The Online Railbird Report: Heinecker Returns with a $275,000 Win

October 04, 2014

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

The PokerStars 2014 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is in the books, and while Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz was busy winning $1.3 million, some other players were busy grinding the high-stakes online cash games over at Full Tilt Poker.

In last week’s Online Railbird Report, we told you how the high-stakes action was relatively slow — though spiced up by the Doug “WCGRider” Polk and “Denoking” feud — but this week things were a bit better. While Polk and “Denoking” were nowhere to be found, one exciting development that occurred was the return of Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker to the virtual felt.

Heinecker, who was last year’s biggest online winner, proved this week’s biggest winner after pocketing $275,554 in 1,709 hands over four sessions. Other big winners on Full Tilt Poker included Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby (+$249,770 in 9 sessions/1,260 hands), Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz (+$244,044 in 2 sessions/725 hands), and Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn (+$242,628 in 5 sessions/423 hands), while “steamraise” (+$207,919 in 10 sessions/2,887 hands) was the biggest winner on PokerStars.

On the other end of the spectrum, Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $494,150 in 1,651 hands over six sessions, while “Sanlker” was the second-biggest loser losing $343,510 in 3,324 hands over 15 sessions. On PokerStars, “PimpyLimpy” was the biggest loser after dropping $192,822 in 2,050 hands spread across 15 sessions.

Kibler-Melby Wins a Quarter Million in Half Hour

Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby finished as the week’s second-biggest winner, and that’s all thanks to a good 30-minute showing on Friday, Sept. 26. It took Kibler-Melby just 82 hands of $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw to take “Sanlker” for $250,000 – an average of $3,048.78 profit per hand.

Fortunately for “Sanlker,” he was able to mitigate some of his losses when he won $128,000 from Sebastian “taktloss47” Ruthenberg in a two-hour session later in the afternoon.

The only other six-figure winner on Friday was Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz, who won $189,700 off Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius at the 8-Game tables. According to HighStakesDB, the duo played for 4.5 hours and Thuritz was actually up $300,000 at one point. Antonius got some back, and then mitigated his own losses by winning $111,200 from Dan “jungleman12” Cates later in the day.

Kostritsyn Banks $236,000 Playing 8-Game

The Online Railbird Report: Heinecker Returns with a 5,000 Win 101 — Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn

Over the weekend, Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn won $236,000 at the 8-Game tables. It was there that he played 218 hands of heads-up poker against Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius, who he took for most of his profit Eventually Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz got in the game, and he managed to win $54,300 in just 35 hands.

Here’s a look at a few of Kostritsyn’s winnings hands from the match:

Hand #1: In a round of $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha, Antonius ($60,897.50) opened for $1,800 and Kostritsyn ($65,086) called to see a flop of 10♣9♦4♦. Kostritsyn check-called a bet of $2,400, and then check-called one of $7,200 on the K♣ turn.

When the J♣ completed the board on the river, Kostritsyn led out for $7,600 and Antonius called. Kostritsyn revealed the A♥Q♦5♦9♣ for a Broadway straight, and it was good enough to win the $38,000 pot as Antonius sent his cards to the muck.

Hand #2: In a $750/$1,500 round of limit hold’em, Kostritsyn ($241,996.75) raised to $3,000 and Antonius ($48,096.75) called, which brought about a flop of 7♥Q♣4♥. Antonius checked, Kostritsyn bet $1,500, and the Finn check-raised to $3,000. Kostritsyn called and then raised to $6,000 after Antonius led out for $3,000 on the A♦ turn.

Not to be outdone, Antonius three-bet to $9,000, Kostritsyn called, and the 10♠ completed the board on the river. Antonius led out for another $3,000, and then called when Kostritsyn raised to $6,000. Kostritsyn tabled the A♣10♣ for two pair, and it took down the $42,000 pot after Antonius mucked his cards.

Hand #3:

Heinecker Returns to the High-Stakes Tables

In 2013, no one won more money playing online poker than Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker, who profited $6,190,599 over 65,577 hands. It was an impressive performance, but it must have taken its toll on the German superstar as he essentially disappeared from the virtual felt in 2014.

That changed on Monday, September 29 when he sat down at some 2-7 triple draw tables and promptly won $200,000 from “Sanlker” in just two hours. “Sanlker” actually pulled out to a $172,000 lead within 20 minutes, but then Heinecker hit an upswing. Before long, “Sanlker” was down $110,000. The two battled back and forth a bit more, but eventually Heinecker walked away a $199,900 winner.

Two days later, the two were back at it and Heinecker picked up right where he left off, taking $103,900 from “Sanlker.” The two played for 90 minutes during which time “Sanlker” pulled out to an early lead of $115,000. However, just like he’d done on Monday, Heinecker mounted a comeback and managed to finish in the black.

Bonus Hand of the Week

On Monday, September 29, “steamraise” was the biggest winner on PokerStars with $164,600 in profit, all of which came from two tables of $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha against “PimpyLimpy.” The two played for six hours, during which time many big pots occurred. Here’s a look at one:

Biggest Winners/Losers from Sept. 26-Oct. 1

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker	$275,554	Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$494,150
Cort “thecortster” Kibler-Melby	$249,770	“Sanlker”	$343,510
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$244,044	“PimpyLimpy”	$192,822
Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn	$242,628	Sebastian “taktloss47” Ruthenberg	$128,000
“steamraise”	$207,919	Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$111,352

Year's Biggest Winners/Losers

Winners	Profit	Losers	Loss
Dan “jungleman12” Cates	$2,809,789	Gus Hansen	$5,522,853
Mikael “punting-peddler” Thuritz	$2,282,330	Phil “Polarizing” Ivey	$2,276,313
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius	$1,757,199	Viktor “Isildur1” Blom	$1,518,948
Isaac “luntheWNBA” Haxton	$1,299,576	Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion	$1,138,089
Doug “WCGRider” Polk	$1,016,390	Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond	$1,082,089
Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang	$663,177	Paul “MalACEsia” Phua	$823,325