The Online Railbird Report: The Professionals Duke it Out on FTP
Action was a bit slow this past week, at least compared to the million-dollar swings we’ve been seeing as of late between Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene. Speaking of Blom, he managed to finish as this week’s biggest winner with $526,996 (83 sessions/6,021 hands) in profit, though that was just a fraction of the $1.4 million he lost last week.
Meanwhile, Tom “durrrr” Dwan recovered from last week’s $385,066 loss by winning $446,953 (45 sessions/4,083 hands), enough to make him the second biggest winner. Others who did quite well were “kagome kagome” (+$302,009 in 24 sessions/1,286 hands) and Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$208,362 in 15 sessions/1,557 hands) on Full Tilt Poker, and Daniel “w00ki3z” Cates* (+$214,754 in 35 sessions/3,141 hands) on PokerStars.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kyle “KPR16” Ray was far and away the week’s biggest loser after dropping $826,208 in 755 hands across 11 sessions, while the aforementioned Tollerene was next on the loser’s list after reducing his bankroll by $265,906 (20 sessions/1,376 hands). Other losers in included Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (-$224,936 in 21 sessions/2,151 hands) and “SetoKaiba1” (-$203,820 in 12 sessions/1,305 hands) on Full Tilt Poker, and “BERRI SWEET”* (-$167,488 in 24 sessions/2,741 hands) on PokerStars.
Blom Banks $797,900 in Six Hours of Play
On Friday, April 12, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom tore up the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha and $2,000/$4,000 fixed-limit Omaha Hi/Lo tables. It was at the former that he took $45,000 from Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, and then relieved Kyle “KPR16” Ray of $320,000 at the latter in just 127 hands over 40 minutes.
Blom proceeded to win another $150,000 at the FLO8 tables against various opponents, and then booked a $51,000 win at the 2-7 Triple Draw tables. From there he got another $30,000 from Sahamies at the $50/$100 PLO tables, and then began a 2-7 Triple Draw game with the likes of “SetoKaiba1,” “kagome kagome,” and Patrick “FinddaGrind” Antonius. “SetoKaiba1” won a little, but other than that the game’s only winner was the young Swede, who won more than $222,000 in less than two hours. Needless to say, it was a good day for Blom.
One of Blom’s most notable hands came at a six-handed $100/$200 PLO table when action folded to Blom ($34,656) on the button, and he min-raised to $400. Sahamies ($26,128.50) called from the small blind and Hac “trex313” Dang ($15,246) three-bet to $1,600 from the big. Blom called, Sahamies four-bet to $6,700, and two calls ensued, leading to a J♠4♦8♣ flop. Sahamies led out for $19,200 and then called off his remaining $228.50 after Blom raised all in.
Blom: J♦J♥10♠9♥
Sahamies: A♠A♣6♣3♥
Sahamies got it in with aces, but unfortunately for him, Blom had flopped top set. Neither the K♦ turn nor 5♦ river helped Sahamies, and he watched the $58,654 pot pushed to Blom.
Dwan Makes his Presence Known in Saturday Action
We haven’t seen much of Tom “durrrr” Dwan at the online high-stakes tables in the last few months, but he was in action this past weekend, at least for 5.5 hours on Saturday. In that time, he won $582,600 playing mainly $50/$100 and $100/$200 PLO against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who had beaten Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene to the tune of $300,000 at the $200/$400 CAP PLO tables earlier in the day. The two, who comprise two-thirds of FTP’s The Professionals, even managed to contest a healthy six-figure pot.
Here's what happened. Blom ($126,405) opened for $600 and Dwan ($86,168.50) three-bet to $1,800. Blom pushed back to the tune of $5,400, but Dwan was not about to be outdone and made it $16,200 to go. Blom just called and then moved all in for $110,205 after Dwan led out for $32,400 on the Q♠J♥2♥ flop. Dwan called off his remaining $37,568.50 and the cards were flipped up.
Blom: K♠8♥4♥6♣
Dwan: K♦Q♣9♣8♦
Dwan only held top pair but was ahead of Blom’s flush draw. The 4♣ turn wasn’t particularly interesting, though it did give Blom more outs. Surprisingly, the 5♣ river blanked and Dwan’s simple pair of queens took down the $172,337 pot.
