The inevitable has happened. Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, who has been online poker’s biggest weekly winner more times than not this year, finally had a losing week. The Swede actually finished as the week’s biggest loser after dropping $362,608 in 1,040 hands over eight sessions. Even so, he is still 2014’s biggest winner with $1,848,109 in profit.
Likewise, both Ola “no_Ola” Amundsgard and Gus Hansen had losing weeks on Full Tilt Poker. Amundsgard was the week’s second-biggest loser after dropping $229,724 in 2,698 hands over 22 sessions, while Hansen, down more than $1,500,000 million in 2014, lost $158,789 in 3,121 hands over 38 sessions. Over on PokerStars, Doug “WGC|Rider” Polk was the site’s biggest loser down $161,552 on the week.
As far as the winners were concerned, Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene topped the list with $271,731 in profit from 1,345 hands over 13 sessions. Others who finished in the black were Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (+$171,270 in 10 sessions/1,587 hands) and “kagome kagome” (+$148,698 in 1 sessions/78 hands) on Full Tilt Poker, and “wilhasha” (+$156,372 in 9 sessions/1,825 hands) on PokerStars.
Polk Analyzes Monster Pot Against Blom
Last October, Doug “WGCRider” Polk played a memorable $400/$800 no-limit hold’em game against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom in which the duo played one of the biggest pots of 2013. Polk actually lost $1.2 million in the match, and last Friday he relived the pain by analyzing the aforementioned hand in the Full Tilt Poker Blog.
“We all have tough days and we all have tough spots,” Polk said in the post. “But it’s important, regardless of whether your main game is 5c/10c or you’re a nosebleed regular, that you maintain your composure and do some hand reading. At the end of the day, you have to make reads on your opponent. Isn’t that what poker is all about?”
On Sunday, Feb. 16, Blom returned to the nosebleed and played an early morning session of $500/$1,000 CAP pot-limit Omaha against Tollerene. Over the course of two hours, Tollerene managed to relieve Blom of $222,600 at two tables. Here’s a look at a few capped pots from that match.
Ben \"Bttech86\" Tollerene
Hand #1: Over at table “Soda Ash,” Blom ($100,943) opened for $2,000 on the button only to have Tollerene ($59,030) three-bet to $6,000. Blom called, the flop fell 3♣K♣10♥, and Tollerene led out for $6,000. Blom responded with a huge raise to $30,000, and then called when Tollerene capped it at $34,000.
Blom: 2♥3♠5♣Q♣
Tollerene: K♥10♠J♠9♣
Tollerene was ahead with top two pair and a gutshot straight draw, but Blom was drawing live to a flush. The two ran it twice, and on the first run Tollerene improved to a straight when the Q♦ turned. Unfortunately for him, the 7♣ spiked on the river to give Blom a flush and half the pot.
On the second run, the K♠ peeled off on the turn to give Tollerene a full house, and after the 2♠ was put out on the river, he was pushed the other half of the pot. Chop it up.
Hand #2: On table “Mordor,” Blom ($58,3318.50) opened for $2,000 and then called when Tollerene ($141,639) three-bet to $6,000, which brought about a flop of 5♣10♠3♣. Tollerene led out for $12,000, Blom capped it with a raise to $34,000, and Tollerene wasted little time in making the call.
Blom: J♣10♣9♥4♥
Tollerene: A♠A♥2♥9♠
Blom flopped top pair, but it was still behind the aces of Tollerene. The turn and river were run twice, but neither the 5♥Q♦ on the first nor 6♦3♦ on the second helped the Swede. Tollerene’s hand held and he took down the $80,000 pot.
Hand #3:
Daniel “FakeSky” Alaei Walks Away as Tuesday’s Biggest Winner
Tuesday kicked off with Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene returning to the $500/$1,000 CAP PLO tables. The two only played for 37 minutes, but during that time Blom managed to win $70,000. It would have been a lot more had it not been for Tollerene winning back-to-back capped pots.
Daniel “FakeSky” Alaei
In one of them, Blom ($207,357) opened for $3,000 only to have Tollerene ($84,114.50) three-bet to $6,000. Blom pushed back with a four-bet to $24,000 and then called Tollerene’s five-bet to $40,000, which capped the pot at $80,000.
Blom: A♣2♣K♠Q♠
Tollerene: A♠9♠K♥8♦
The two decided to run the board twice, and as fate would have it Tollerene would win both as the boards ran out 3♥J♥5♣8♠9♣ and 7♣9♦7♠6♥4♦ respectively.
Blom then moved over to the 8-Game tables to take on Daniel “FakeSky” Alaei, who was making a rare appearance at the virtual felt. The two played for 20 minutes, and during that time Blom lost $111,000 in 111 hands. The win allowed Alaei to finish as Tuesday’s biggest winner with $111,800 in profit. Not too shabby for 20 minutes of work.
“wilhasha” Wins $153,800 in Wednesday Action on PokerStars
On Wednesday, Feb. 19, the high-stakes action was concentrated on PokerStars at the $50/$100 and $100/$200 no-limit hold’em tables. It was there that “wilhasha” put in two separate sessions.
In the first, “wilhasha” squared off against “Ra1syDa1sy” at three tables of $50/$100. The two played for approximately an hour, and during that time “wilhasha” banked $62,000.
Later that evening, “wilhasha” took a seat at the $100/$200 tables against “OtB_RedBaron” and “yurasov1990.” In 105 minutes, “wilhasha” managed to add an additional $91,500 to his bankroll. “OtB_RedBaron” and “yurasov1990” lost $33,000 and $57,000 respectively.
Here’s a look at one of the more notable hands from the $100/$200 game:
Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)
Week's Biggest Winners (2/14-2/20): Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$271,731), Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (+$171,270), “wilhasha”* (+$156,372), “kagome kagome” (+$148,698)
Week's Biggest Losers (2/14-2/20):) Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$362,608), Ola “no_Ola” Amundsgard (-$229,724), Doug “WGC|Rider” Polk* (-$161,552), Gus Hansen (-$158,789)
Year's Biggest Winners: Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (+$1,848,109), Ben "Bttech86" Tollerene (+$1,594,809), Doug "WCGRider" Polk (+$680,725), "mikki696" (+$591,906), “yurasov1990”* (+$308,563), Dan "jungleman12" Cates (+$286,592), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies* (+$284,102), Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton (+$257,472)
Year's Biggest Losers: Gus Hansen (-$1,527,890), Alex "IReadYrSoul" Millar (-$671,355), "Sanlker" (-$362,743), Patrik "FinddaGrind" Antonius (-$303,590), “tyme2gamb0|111” (-$287,479), Ola “no_Ola” Amundsgard (-$251,492)
