The Online Railbird Report: "Rhje" Wins Over a Million, Blom/Hansen to Ireland & More
It’s been a busy week for Full Tilt Poker. The latest edition of FTOPS just kicked off, and the 60-event Full Tilt Poker UKIPT Galway Festival has been going strong for the past two weeks. The latter has even attracted the man who usually fuels the high-stakes online action, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, though that didn’t stop him from putting in some time on the virtual felt where he won $205,963 in 1,671 hands over 38 sessions. A decent score, albeit modest for the Swede’s usual swings.
Speaking of winners, the week’s biggest by a large margin was “Rhje,” who banked $1,014,573 in 2,650 hands over 30 sessions, which was more than double “Trueteller,” who was the week’s second-biggest winner with $504,596 in profit in 3,149 hands over 29 sessions. Other winners on the week included Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$355,836 in 13 sessions/1,204 hands) and “proudlikeagoat” (+$275,316 in 22 sessions/2,042 hands) on Full Tilt Poker; and “Lefort” (+$352,886 in 30 sessions/1,744 hands), “Trueteller” (+$245,685 in 114 sessions/6,761 hands) and “Susie Smith” (+$243,238 in 51 sessions/3,892 hands) on PokerStars.
On the flip side, “Call_911” was the week’s biggest loser having dropped $676,654 in 1,461 hands over 18 sessions on Full Tilt Poker, and he was followed by last week’s biggest winner, “samrostan” (-$558,526 in 49 sessions/7,451 hands), who gave almost all of his winnings back. Other losers included “MalACEsia” (-$417,908 in 25 sessions/2,661 hands), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (-$233,242 in 89 sessions/5,184 hands) and “punting-peddler” (-$226,803 in 9 sessions/546 hands). Meanwhile, “cantbeat”* (-$300,956 in 87 sessions/6,242 hands) was the biggest loser on PokerStars.
Millar Owns Blom in Thursday Tussle
On Thursday, Aug. 1, Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom continued their rivalry at the $400/$800 no-limit hold’em tables. Blom, who is currently in Ireland to play the Full Tilt Poker UKIPT Galway Main Event, was up six-figures on the day prior to the match, but in just over 200 hands and 45 minutes he managed to lose $425,000 to Millar.
Needless to say, the match produced some interesting pots. Here’s a look at the biggest three:
Hand #1: Millar ($221,786) opened for $2,700 and then called when Blom ($128,249) three-bet to $9,600. The A♠7♠6♥ flop saw Blom lead out for $12,800, Millar called and the 6♠ turned. Blom check-called a bet of $22,550 and then check-called off his stack of $83,299 after Millar shoved the 3♥ river. Millar rolled over the K♠10♠ for a flush, which was good enough to win the $256,498 pot as Blom sent his cards to the muck unseen.
Hand #2: Millar ($153,957) raised to $2,700 and then called when Blom ($125,636.50) three-bet to $9,600, which brought about the 10♠8♥5♥ flop. Blom bet $12,800, Millar raised to $28,800 and the Swede three-bet to $75,000. Millar responded with a four-bet to $150,000 and Blom called off his remaining $41,036.50 to create a pot of $251,273.
Millar: Q♥10♥
Blom: A♥K♥
Both players had flopped a flush draw, and even though Blom’s was best, Millar was ahead with a pair of tens. The 9♣ turn changed nothing, and the Q♣ river actually improved Millar to two pair. Ship the pot to the Brit.
Hand #3: Blom ($121,599.50) opened for $2,400 and then called when Millar ($215,810) three-bet to $7,500. After the flop came down 4♣K♦7♦, Millar bet $6,400 and Blom called. Millar then slowed down with a check on the 8♥ turn, but called a bet of $21,600 from Blom, which brought about the A♠ on the river. Millar checked for a second time and then called when Blom shoved for $86,099.50. Blom tabled the 3♠3♦ for a lowly pair of threes, which was no good as Millar rolled over the A♥7♥ to lay claim to the $243,199 pot.
Blom ended up losing $269,000 on the day while Millar won $216,600, which was good for second on the leader board behind “samrostan,” who won $301,700 playing fixed-limit Omaha hi/lo.
“Rhje” Wins Four Days in a Row
On Friday, Aug. 2, “Rhje” finished as the day’s biggest winner with $244,300 in profit after playing $400/$800 NLHE for eight hours straight. The win was significant because it marked the fourth winning day in a row for “Rhje,” who as you know went on to finish as the week’s biggest winner with more than a million in winnings.
