The Online Railbird Report: Phil Ivey Is Week's Biggest Loser, Durrrr Challenge & More

August 03, 2013

It’s been awhile since Viktor “Isildur1” Blom wasn’t the main story in The Online Railbird Report. He still managed to win $1.4 million in a single day this week, but by the time the week closed he was up just $133,004.

This week’s biggest winner ended up being “samrostan,” who won $700,758 in 2,411 hands spread across 21 sessions. Other winners included Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$481,144 in 44 sessions/3,140 hands), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (+$400,166 in 37 sessions/5,242 hands), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (+$371,183 in 15 sessions/1,152 hands), Hac “trex313” Dang (+$311,014 in 14 sessions/1,190 hands) and Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$234,459 in 6 sessions/451 hands).

On the flip side, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $685,751 in 2,320 hands over 29 sessions. He was followed by Gus Hansen* (-$574,751 in 36 sessions/2,067 hands), “punting-peddler” (-$523,023 in 15 sessions/2,323 hands) and Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (-$492,196 in 26 sessions/3,703 hands). It marked the second week in a row that Haxton lost big — he was last week’s biggest loser with a $792,597 loss.

*Read about Hansen's recent win in Event #8 €1,000+€100 UK vs. Ireland Heads-Up Championship of the Full Tilt Poker Galway Festival.

Blom & “Odd_Oddsen” Mix It Up

On Thursday, July 25, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was back in action and got off to a bad start by dropping nearly $300,000 to Kyle “KPR16” Ray at fixed-limit Omaha Hi/Lo (FLO8). Fortunately for him, he was able to right the ship by taking $85,000 off “Sanlker” playing $500/$1,000 CAP no-limit hold’em and $216,000 from “SallyWoo” at FLO8. It was against the former that Blom won the day’s biggest pot.

It began when “Sanlker” ($160,549.50) opened for $2,400 on the button and Blom ($159,412) three-bet to $8,000. After a call, the flop came down 10♠2♠8♣ and Blom bet $10,400. “Sanlker” raised to $24,200 and then called off his remaining $127,212 when Blom shoved all in. “Sanlker” tabled the A♠J♠ for a flush draw, but he was behind the J♣J♦ of Blom. Neither the K♥ turn nor 8♦ river was what “Sanlker” needed and he watched the $318,824 pot pushed to his Swedish opponent. Blom went on to finish a $64,800 winner on the day.

Another player who fared well in Thursday action, albeit on PokerStars, was “Odd_Oddsen,” who was recently featured in our popular Online Chat series. The Norwegian won $186,700 at the $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha tables.

Blom Wins $1.4 Million on Sunday

As previously reported in a special edition of The Railbird, this past Sunday belonged to Viktor “Isildur1” Blom as he won an astounding $1.4 million in a full day of action. Blom started the day by winning $150,000 in two hours from Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton at the $500/$1,000 CAP no-limit hold’em tables. After winning $49,000 at the 2-7 Triple Draw tables, Blom took to fixed-limit Omaha hi/lo where he won $240,000 in the first three and a half hours. Over the next 80 minutes, Blom caught fire and won $423,000 more against the likes of Kyle “KPR16” Ray, Gus Hansen and Phil “Polarizing” Ivey.

Blom didn’t stop there. Here are some other highlights from his Sunday run:

• Won $73,000 in 40 minutes of $400/$800 no-limit hold’em against “Sanlker.” The two then switched to $500/$1,000 CAP NLHE and Blom won another $212,000.
• Won $52,000 from Ivey in just 25 hands of 2-7 Triple Draw.
• A six-hour rematch against Haxton saw Blom add another $110,000 to his bankroll.
• Won $70,000 from “SallyWoo” at the $2,000/$4,000 FLO8 tables in early Monday morning.

For more on Blom’s big win, check out the recap in The Railbird.

“MalACEsia” Rebounds; Wins $366K Pot Off Tollerene

Gracing the loser’s list week in and week out is something “MalACEsia” knows all too well, but that all changed this week after he finished a $181,244 winner, which came from 2,201 hands over 26 sessions. On Monday, “MalACEsia” won $436,800 after playing $400/$800 no-limit hold’em against the likes of Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar, “punting-peddler,” and “Denoking,” just to name a few.

As the clock rolled over into Tuesday morning, “MalACEsia” won a massive pot off Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene. Have a look:

Tollerene may have lost that pot but he didn’t let it discourage him. Instead, he kept playing the $400/$800 NLHE game through the afternoon and finished up $411,200.

