The Online Railbird Report: Sahamies and South Lead the Pack
Slowly but surely, the nosebleed-stakes action is picking up again as regulars like Cole South, Brian Townsend, and Tom ��durrrr�� Dwan dip their toes back in the waters at $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha. This week saw a significant uptick in the number of six-figure pots, one monsterpotten even topping $600,000, a feat not seen since the ��Isildur1�� days. Dwan continued his long grind back to the top of the cash game heap while Ilari ��Ziigmund�� Sahamies led the week in profits, scooping up over $884,000.
Dwan Dominates at $100/$200 PLO
Dwan has certainly taken his licks at the online tables as of late, but on Sunday night, he booked a six-figure win, pulling in over $145,000 after a more than 500-hand session of pot-limit Omaha. Dwan spent most of the evening playing six-handed $100/$200 PLO with Townsend, South, Di ��Urindanger�� Dang, Ashton ��theASHMAN103�� Griffin and an unknown French player called ��matatuk.�� Dwan and Griffin were the big winners in that particular game, raking in $155,000 and $156,000 respectively. South dropped $109,000 but the night��s ��Filet-o-Fish�� title belonged to matatuk, who shed over $200,000.
After finishing up at $100/$200, Dwan popped over to a $500/$1,000 cap PLO table and played 37 hands, losing $10,000 before quitting for the night.
The night��s largest pot was a 720 big blind behemoth at the $100/$200 tables. Townsend opened for $880 from under-the-gun and the action folded to Dwan who three-bet to $3,120 from the button. Matatuk flat-called from the big blind and Townsend called as well. Matatuk and Townsend checked the K?9?6? flop over to Dwan who bet $7,200. Matatuk folded, but Townsend came in with a raise to $31,240. Dwan moved all-in for $67,576 and Townsend called, having flopped a wrap draw with A?10?8?7?. Dwan had top two pair with K?9?7?5?, the turn and river blanking with the 4? and the 3? to give him the $144,642 pot.
Pot of the Week �� South Scoops up $600K
This week, railbirds saw South take down the largest online pot recorded since "Isildur1" left the high-stakes scene. Playing five-handed $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha, South opened for $1,800 from under-the-gun and was met with a reraise to $6,800 from Sahamies, the player on his immediate left. Richard Ashby flat-called the three-bet from the button, only to have Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro move all-in for $25,298 from the small blind. Rafi "howisitfeellike" Amit folded his big blind, South called the four-bet, and the action moved back on Sahamies, who repotted to $107,892. The raise shook Ashby, who mucked his hand, but South made the call and the pot grew to $248,982.
The flop came down 10?5?2? and South immediately made a pot-sized bet that set Sahamies all-in for his remaining $176,600. "Ziigmund" made the call and unsurprisingly turned up pocket aces. South held top pair while Kelopuro missed entirely.
Sahamies: A?A?K?7?
South: 10?8?7?6?
Kelopuro: A?K?6?5?
South proceeded to turn two pair and river a full house, the 8? and 8? falling to snap off Sahamies' aces, South earning the $601,882 pot.
Short Sessions Yield Huge Profits for Sahamies
Despite finding himself on the losing end of the biggest pot played in 2010, Sahamies still managed to earn close to a million dollars this week. He didn��t put in much volume �� 1,812 hands spread out over 60 sessions �� but the Finn stacked up $884,330 in winnings, much of it from the PLO tables.
On a per-hand basis, Sahamies�� most profitable session was a hit-and-run appearance at $300/$600 PLO where he sat with South and ��rezzydezzy1�� for all of five hands. Sahamies claimed rezzydezzy1��s entire stack on the third hand of play before adjourning to a heads-up table with South, $77,000 of profit already in his account. South and Sahamies battled it out for 50 minutes, Sahamies picking up another $66,000 to bring his total for the hour to $143,000.
Sahamies was back in action on Friday, and both South and rezzydezzy1 rejoined him at the $300/$600 PLO tables. It only took Sahamies 251 hands to book a $202,000 win, much of that coming from being on the winning hand of the session��s two largest pots.
Playing three-handed, Sahamies opened for $2,400 from the button, South folded the small blind, and rezzydezzy1 three-bet to $4,200 from the big blind. Sahamies called and they saw a Q?J?6? flop. Both players checked and the 2? peeled off on the turn. Rezzydezzy1 bet $3,600, Sahamies raised to $19,800, rezzydezzy1 moved all in for his remaining $71,564 and Sahamies made the call, having him covered. As the cards went on their backs, rezzydezzy1 got the bad news; his A?A?10?7? was snapped off by Sahamies, who flopped top two pair with Q?10?6?2?. Only an ace, a jack, or a heart could help rezzydezzy1, but he didn��t get there, the 5? falling on the river to send the $144,927 pot over to Sahamies.
The largest pot of the night came in at nearly $239,000. South opened for $1,800 from the button and ignited a preflop raising war, Sahamies reraising to $5,400, South four-betting to $16,200, Sahamies coming back over the top for $48,600 and South making the call. The rest of their chips went in on theJ?8?3? flop, Sahamies moving all-in for $70,800 and South making the call.
South: K?Q?J?6?
Sahamies: A?K?Q?10?
South hit top pair while Sahamies all but missed, flopping only a gut shot straight draw. Sahamies hit his gin card on the turn, however, the 9? falling out of the clear blue sky to make him a queen-high straight. The river was the J? and thanks to the poker gods, Sahamies raked in $238,800
Who's Up? Who's Down?
This week's biggest winners (1/18-1/24): Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies (+$884,000), David Oppenheim (+ $786,000), Di "Urindanger" Dang (+$587,000), Cole South (+$513,000), Gus Hansen (+$447,000)
In the red: "PixKim" (-$669,000), Richard Ashby (-$639,000), Tom "durrrr" Dwan (-$510,000), Brian Hastings (-$482,000), "Vaga_Lion" (-$398,000)
Top high-stakes earners, 2010 to date: Gus Hansen (+$1,253,000), Di "Urindanger" Dang (+$1,013,000), Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies (+$988,000)
The highest-stakes action on the internet all unfolds on Full Tilt Poker. Open an account today and see for yourself.
