The Online Railbird Report: Sahamies Wins $492K; “Phisherman36” Loses Staggering $775K

Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies

The 2012 World Series of Poker is in the books, at least until the Main Event Final Table returns in October. One man we didn’t see in Las Vegas this summer was Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies. He was busy fueling the high-stakes online action this past week.

In 4,554 hands over 52 sessions, Sahamies won a healthy $492,864, making him far and away the week’s biggest winner. Much of that came courtesy of “Phisherman36,” who was the week’s biggest loser after dropping a staggering $775,162 in only 1,829 hands spread across 23 sessions. That averages out to a $423.82-loss per hand!

Last week, “Phisherman36” was up $1,313,823 on the year, but this week, after his loss, he is up $538,662. Meanwhile, Sahamies, previously down $641,667 on the year, is now nearly up even.

Sahamies Crushes Friday’s $200/$400 PLO Game

“Win big or go home” seems to be the motto for Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies. In 2012, he started off bad only to hit a heater in the second half of the year and finish as PokerStars’ biggest winner. As of last week, Sahamies was down $641,667 on the year, but he got a good chunk of that back on Friday when he won $367,000 playing $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha.

Aside from “patpatman,” who won a modest $7,500, Sahamies was the game’s only winner. Most of it, more than $200,000 in fact, came courtesy of “Phisherman36.” Terje “Terken89” Augdal and Ignat “0Human0” Liviu each made smaller donations.

In the biggest pot he won, Sahamies ($219,611) raised to $1,200 on the button and “Phiserman36” ($99,780) three-bet to $3,600. Sahamies responded with a four-bet to $10,800, “Phiserman36” called, and the flop fell 1069. The latter led out for $14,800 and was called by the former, leading to the J turn, which both players checked.

When the J peeled off on the river, “Phiserman36” led out for $41,400 only to have Sahamies min-raise to $82,800. It may have been the smallest raise possible, but it proved enough as “Phiserman36” folded and Sahamies took down the $133,998 pot without a showdown.

In the second biggest hand between the two, “Phiserman36” ($45,778) made it $1,200 to go from the button and then called when Sahamies ($209,251) three-bet to $3,600 from the big blind. The 3910 flop saw Sahamies check-call a bet of $5,200, bringing about the 5 turn. This time Sahamies fired out a hefty bet of $17,598, “Phiserman36” called, and the Q was put out on the river. Sahamies ended up check-calling “Phiserman36’s” all-in bet of $19,380 with KKJ7 for the nut straight, which was good against his opponent’s 10748. Sahamies took down the $91,544 pot.

Although he lost the aforementioned hands, “Phiserman36” managed to reel in the biggest pot of the day when Sahamies ($270,580) raised to $1,200 on the button and then called a three-bet to $3,600 from “Phiserman36” ($68,780). The latter proceeded to lead out for $4,600 on the 97J flop, and Sahamies responded with a raise to $16,400. From there, “Phiserman36” made it $56,398 to go, and then called off his remaining $8,782 when Sahamies four-bet.

Showdown

SahamiesJJ65
“Phiserman36”AK106

Sahamies had flopped top set, but “Phiserman36” held the nut-flush and straight draws. The K turn gave “Phiserman36” the flush and the lead, but Sahamies could still win the $137,558 pot if the river paired the board. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t in the cards as the 8 appeared.

In the end, “Phiserman36” finished as the day’s biggest loser with a painful $271,000 loss, which was much more than both Augdal and Ignat, who lost $71,500 and $67,000, respectively.

Berndsen Finishes as Sunday’s Biggest Winner

Last week, Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen finished as the biggest winner with $352,000 in profit. On Monday, he was back in action and added another $175,000 to that total, enough to make him the day’s biggest winner. Over the course of 12 hours and 4,500 hands, Berndsen player a variety of games, stakes, and opponents as he slowly added to his bankroll.