The game only produced two pots over $200,000, and surprisingly “Rhje” didn’t win either. Nonetheless, here’s a look at both:
Hand #1: Action was six handed when “samrostan” ($102,739.05) opened for $2,480 from the hijack only to have “proudlikeagoat” ($265,429.94) three-bet to $8,000 from the small blind. After the big folded, “samrostan” called and the flop came out 6♣Q♦5♥. “Proudlikeagoat” bet $9,126, “samrostan” called and the A♠ turned. Again “samrostan” called a bet, this time $23,135.45, and then the 6♥ completed the board on the river. “Proudlikeagoat” wasted little time in betting $82,072.89 and “samrostan” called off for $62,477.59. “Proudlikeagoat” then flipped over the A♣A♥ for a full house, and it was good enough to win the $206,725 pot as “samrostan” simply folded.
Hand #2: In a six-handed game, action folded to “HelicopterBen82” ($102,447) on the button and he raised to $2,000, which “MalACEsia” ($367,557.40) popped to $6,400 from the small blind. After the big blind folded, “HelicopterBen82” called, the flop came down 5♣10♠2♠ and “MalACEsia” fired out $9,200. “HelicopterBen82” raised to $19,600 and then shoved all in for $95,897 after “MalACEsia” had three-bet to $50,800. The call was made and the cards turned up.
“HelicopterBen82”: 5♥2♥
“MalACEsia”: K♠K♣
“HelicopterBen82” managed to temporarily crack the kings of his opponent, but the running 8♣ turn and 8♥ river counterfeited him. With that, “MalACEsia” was pushed the $206,291, though he still finished as the day’s biggest loser $234,000 in the red.
“HelicopterBen82” Flies to $356,700 Saturday Win; Hansen Wins $266,200 in FLO8
Saturday marked the fifth consecutive day that the biggest winner came from the $400/$800 NLHE game, but this time it wasn’t “Rhje,” it was “HelicopterBen82,” who won $356,700 in 4.5 hours. He played against the likes of Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton, “MalACEsia” and “proudlikeagoat,” and we thought it’d be fun to take a look at his biggest pot.
In the hand, action was six handed when “HelicopterBen82” ($298,162) opened for $2,400 from the hijack and was met by a three-bet to $8,000 by “proudlikeagoat” ($80,000) in the small blind. Haxton ($161,540) responded with a four-bet to $19,200 from the big, “HelicopterBen82” five-bet to $36,800 and “proudlikeagoat” got out of the way. Haxton then shoved and “HelicopterBen82” called.
Haxton: Q♥Q♠
“HelicopterBen82”: A♣A♥
The two agreed to run the board out twice, but neither the 4♠10♥4♦5♠8♣ on the first nor 4♥2♦J♠7♣6♠ on the second delivered the lady Haxton needed and he watched “HelicopterBen82” scooped the entire $331,677 pot
It’s also worth noting that Gus Hansen had a decent score on Saturday, winning $266,700 in 251 hands of FLO8 against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Kyle “KPR16” Ray and Phil “Polarizing” Ivey. Hansen has actually been having some luck off the virtual felt at the Full Tilt Poker UKIPT Galway in Ireland. That’s where he won Event #8 €1,000+€100 UK vs. Ireland Heads-Up Championship and managed to become the toast of the town.
Even though the aforementioned pot was nice, it wasn’t the days biggest. Have a look:
Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)
Biggest Winners (8/2-8/8): “Rhje” (+$1,014,573), “Trueteller” (+$504,596), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$355,836), “Lefort”* (+$352,886), “proudlikeagoat” (+$275,316), “Trueteller”* (+$245,685), “Sussie Smith”* (+$243,238), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$205,963)
Biggest Losers (8/2-8/8): “Call_911” (-$676,654), “samrostan” (-$558,526), “MalACEsia” (-$417,908), “cantbeat”* (-$300,956), Ronny “ronnyr37617” Kaiser (-$233,242), “punting-peddler” (-$226,803)
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 (+$3,580,612), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$3,362,514), Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn (+$2,714,965), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$2,368,152), “Rhje” (+$2,268,636), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (+$1,690,936), Hac “trex313” Dang (+$1,609,235), “proudlikeagoat” (+$1,586,556), “Odd_Oddsen”* (+$1,505,673), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$1,484,451)
Year’s Biggest Losers: Gus Hansen (-$3,878,527), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$2,859,477), “samrostan” (-$3,375,771), Phil “Polarizing” Ivey (-$2,980,086), “punting-peddler” (-$1,875,254), “MalACEsia” (-$1,798,306), “patpatpanda” (-$1,330,885), Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver (-$1,220,399), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$1,209,758)
*Denotes PokerStars
Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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