater.

“MaiseE’s” recent success came to a screeching halt when he dropped $468,567 (37 sessions/2,359 hands), enough to make him the week’s biggest loser. Not far behind, Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi had a disastrous week losing $460,348 (166 sessions/10,958 hands). Rounding out the top three losers was Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (-$339,779 in 413 sessions/21,743 hands).

Blom’s Back; Wins $577,000

On March 1, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was back at the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha tables. After 10 hours of play, the Swede banked an astounding $577,000.

In his biggest pot of the day, Blom ($52,818.50) was playing heads up against Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond ($87,896.50) when he opened for $600 on the button. Galfond responded with a three-bet to $1,880, Blom four-bet $5,720, Galfond called and the flop came down 2♠3♦9♥. At this point, Galfond check-called a bet of $7,600 and the 10♠ was put out on the turn. Galfond checked, Blom bet $26,718, Galfond moved all in, and Blom called off his remaining $26,718.

Showdown

Galfond ran his kings into Blom's aces, meaning he needed some help on the river. Unfortunately for him, the 5♦ was useless and Blom raked in the $105,635 pot.

In another hand between the two, the second biggest for the Swede, Blom ($92,110) raised to $600 on the button and Galfond ($49,553) three-bet to $1,880. Like in the hand above, Blom responded with a four-bet to $5,720, but this time Galfond five-bet to $17,240, which Blom called. When the flop fell 3♣10♦9♠, Galfond shipped his remaining $32,313 and Blom made the call.

Showdown

Galfond was ahead with aces, but the J♥ turn gave Blom two pair. The river was the 5♦, which changed nothing. Blom took down another big pot, this one worth $99,104.

Even though he lost those two hands, Galfond managed to finish the day in the black with $88,000 in profit, thanks largely to the following hand, which occurred at a five-handed $100/$200 PLO table. It began when Blom ($60,556.25) opened for $600 from the cutoff and Galfond ($51,068) three-bet to $2,300 from the button. Both blinds got out of the way, Blom four-bet $8,000, Galfond called and the flop came out 8♥J♣5♦. Blom bet $15,295, Galfond moved all in for $43,068 and Blom made the call.

Showdown

Galfond was ahead with a flopped two pair, and even though the 3♣ turn added a flush draw to Blom’s list of outs, the 2♦ missed them all. With that, Galfond was pushed the $102,551 pot.

Blom and Galfond may have both won on Thursday, but there was a number of players who booked losses “MaiseE” (-$284,000), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (-$199,000), “bernard-bb” (-$125,000) and Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (-$109,000).

Blom Up $1,000,000 . . . and Then Drops to $400,000

After a big day on Thursday, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom set up shop on PokerStars and played all day Friday. It was during that time that he won approximately $100,000, thanks in large part to taking down the two biggest pots of the day.

In the biggest, Blom ($52,818.50) was playing heads-up $100/$200 PLO against Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond ($87,896.50) when the former opened for $600 on the button. Galfond responded with a three-bet to $1,880, Blom four-bet $5,720 and Galfond made the call, leading to a flop of 2♠3♦9♥. Galfond check-called a bet of $7,600 before checking the 10♠ turn. Blom took the opportunity to bet $26,718, Galfond check-raised all in, and Blom called off his remaining $12,780.50.

Showdown

It was a classic aces-versus-kings situation, but Galfond was on the raw end. The 5♦ changed nothing, and Blom took down the $105,635 pot.

In the second largest pot of the day, action was six handed at a $100/$200 PLO table when Blom ($48,015) opened for $600 from the cutoff. From there, “long90110” ($40,536.25) three-bet to $2,340 from the button, “verve.oasis” ($21,445) four-bet $8,060 from the small blind, and Blom five-bet to $27,560. “Long90110” made the call, “verve.oasis” called off his remaining $13,555, and the flop fell 7♠A♠8♠. Blom immediately moved all in, “long90110” called off $12,976.25, and the cards were turned up:

Showdown

Blom had flopped a set of aces and was dominating “long90110”; however, “verve.oasis” held the nut flush, meaning the Swede needed the board to pair to win the $102,843 pot. The 2♦ didn’t do it, but the 8♦ river did. Blom improved to a full house and left both his opponents to reload.