In his biggest hand, action was four-handed at a $200/$400 PLO game when Terje “Terken89” Augdal raised to $800 on the button, Sahamies ($49,395) called from the small blind, and Berndsen ($26,544), three-bet to $3,200 from the big. Two calls were made, the flop fell 8K4, and Sahamies checked to Berndsen, who bet $9,595. Augdal got out of the way, Sahamies check-raised to $38,380, and Berndsen called off his remaining $13,749.

Showdown

Sahamies8875
BerndsenAAQ9

Sahamies had flopped middle set and was ahead when the money went in, but the A spiked on the turn to give Berndsen a better set of aces. Sahamies could still win the $56,283 pot with either the case eight or a six on the river, but it was not meant to be as the harmless Q peeled off.

In another notable hand, which happened at a heads-up $50/$100 PLO table, Berndsen ($25,569.86) raised to $250, “longerpig” ($42,173.37) called, and the flop came down 625. “Longerpig” was first to act and fired out $403.50, and Berndsen responded by making it $1,412.25 to go. Not to be outdone, “longerpig” three-bet to $4,774.75, Berndsen four-bet to $16,274.50, “longerpig” five-bet, and Berndsen called off his last $9,045.37, creating a pot worth $51,138.

Showdown

“longerpig”66810
BerndsenA872

When the money went in, “longerpig” was ahead with top set. Unfortunately for him, Berndsen held the nut-flush draw and hit it on the J turn. The 10 river would fail to pair the board, and Berndsen swiped another pot.

Sahamies Keeps the Ball Rolling

On Monday, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies continued his winning ways by profiting $444,000, which put him in the black for the first time this year. Interestingly, this time last year, Sahamies was down $800,000 on the year and stormed back to finish the year as the biggest winner with over $2 million in profit. Could another hot streak be in the making?

Not surprisingly, Sahamies took down the day’s biggest hand in a $200/$400 PLO game. It happened at a four-handed game when David “Deldar182” Eldar ($19,280.86) opened for $1,000 under the gun, Sahamies ($99,843) three-bet to $2,000 on the button, and “Phisherman36” ($98,557.50) called from the small blind. From there, Eldar four-bet $9,720, Sahamies called, and “Phisherman36” five-bet $37,400. Eldar called off his remaining $9,560.87, and Sahamies also made the call. The latter then called “Phisherman36’s” all-in shove of $61,157.50 on the 546 flop.

Showdown

SahamiesK4Q7
EldarA3Q9
“Phisherman36”KK910

The A turn and 8 river completed the board, giving Sahamies a straight and the $216,871 pot.

In another hand, action was six-handed when Sahamies ($83,209.75) limped under the gun and Terje “Terken89” Augdal ($65,852.61), who was next to act, three-bet to $1,800. Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen then four-bet $6,400 from the cutoff, the button and blinds got out of the way, and both Sahamies and Augdal made the call. The latter two checked the 377 flop, opening the door for Kyllönen to bet $5,200.

Sahamies then woke up with a check-raise to $10,400, Augdal made it $16,400 to go, Kyllönen folded, and Sahamies four-bet to $84,595. Augdal called off his remaining $43,052.61, and suddenly a $143,900 pot was on the line.

Showdown

Sahamies3342
Augdal107J8

Augdal had flopped trip sevens but was behind Sahamies' flopped full house. Neither the 2 turn nor 9 river helped Augdal, and his opponent was pushed the pot.

Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers

Week’s biggest winners (7/12-7/19): Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$492,864), “forhayley” (+$185,728), “mickan1984” (+$175,525), “patpatman” (+$160,427), David “Deldar182” Eldar (+$157,896), “EireAbe” (+$156,662)

Week’s biggest losers: Phisherman36 (-$775,162), Ignat “0Human0” Liviu (-$220,763), Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen (-$131,239)

Year-to-date winners: “EireAbu” (+$3,112,37), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$2,245,335), “bernard-bb” (+$1,441,943), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,269,655), Alex “Kanu7” Millar (+$1,187,585)

Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$2,708,561), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$1,541,010), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$832,517), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$761,767), Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (-$646,585), “VietRussian” (-$562,061)

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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