As reported in last week’s Online Railbird Report, the 2014 Aussie Millions — which attracted some on online poker's biggest names including Gus Hansen, Doug "WCGRider" Polk, and Viktor "Isildur1" Blom — slowed action at the high-stakes cash games considerably. Despite the series coming to an end earlier this week, the effects were still being felt as it was another slow week of action.
Blom returned to the top of the weekly leaderboard with $422,287 in profit from 1,044 hands spread over a dozen sessions. Other winners on Full Tilt Poker included “bbvisbadforme” (+$140,935 in 5 sessions/935 hands) and Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon (+$115,130 in 4 sessions/267 hands).
On the flip side, "thecortster", who won $208,237 last week, was this week’s biggest loser after dropping $148,766 in 1,527 hands over 13 sessions. Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (-$136,022 in 4 sessions/484 hands) and “tyme2gamb0|111” (-$115,706 in 10 sessions/340 hands) also failed to book winning weeks.
Blom Tops Thursday’s Leaderboard
On Thursday, Feb. 6, Blom emerged as the day’s biggest winner after banking $349,100 playing pot-limit Omaha and 2-7 triple draw. In the former game, Blom took on Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene for 105 minutes at two tables of $500/$1,000 CAP.
Blom got off to a bad start losing $80,000, but things swung in his favor when the duo reduced down to a single table. It was there that Blom put together a $303,000 win and walked away from the match a $219,000 winner. Here’s a look at a couple hands from that match.
Hand #1: Blom ($309,367) opened for $2,000 from the button and then called when Tollerene ($133,572.50) three-bet to $6,000, which brought about a flop of 7♣4♠J♦. Tollerene led out for $12,000, Blom called, and the 9♥ turned. Tollerene capped it with a bet of $22,000, Blom called, and the cards were turned up.
Ben \"Bttech86\" Tollerene
Blom: 8♥10♦5♦2♥
Tollerene: A♠A♥Q♠5♠
Blom had turned the nuts, and he actually had Tollerene drawing dead with aces. The meaningless 8♣ was run out on the river for good measure and then Blom was pushed the $80,000 pot.
Hand #2: Blom ($337,366) raised to $2,000, Tollerene ($105,571.50) reraised to $6,000, and after a call the flop fell 5♠K♦K♠. Tollerene bet $4,000, Blom called, and the J♦ peeled off on the turn. Tollerene bet again, this time $10,000, and again Blom called. When the 3♣ completed the board on the river, Tollerene capped the pot with a bet of $20,000 and Blom called. Tollerene tabled the K♥4♥6♠Q♠ for trip kings, but it was no good as Blom rolled over the K♣J♣7♠2♥ for a full house. Ship another $80,000 pot to Blom.
From there, Blom moved to the 2-7 triple draw tables to take on last year’s biggest online winner, Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker. It was a swingy match, but eventually the Swede took his German foe for $104,000.
Blom Books Another Win in Friday Action
On Friday, Feb. 7, Blom once again finished as the day’s biggest winner after profiting $235,800. About $100,000 of that came from just 12 hands of $2,000/$4,000 fixed-limit Omaha hi/lo (FLO8) against “SallyWoo.”
Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton
A little later on, which corresponded to his bust out from the 2014 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge, Blom was at the $500/$1,000 CAP PLO and NLHE tables against Tollerene and Haxton, respectively.
In one notable hand at the NLHE tables, Haxton ($57,996.75) raised to $2,200 from the button, Blom ($62,196.25) called, and the flop came down 3♥A♥9♠. Blom check-called a bet of $2,200, the 7♣ turned, and Blom check-called another bet, this time $6,500. Blom checked for a third time on the 10♥ river and then called when Haxton bet $19,100. Haxton tabled the 4♥5♠ for a missed straight draw, which meant Blom won the $60,000 pot with the 10♦9♣ for two pair.
Blom managed to take Haxton for $136,000 total, though he ended up losing $27,000 to Tollerene.
Blom Makes It Three in a Row
On Saturday, Feb. 9, Blom finished atop the leaderboard for the third day in a row, bringing his three-day total to $758,000. He did so by winning $173,300 in heads-up action at the PLO and 8-game tables.
Blom managed to win $74,000 from Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene at the $500/$1,000 CAP PLO tables in just 12 minutes, and then he went on to take Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn playing 8-game. Blom was up $170,000 at one point, but ended up winning $99,000 after the Russian staged a bit of a comeback.
Here’s a look at a notable hand from the match with Tollerene:
Where’s Phil Galfond Been this Year?
You might be asking yourself that very question seeing as Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond has been absent from the virtual felt since late last year. I decided to find out the answer and sent an email to Galfond. I received the following response:
“Due to a number of personal and business things coming up, I've been stuck in the US since Xmas, and probably will be the rest of February. I'm eager to get back on the felt as soon as I get the chance.”
So there you have it. Galfond’s been a bit busy, and it sounds like the soonest we’ll see him back at the virtual felt is March.