There was another six-figure pot that took place on Saturday, though this one was between Blom and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond:
Blom Gets Some Back in Just 300 Hands
Never one to sulk for long, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was back at it on Monday and managed to win $548,100, enough to make him the day’s biggest winner. After losing nearly $250,000 in other games, Blom took on Tom “durrrr” Dwan at the $100/$200 PLO tables and dismantled his fellow FTP pro to the tune of $417,000 in 300 hands. Here are the two biggest pots from that match, which are also the largest of the day.
Hand #1: Blom ($183,281) opened for $600, Dwan ($98,582) three-bet to $1,800, and Blom made it $5,400 to go. Dwan called and then check-called a bet of $6,800 on the Q♦6♣7♣ flop. When the K♥ turned, Dwan checked for a second time and then woke up with a check-raise to $80,200 after Blom had bet $18,600. Blom popped it and Dwan called off his last $6,182. The 3♠ completed the board on the river and Dwan tabled the A♦7♦K♠9♣ for kings and sevens, but it was no good because Blom held a bigger two pair with the K♣Q♥2♥6♦. Ship the $197,164 pot to Blom
Hand #2: The preflop action was the same as the hand described above, leading to an A♥6♥8♠ flop. Dwan ($60,258.50) checked, Blom ($104,009) bet $6,800, and Dwan check-raised to $31,200. Blom proceeded to move all in and Dwan called off his remaining $23,658.50.
Blom: 10♥5♥A♦10♦
Dwan: J♥J♦3♥Q♣
Both players held a flush draw, but Dwan’s was best. Even so, Blom was out in front with a pair of aces. The 2♠ turn was of no consequence, and neither was the K♦ river. Blom’s pair of aces held up and he was pushed the $120,517 pot.
Blom went on to lose $360,000 of that back at the 2-7 Triple Draw and FLO8 tables, mostly to Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn, but then he turned right around and won $500,000 in 211 hands against Kyle “KPR16” Ray.
Blom and Dwan at it Again on Tuesday
It seemed Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Tom “durrrr” Dwan spent the week battling one another, so it’s a wonder they both managed to finish atop the weekly leaderboard. The two were at it again on Tuesday, once again playing at the $100/$200 PLO tables. In the match, which lasted two hours, Dwan won $283,000 from Blom, though he finished the day with only $169,500 in profit. Here are the two biggest pots from that match.
Hand #1: Dwan ($130,994) opened for $600 and then four-bet to $5,400 after Blom ($108,796) had three-bet to $1,800. The Swede then five-bet to $16,200, Dwan called, and the flop came down the Q♣A♠5♠. Blom led out for $32,400 and then called off his remaining $60,196 after Dwan had raised to $114,794.
Blom: K♥K♣J♦8♠
Dwan: 3♠2♠5♦6♣
Dwan flopped a pair of fives and gut-shot straight flush draw, while Blom had a pair of kings and a straight draw of his own. The 10♣ turn actually gave Blom that straight, and all he needed to do to win the $217,592 pot was dodge a spade on the river. That’s exactly what he did as the harmless J♥ peeled off.
Hand #2:
Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)
Week’s biggest winners (4/12-4/17): Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$526,996), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$446,953), “kagome kagome” (+$302,009), Daniel “w00ki3z” Cates* (+$214,754), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$208,362), Alex “Alexonmoon” Luneau (+$181,246), Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$165,905), Gus Hansen (+$146,771)
Week’s biggest losers: Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$826,208), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (-$265,906), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (-$224,936), “SetoKaiba1” (-$203,820), “BERRI SWEET”* (-$167,488)
Year’s biggest winners: Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$4,008,841), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$3,117,446), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$2,202,403), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$1,718,307), Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (+$1,537,714), “SallyWoo” (+$1,217,076), Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$1,003,684), “1Il|1Il|1il|”* (+$975,890), “Odd_Oddsen”* (+$904,978), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$779,393), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (+$721,278)
Year’s biggest losers: Gus Hansen (-$2,645,296), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$1,878,638), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$1,606,502), “patpatpanda” (-$1,330,885), Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver (-$1,220,399), “punting-peddler” (-$1,099,064), “CRAIN85” (-$925,500), “samrostan” (-$863,299), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$832,668)
*Denotes PokerStars
Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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