It was also in Thursday action that a $315K pot developed at the $400/$800 NLHE tables. It happened at a six-handed table when action folded to Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker ($168,287) on the button and he opened for $1,920. “Call_911” ($156,937.33) then three-bet to $8,000 from the small blind, the big folded and Heinecker pushed back with a four-bet to $21,120. “Call_911” then five-bet to $34,400, Heinecker called and the flop came down 6♦5♣K♦. “Call_911” bet $25,000, Heinecker called and the 10♥ turned. “Call_911” ended up check-calling a bet of $30,120 and the A♦ completed the board on the river. “Call_911” checked for a second time and then called off his remaining $67,417.33 when Heinecker shoved all in. Heinecker tabled the A♣A♥ for a rivered set, and it was good as “Call_911” folded. Ship the $315,272 pot to the German.

Finally, Thursday saw Viktor “Isildur1” Blom take on “Sanlker” in heads-up play at $400/$800 NLHE and $500/$1,000 CAP NLHE. It was in the former game that the Swede dropped $330,000 in just 23 minutes, though that was offset as Blom had won $415,000 playing FLO8 that day. When the day came to an end, “Sanlker” was a $408,400 winner while Blom was down $23,000.

“Durrrr” Challenge Back On?

On July 22, Daniel “jungleman12” Cates took to TwoPlusTwo to announce that the long-delayed “Durrrr Challenge” between him and Tom “durrrr” Dwan will resume in August. The two have already played nearly 20,000 hands from the 50,000-hand match, which was agreed upon three years ago, with Cates out in front by more than $1 million.

Dwan laid Cates 3-to-1 odds on a $500,000 bet, meaning if Cates can maintain his lead he will win $1.5 million. Here’s what Cates had to say in the forum post:

“regarding the durrrr challenge, we agreed to play a min of 4k hands/month, and then 8k hands every 2 months afterwards. If we dont play 4k hands a month in august, then restrictions will be made. I guess restrictions means scheduled times, penalties for not complying... I will be posting here in august/september if this doesnt help state of challenge”

Millar vs. Blom Once Again

Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar have become archrivals at the high-stakes no-limit hold’em tables. On the first day of August, the two were back at it, though they only played for 45 minutes at two tables. Even so, Millar managed to win $425,000 in the approximately 200-hand match! Here’s a look at the three biggest pots from that match:

Hand #1: Millar ($221,786) opened for $2,700 and then called when Blom ($128,249) three-bet to $9,600, bringing about the A♠7♠6♥. Millar then called a bet of $12,800, the 6♠ turned and Blom check-called a bet of $22,550. When the 3♥ completed the board on the river, Blom checked and then called off for $83,299 after Millar shoved. Millar tabbed the K♠10♠ for the nut flush, and it was good enough to win the $256,498 pot as Blom mucked his cards.

Hand #2: Millar ($154,357) opened for $2,700 only to have Blom ($125,636.50) three-bet to $9,600. Millar called, the flop fell 10♠8♥5♥ and Blom led out for $12,800. Millar raised to $28,800, Blom three-bet to $75,000 and Millar four-bet to $150,000. Blom called off his remaining $41,036.50. The 9♣ was put out on the turn followed by the Q♣ on the river, and Millar tabled the Q♥10♥ for two pair. Blom then showed the A♥K♥ for a missed flush draw and Millar took down the $251,300 pot.

Hand #3:

Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Biggest Winners (7/26-8/1): “samrostan” (+$700,758), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$481,144), “proudlikeagoat” (+$412,729), Kyle “KPR16” Ray (+$400,166), “John R Turk” (+$390,570), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (+$371,183), Hac “trex313” Dang (+$311,014), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$234,459)

Biggest Losers (7/26-8/1): Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$685,751), Gus Hansen (-$574,751), “punting-peddler” (-$523,023), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton ($492,196), “Rhje” (-$462,023), “Trueteller” (-$438,630)

Year’s biggest winners: Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$3,556,082), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$3,140,715), Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$2,714,965), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$2,405,690), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$1,790,599), “Odd_Oddsen”* (+$1,615,567), Hac “trex313” Dang (+$1,607,796), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$1,484,451)

Year’s biggest losers: Gus Hansen (-$4,003,528), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$2,859,477), “samrostan” (-$2,817,245), “punting-peddler” (-$1,648,452), “MalACEsia” (-$1,380,398), “patpatpanda” (-$1,330,885), Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver (-$1,220,399), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$1,210,658)

*Denotes PokerStars

_{Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

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

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