For the third week in a row, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom finished as online poker's biggest winner. After starting the year off dropping more than half a million, Blom has strung together three solid weeks and now sits atop the 2014 leader board with more than $1.6 million in profit.
This week, Blom managed to win $645,471 in 1,463 hands over 17 sessions, which was more than three times his nearest competitor. Meanwhile, other winners included Doug "WCGRider" Polk (+$179,714 in 6 sessions/540 hands) and Kyle "KPR16" Ray, who won $141,559 and $88,980 on Full Tilt Poker, and PokerStars respectively. Even so, it was a far cry from the $753,937 Ray lost the week before.
This week, Alexander "PostflopAction" Kostritsyn finished as the week's biggest loser after dropping $290,153 in 887 hands over eight sessions. Others who finished as weekly losers were "SallyWoo" (-$257,047 in 8 sessions/1,380 hands) and "Tight-Man1" (-$186,455 in 13 sessions/1,201 hands) on Full Tilt, and "wilhasha" (-$114,989 in 15 sessions/1,073 hands) on PokerStars.
Ray Thursday's Biggest Winner on Full Tilt Poker; Loses on PokerStars
On Thursday, Jan. 23, Kyle "KPR16" Ray finished as the day's biggest winner on Full Tilt Poker with $170,000 in profit from the $200/$400 no-limit hold'em tables. Unfortunately, he was also a big loser over at PokerStars where he dropped $92,000 playing fixed limit hold'em.
On Full Tilt, Ray took on "Sanlker" at two tables over two different sessions. In the first, Ray walked away a $74,000 winner, which he followed up with an $80,000 win. It was during this time that Ray took down the day's biggest pot.
It began when Ray ($64,284) opened for $800 and then called a three-bet to $2,8000 from "Sanlker" ($46,790.50). Both players then checked the 10♠A♦3♦ flop, the 7♣ turned, and "Sanlker" led out for $2,800. Ray popped it to $13,200, "Sanlker" called, and the 8♠ completed the board on the river. "Sanlker" checked and then called off his remaining $30,790.50 after Ray moved all in. Ray tabled the 7♦7♠ for a turned set, and it was good enough to win the $93,581 pot.
From there, Ray took on "Tight-Man1" at the $200/$400 NLHE tables and walked away a modest $16,500 winner. It was during that match that the two played the day's second-biggest pot.
Kyle \"KPR16\" Ray
In that hand, Ray ($46,564.75) opened for $800, "Tight-Man1" ($60,988) three-bet to $2,800, Ray called, and the flop came down 5♦K♣2♠. "Tight-Man1" led out for $3,416, Ray called, and the 8♣ peeled off on the turn. Again "Tight-Man1" led out, this time for $8,826.70, and again Ray called. When the K♦ completed the board on the river, "Tight-Man1" wasted little time in moving all in and Ray called off his remaining $31,522.05. "Tight-Man1" tabled the 10♣6♣ for a missed flush, and Ray won the $93,129 with the 2♥2♦ for a full house.
Ray would have booked an extremely profitable day had it not been for a $92,000 loss to "JesusLebtNOT" – known as "kagome kagome" on FTP – at the $1,000/$2,000 fixed-limit hold'em tables over at PokerStars.
Ray vs. "Tight-Man1" Round II
On Friday, Jan. 24, Kyle "KPR16" Ray and "Tight-Man1" were back at the $200/$400 NLHE tables, and over the course of three hours the former player managed to win $53,500. Here's a look at two pots from that match, which just so happened to be the two biggest of the day:
Hand #1: Ray ($67,018.90) raised to $800 and then called when "Tight-Man1" ($75,300.90) three-bet to $2,800, which brought about a flop of J♥10♥6♣. "Tight-Man1" proceeded to check-call a bet of $2,240, the K♣ turned, and "Tight-Man1" check-called a bet of $15,120. When the river blanked, "Tight-Man1" checked for a third time and Ray moved all in for $46,858.90. "Tight-Man1" made the call, but mucked when Ray revealed the A♦Q♥ for the nuts. Ray won a pot worth $134,038.
Hand #2:
It's also worth noting that Viktor "Isildur1" Blom won $300,000 from Alexander "PostflopAction" Kostritsyn at the $1,000/$2,000 8-Game tables on Friday, enough to make him the day's biggest winner.
Ray vs. "Tight-Man1" Round III
It was fairly slow on the virtual felt last weekend; in fact, the only cash game action of note came on Sunday when Kyle "KPR16" Ray won $79,200 to finish as the day's biggest winner.
Dan “jungleman12” Cates
Ray, who won $79,600 on Saturday, got off to a bad start on Sunday after dropping $55,000 to Dan "jungleman12" Cates in a two-hour match at the $100/$200 NLHE table. Fortunately for him, "Tight-Man1" was looking for some action at the $200/$400 tables. The two played for nearly four hours, and during that time both players experienced some big swings. When the dust settled, Ray was up $220,000 in the match, which meant he was almost an $80,000 winner on the day.
Even though he lost, "Tight-Man1" did manage to win the day's biggest pot. It happened when "Tight-Man1" ($72,221.50) opened for $1,000 on the button and Ray ($54,767) called from the big blind. The 6♣A♥8♣ flop saw Ray check-call a bet of $1,220, and that brought about the 9♥ on the turn. Ray check-called another bet, this time $3,800, and the J♦ appeared on the river. Ray checked, "Tight-Man1" bet $18,000, and Ray woke up with an all-in check-raise to $48,747. "Tight-Man1" called with the 10♦7♣ for a straight, and it was good enough to win the $109,500 pot as Ray held an inferior straight with the 7♥5♦.
Blom Banks $300,400 in Tuesday Action
It's been a good month for Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, which was evidenced by a big win on Tuesday. The Swede managed to win $300,400 playing for two and a half hours of $2,000/$4,000 against "SallyWoo."
Here's a look at the biggest hand from that match:
Year's Biggest Winners: Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (+$1,664,993), Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene (+$1,444,718), Doug "WCGRider" Polk (+$880,639), Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton (+$397,369), "mikki696" (+$378,325), Dan "jungleman12" Cates (+$229,375)
Year's Biggest Losers: Gus Hansen (-$1,202,207), Alex "IReadYrSoul" Millar (-$659,520), "Sanlker" (-$316,646), Patrik "FinddaGrind" Antonius (-$303,590), Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky (-$195,283)