As if that wasn’t enough, Blom decided to continue playing on Saturday, and that’s when the real action happened. In the first hour, Blom hit a heater and brought his three-day total to over $1 million, but that’s when things went south for the Swede. It took less than 500 hands for Blom to drop $600,000, most of it multi-tabling against Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky, who ended up being Saturday’s biggest winner with $350,000 in profit, putting him over $1 million for the year. Even though that’s where the big money changed hands, it wasn’t where the big pots occurred.

Instead, the biggest pot of the day happened at a five-handed $100/$200 PLO table when “BenyamineX” ($22,656.25) opened for $700 under the gun, Blom ($72,357.13) three-bet to $2,500 from the small blind, and Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($153,887.50) called from the big. “BenyamineX” then put in a four-bet to $10,900, Blom called, and Kyllönen five-bet to $43,300. “BenyamineX” called off his last $12,416.25, Blom called, and the flop came down A♠2♠J♥. Blom checked, Kyllönen moved all in, and Blom called off.

Showdown

Kyllönen had flopped the nuts with a set of aces and didn’t relinquish the lead as the 6♦ turn and K♠ river failed to help his opponents.

In the second biggest pot of the day, action was six-handed when Blom ($68,675) opened for $600 from the hijack. “IFiNishfish” ($80,290) the three-bet to $2,240 from the small blind, and Blom responded with a four-bet to $7,760. “IFiNishfish” then five-bet to $21,920, Blom six-bet to $73,960, and “IFiNishfish” called. When the flop came down Q♥8♣J♠, “IFiNishfish” bet and Blom called off his remaining $2,435.

Showdown

It was another aces-versus-kings pot, and once again Blom was on the better end. Even so, he needed to dodge “IFiNishfish’s” open-ended straight draw, which is exactly what he did as both the 2♥ turn and J♦ river blanked, sending the $137,705 pot to Blom.

Galfond Thrives to the Tune of $660,000 and Blom has $800,000 Swing

On Monday evening and early Tuesday morning, Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond played 3,500 hands of $100/$200 PLO against the likes of Alexey “LuckyGump” Makarov, Rafi “refaelamit” Amit and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom. After winning five of the day’s six biggest pots, Galfond banked a healthy $600,000.

Blom was off to a good start, up nearly $500,000 after first hour. Unfortunately for him, he’d soon be dismantled by Galfond to the tune of $650,000. After losing a little more, Blom went from being up $500,000 down $313,000, a swing of over $800,000! Despite that, Blom was still up nearly half a million for the week.

The biggest pot of the night featured Blom, but as you can imagine, he didn’t win it. The hand in question began with action three handed and Galfond folding the button. Blom ($124,429.78) raised to $720 from the small blind, “ChaoRen160” ($104,593.21) pushed back to the tune of $2,280 from the big, Blom called and the flop fell 2♣J♦Q♣.

Blom checked, “ChaoRen160” fired out $3,000, and Blom woke up with a check-raise to $10,800. As if that wasn’t enough, “ChaoRen160” three-bet $37,075, Blom four-bet $126,700, and “ChaoRen160” called off his remaining $65,238.20, creating a pot worth $209,221!

Showdown

Both players had flopped a set, but “ChaoRen160’s” was better. Blom needed some major help, and while the 6♣ turn gave him a gut-shot straight draw, the 2♦ river failed to fill it.

In Galfond’s biggest hand, action was four-handed and Blom ($114,607.42) opened under the gun for $800. The button and small blind both folded, while Galfond ($79,239) three-bet to $2,660 from the big blind. Blom pushed back, making it $9,040, Galfond five-bet $24,980, Blom called and the flop came out 3♠7♠J♦. Galfond led out for $50,215, Blom raised, and Galfond called off his remaining $4,044.

Showdown

Galfond held a pair of jacks, which was out in front against Blom's threes. The 9♠ turn and 9♣ river were of no consequence, and Galfond was pushed the $158,653 pot.

Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars

Week’s biggest winners (3/1-3/8): Phil “MrSweets” Galfond (+$767,701), “RaiseOnce” (+$494,661), “pablo9 x” (+$259,913), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$254,580), Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (+$250,708)

Week’s biggest losers: “MaiseE” (-$468,567), Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (-$460,348), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (-$339,779)

Year-to-date winners: Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,523,192), “bernard-bb” (+$1,049,200), “patpatman” (+$685,623), MaiseE (+$679,680), Niklas “ragen70” Heineckerragen (+$591,828), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$527,196)

Year-to-date losers: “long90110” (-$925,615), “Zypherin” (-$591,313), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$524,520), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$493,071), “VietRussian” (-$422,811), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$420,139)

_{Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

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

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