The Online Railbird Report: Hansen Gets Back on Track; "Sauce123" Dethrones "EireAbu"
Chad Holloway
There was a bit of a shakeup atop the 2012 PokerStars yearly leaderboard this week as long-time leader, “EireAbu,” lost $146,063 and dropped to $2,676,033 in winnings. That put him in second place behind the new leader, Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky, who won $137,785 this week and vaulted to $2,678,174 in winnings so far this year.
In addition to that shakeup, Gus “broksi” Hansen got back on track and finished as the week’s biggest winner after banking $474,033 in 12,630 hands spread across 103 sessions, a nice rebound from his $407,057 loss the week before. With that said, the Great Dane’s win wasn’t too far ahead of Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$454,456 in 117 sessions/7,057 hands) and Terje “Terken89” Augdal (+$449,799 in 90 sessions/4,986 hands), who finished in second and third place respectively.
“Patpatman” was the biggest loser after dropping $565,732 in 3,560 hands over 76 sessions. Despite “patpatman’s” half-a-million dollar loss, the big story in the loser’s bracket seemed to be the continued slide of Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who followed up last week’s $563,796 loss by dropping $336,601 in 206 sessions comprised of 11,539 hands.
Hansen Gets Back on Track
On Thursday, Aug. 23, Gus “broksi” Hansen kicked off the week with a $149,500 win, second only to “mtvdeuem’s” $152,200 day, and then followed it up with a $164,200 win on Friday, which made him that day’s biggest winner. The wins came from a mix of Omaha hi/lo and pot-limit Omaha, and he went on to add to his bankroll later in the week; in fact, Hansen’s two biggest PLO wins would come on Tuesday.
In the biggest, action was five-handed at $100/$200 PLO when “patpatman” ($103,835) raised to $600 on the button and Hansen ($106,628.22) three-bet to $2,100 from the big blind. A call was made, the flop fell 
, and Hansen led out for $4,495, which “patpatman” raised to $13,800. Hansen responded with a three-bet to $45,895, and then called when “patpatman” moved all in for $101,735. The 
turn and 
river completed the board, prompting Hansen to flip over 
for the nut flush. “Patpatman” mucked his hand and watched the $207,770 pot pushed to Hansen.
In Hansen’s second biggest pot of the week, the game was the same when Hansen ($85,884.94) opened for $400 under the gun and Terje “Terken89” Augdal ($75,773.60) three-bet to $1,700 from the button. After the blinds got out of the way, Hansen four-bet $6,000, Augdal called, and the flop came down 
, prompting Hansen to lead out for $11,695. Augdal raised to $46,780, Hansen three-bet all in, and Augdal called off his remaining $22,993.59.
| Showdown |
|---|
Augdal:     |
Hansen:     |
Augdal had flopped top pair with a flush draw, but it was behind the Dane’s set of fours. The 
turn completed Augdal’s flush, but the 
river paired the board and gave Hansen a full house and the $151,962 pot.
Augdal and Sahamies Dismantle Blom
Speaking of Tuesday action, it was there that Terje “Terken89” Augdal and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies won $347,100 and $274,700 respectively, mainly from Viktor “Isildur1” Blom.
In the day’s biggest pot, action was five-handed in a $200/$400 PLO game when Augdal ($107,494.30) raised to $1,800 under the gun, “patpatman” ($40,982) three-bet to $6,400 on the button, and Blom ($118,022.50) called from the big blind. Augdal responded with a four-bet to $28,000, two calls were made, and the 
appeared on the flop. Blom checked, Augdal bet $79,195, “patpatman” called off for $12,982, and Blom check-raised all in for $90,022.50. Augdal called off his remaining $299.30, and the and 
were run out on the turn and river respectively.
Blom rolled over 
for a flopped set of jacks, but it was no good against the 
rivered straight of Augdal. “Patpatman” did not show and the $256,325 pot was shipped to “Terken89.”
