Online Railbird Report: Cates Big Winner Over Last 2 Weeks; Ivey's Slide Continues
After a break during the Thanksgiving holiday, the Online Railbird Report, is back to take a look at the biggest winners and losers from PokerStars' high-stakes cash games.
Less than a month remains in 2015, and it seems Viktor "Isildur1" Blom has biggest winner of the year honors all but locked up. Despite being down $$1,367,244 on Full Tilt, the Swede is up $3,538,928 on PokerStars, well ahead of both "bbvisbadforme" (+$965,770) and Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen (+$883,444), who round out the top three on the leaderboard.
At the other end of the spectrum, Phil Ivey is bound to be the year's biggest loser down $2,481,266 and $1,250,806 on PokerStars and Full Tilt respectively.
As for the period between the last Online Railbird and this one (November 19 – December 2), Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates finished as the biggest winner with $271,805 in profit from 6,028 hands over 39 sessions, while Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky was second with $149,646 in 3,433 hands over 31 sessions.
Meanwhile, Patrik "Fake Love888" Antonius was the biggest loser after dropping $102,351 in 399 hands over four sessions, while Ivey was right behind, down $100,253 in 1,119 hands over eight sessions.
Cates Finishes As Week's Biggest Winner
According to HighStakesDB, Cates won $59,300 playing 8-Gameon Monday, November 23, while this past Sunday he won $28,900 playing pot-limit Omaha against Sulsky and Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies.
Since then, Cates has continued to grind the PLO tables, and even played several large pots in today's early morning hours. Here's a look at a few of them.
Hand #1: In a heads-up match against "fjutekk" ($13,426), Cates ($50,214) opened for $300 on the button and then called when his opponent three-bet to $900. Cates called, the flop came down 9♠3♠6♦, and "fjutekk" led out for $1,100. Cates called, and then called a bet of $2,200 on the 3♥ turn.
When the 7♦ completed the board on the river, "fjutekk" checked and then called when Cates bet $6,800. Cates rolled over the 6♥6♣8♠5♥ for sixes full, and it was good enough to win the $22,000 pot as "fjutekk" mucked.
Hand #2: "fjutekk" ($43,317) opened for $267 only to have Cates three-bet to $801. Not to be outdone, "fjutekk" popped it to $2,403, Cates called, and the flop fell 6♦8♣10♣. Cates led out for $4,804, and then called off for $7,710 total after "fjutekk" had raised to $14,900.
Cates: 8♦6♥J♥Q♦
"fjutekk": A♣K♥K♠J♠
Cates flopped two pair with a straight draw, while "fjutekk" went with his kings. The two agreed to run it twice, and "fjutekk" locked up half the pot when the turn and river came running deuces to give him a bigger two pair. On the second, the J♣ appeared on the turn followed by the 3♥ on the river. Cates secured the other half with jacks and eights, which meant the two chopped the $20,226 pot.
Hand #3: "fjutekk" ($44,064) opened for $267 and then called when Cates ($9,362) three-bet to $801, which brought about a 3♠10♦8♦ flop. Cates led out for $800, "fjutekk" raised to $4,000, and Cates moved all in for $8,561 total. "fjutekk" called and the cards were turned up.
"fjutekk": A♥J♥9♣10♣
Cates: 10♥10♠4♥6♦
Cates flopped top set, but "fjutekk" was drawing to an open-ended straight draw. The turn and river were run twice, but neither the 6♣K♥ on the first nor 4♠K♠ flop helped "fjutekk," who watched the $18,724 pot pushed to Cates.
Sulsky Finishes as Tuesday's Biggest Winner
On Tuesday, November 24, Sulsky finished atop the daily leaderboard after winning $110,800 playing a mix of 2-7 triple draw and 8-game. According to HighStakesDB, he kicked things off by taking Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov for $33,300 in 32 minutes of $400/$800 8-game, and followed that up with a $556,00 win in 65 hands of $100/$200 2-7 triple draw against Ronny "1-ronnyr3" Kaiser.
Sulsky also won $1,700 in a short $200/$400 8-game session against Luke "lb6121" Schwartz, before the two switched to $300/$600 2-7 triple draw, where Sulsky won $20,200 in a mere 14 minutes.
The Biggest Pot of December Thus Far
Granted, it's only four days into the month, but we still thought it'd be worth sharing the biggest pot of December thus far, a robust $104,564 pot that went to Sulsky, who was playing a four-handed game of $100/$200 PLO earlier today.
It began when "Aron0621" ($41,420) opened for $600 under the gun and Sulsky ($50,005.85) called from the small blind. "F1nntroll" ($21,564.15) then three-bet to $2,560 from the big, both his opponents called, and the flop came down 4♠10♦7♥. Sulsky checked, "F1nntroll" bet $7,835, and "Aron0621" called. Sulsky then check-raised to $39,175, "F1nntroll" called off for $11,169.15 total, and "Aron0621" called off for $38,860.
Sulsky: 7♣7♠8♦6♠
"Aron0621": A♥Q♥10♥9♦
"F1nntroll": A♣A♠J♥8♠
Sulsky flopped a set, and it held even after two runs as the 2♣6♥ blanked on the first, followed by the 2♦J♣ on the second. Ship the $104,524.15 pot to Sulsky.
Biggest Winners/Losers from November 19 – December 2
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates | $271,805 |
Patrik "Fake Love888" Antonius | $102,351 | |
|
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $149,646 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $100,253 | |
|
"Educa-p0ker" | $73,653 |
"MagicDeal" | $62,446 | |
|
Phil "takechip" D'Auteuil | $44,252 |
"candela2005" | $62,463 |
Year's Biggest Winners/Losers
| Winners | Profit | Losers | Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $3,538,928 |
Phil "RaiseOnce" Ivey | $2,481,266 | |
 "bbvisbadforme" | $965,770 |
Viktor "Isildur1" Blom | $1,367,244 | |
|
Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen | $883,444 |
Phil "Polarizing" Ivey | $1,250,806 | |
|
Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky | $743,015 |
Jean-Robert "Jaqueline" Bellande | $952,903 | |
|
Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky | $400,373 |
"Sanlker" | $910,746 | |
|
Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton | $341,519 |
"8superpoker" | $751,674 | |
|
Mikael "punting-peddler" Thuritz | $286,772 |
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz | $711,850 |
Data, hands, and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