Things didn’t get much better for Blom in a $200/$400 PLO heads-up match against Sahamies. In their biggest pot, Blom ($84,146) opened for $1,200 on the button and then called when Sahamies ($99,392) three-bet to $3,760. The flop fell and Sahamies proceeded to check-raise Blom’s bet of $4,000 up to $19,678, Blom called, and the 
appeared on the turn. Sahamies led out for $47,034, Blom called, and the 
river completed the board. Sahamies led out for $28,920, and Blom called off his remaining $13,674 with 
. Unfortunately for him, Sahamies showed 
for a bigger two pair and the $168,290 pot.
Tollerene vs. “wilhasha” in $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em Action
On Wednesday, Ben “Ben86” Tollerene and “wilhasha” played 646 hands of $100/$200 no-limit hold’em across four tables. The match only last an hour and a half, and it was a lopsided affair as Tollerene won all the big pots and emerged a $140K winner.
Here’s a look at one of the more notable hands from the match:
Sulsky Takes the Top Spot
There was some $200/$400 PLO action on Thursday, and both Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen and Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky benefited greatly. The former wound up the day’s biggest winner after winning $193,700, pretty much all of which came in just 201 hands of $200/$400 PLO; meanwhile, Sulsky won $142,200 in 172 hands. Surprisingly, the duo never squared off against one another.
In Sulsky’s biggest hand, he was playing heads-up against Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies ($98,068.69) when Sahamies opened for $1,360. From there, Sulsky ($88,466) three-bet $4,240 and then called when Sahamies four-bet $12,880, bringing about the 
flop. Both players checked and then Sulsky led out for $17,777 when the turned. Sahamies made the call and then called Sulsky’s $57,809 all-in shove on the 
river. With $176,930 on the line, Sahamies showed 
for the low end of the straight, but it was no good against Sulsky’s 
big straight.
In another hand, action was three-handed when Sahamies ($80,404.69) opened for $1,600 from the button and Sulsky ($122,952) defended from the big blind. When the flop fell , Sulsky checked, Sahamies bet $3,635, and Sulsky check-raised to $13,333. Sahamies not only called the raise, he called a bet of $24,444 on the 
turn. The 
river saw Sulsky ship, and Sahamies called off his remaining $41,027.69 with for two pair. Sulsky then tabled 
for a set and the $161,084 pot.
Sulsky was back in action a few days later when he decided to take on Alex “Kanu7” Millar in some $100/$200 NLHE action. In just over an hour on Friday evening, Sulsky relieved Millar of $153,000, which gave him $900,000 in NLHE winnings in 2012. Combine that with his $1.7 million PLO winnings, and Sulsky overtook “EireAbu” atop the leaderboard of PokerStars’ biggest winners in 2012.
The two played nearly 600 hands, but here are the two biggest:
Hand #1: Sulsky ($44,360.95) limped on the button and then called when Millar ($31,325.52) raised to $900 from the big blind. The 
flop saw Millar check-call a bet of $1,333, while the turn saw him check-call a bet of $2,888. Millar checked for a third time on the river, but instead of just calling, he moved all in for $26,204.52 when Sulsky bet $7,111. The latter called, creating a $62,649 pot, and tabled for a king-high flush, which bested Millar’s queen-high flush.
Hand #2:
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week’s biggest winners (8/23-8/31): Gus “broksi” Hansen (+$474,033), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$454,456), Terje “Terken89” Augdal (+$449,799), “Seb86” (+$399,749), “bernard-bb” (+441,539)
Week’s biggest losers: “patpatman” (-$565,732), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$336,601), "römpsä" (-$218,289), Daniel “MrSmits” Bertelsen (-$213,632)
Year-to-date winners: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$2,678,174), “EireAbu” (+$2,676,033), Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (+$1,926,204), “bernard-bb” (+$1,804,568), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$1,598,395), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$1,347,531), Terje “Terken89” Augdal (+$1,172,244)
Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$2,844,449), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$2,004,996), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$1,169,667), “patpatman” (-$835,139), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$751,847), Gavin “gavz101” Cochrane (-$678,818)
Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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