The Online Railbird Report: Phil Galfond Returns; Ben Tollerene Breaks $2 Million

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Oct 12, 2012 6 min read Last updated Nov 16, 2021

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Sanremo has come to an end, and while Benny ��toweliestar�� Spindler was busy winning the �10,000 High Roller, a host of other players were busy pillaging the online high-stakes games.

Phil ��MrSweets28�� Galfond and Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom fared well, with Galfond winning $297,720 (28 sessions/3,365 hands), and Blom banking $212,280 (201 sessions/11,548 hands).

��Patpatman�� finished as the week��s biggest loser after dropping a staggering $654,593 in 6,529 hands. Joining him in the losing column was Ilari ��Ilari FIN�� Sahamies (-$264,245 in 10 sessions/941 hands) and Alex ��Kanu7�� Millar (-$227,910 in 28 sessions/2,831 hands).

Tollerene Continues to Roll; Breaks $2 Million in Profit

Last week, Ben ��Ben86�� Tollerene won $178,772 and kept the ball rolling with a $216,000 win on Thursday, Oct. 4, putting him up over $2 million in profit in just two months. His latest win came at the $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha tables where he played for three hours against Ilari ��Ilari FIN�� Sahamies, ��RaiseOnce�� and Victor ��Isildur1�� Blom, just to name a few.

In his biggest pot, action was six-handed when ��Odd_Oddsen�� ($38,683.54) opened for $828 under the gun and was called by ��The Liar�� ($69,692.82) in the hijack. Sahamies ($43,428.90) then called from the button, ��azn_baller3�� ($11,600) three-bet to $4,540 from the small blind, and Tollerene ($38,332.98) called from the big blind. ��Odd_Oddsen�� then four-bet to $20,644, ��The Liar�� and Sahamies both folded, and the ��azn_baller3�� called off for $11,600. Tollerene made the call and then check-called ��Odd_Oddsen��s�� all-in shove of $18,039.54 on the 4?J?A? flop.

The 2? on the turn gave Tollerene a flush, and the 3? river saw the $89,917 pot pushed his way.

In another hand, action was heads-up between Tollerene ($44,616) and Sahamies ($125,502) when the latter opened for $1,360 and then called when the former three-bet to $4,240. The 8?6?J? flop saw Tollerene lead out for $5,444, Sahamies raise to $24,970, and Tollerene moved all in for $40,376 total. Sahamies made the call and the cards were turned up.

Both players had flopped a set, but Tollerene��s jacks had him out in front. Neither the Q? turn nor A? river changed a thing, and Tollerene took down the $89,230 pot.

Blom is Back; Wins $511,800 after 18.5 Hours on Friday

Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom hasn��t been playing much at the high-stakes tables as of late, but when he does, he tends to put in a lot of hours. On Friday, Oct. 5, he did just that by playing for 18.5 hours and winning $511,800. He did so playing at various stakes of PLO, but the biggest pots came from the $200/$400 tables.

It was there that he won his biggest pot in a three-handed game against ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� ($121,813.85) and ��patpatman�� ($78,401.39) when the former opened for $880 on the button. The latter then three-bet to $3,280 from the small blind, Blom ($143,983.25) four-bet to $10,960 from the big, and ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� folded. ��Patpatman�� responded with a five-bet to $34,000, Blom called, and the flop fell 10?4?Q?. ��Patpatman�� wasted little time in moving all in for $44,401.40 and Blom made a quick call.

��Patpatman�� had flopped top pair and was in the lead, but Blom picked up a flush draw on the 5? turn to go with his pair of tens. No spade came on the river, but the 6? did give Blom two pair and the $157,758 pot.

Even though Blom won that hand, he did lose some pretty big ones. In the largest, action was heads-up when Blom ($127,201.22) opened for $1,200 and then called when ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� ($99,014.50) three-bet to $3,760, which brought about a 7?K?3? flop. ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� bet $5,600, Blom called, and then the 10? appeared on the turn. ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� kept the pressure on with a $14,400 bet, but this time Blom pushed back to the tune of $62,078. ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� then moved all in for $89,654.50 total and Blom made the call.

Showdown
Blom: K?J?2?6?
��1Il|1Il|1il|��: 10?10?3?3?

��1Il|1Il|1il|�� was ahead with a set of tens, and after the 4? peeled off on the river, the $198,027 pot was pushed his way.

In another notable hand, the game and players were the same when Blom ($113,304.85) opened for $1,200 and then called when ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� ($98,227.39) three-bet to $3,760, which brought about a 4?Q?9? flop. ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� was first to act and bet $5,200, Blom raised to $16,400, and ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� three-bet to $56,878. Blom responded by moving all in and ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� called off his remaining $37,509.

Showdown
Blom: Q?Q?K?7?
��1Il|1Il|1il|��: A?A?K?J?

Blom had flopped a set of queens, but ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� was drawing to the nut flush. The 2? turn completed the flush for ��1Il|1Il|1il|��, and then the 6? river failed to pair the board on the river for Blom. With that, Blom watched the $196,453 pot go to his opponent.

Galfond Returns to a $291,000 Win

Phil ��MrSweets28�� Galfond, who recently sold his sweet New York bachelor pad, was back in action on Sunday after a long absence from the high-stakes tables. He played $100/$200 PLO against Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom and Jens ��Jeans89�� Kyll?nen, and after four hours, Galfond won $291,300.

In his biggest pot, action was heads-up when Kyll?nen ($34,166.20) opened for $500 on the button and Galfond ($76,980.86) three-bet to $1,580. Not to be outdone, Kyll?nen four-bet $4,820, Galfond called, and the flop came down 9?A?10?. Galfond checked, Kyll?nen bet $9,718, and then Galfond woke up with a check-raise to $38,872. Kyll?nen called off his remaining $19,628.20 and the cards were flipped up.

Kyll?nen had flopped two pair, but Galfond held a set with the nut-flush redraw. The Q? turn gave Kyll?nen a flush draw of his own, but the 9? river paired the board and gave the $68,330 pot to Galfond.

In another hand between the two, Galfond ($168,384.20) raised to $624 on the button and Kyll?nen ($33,800.59) defended from the big. Kyll?nen check-raised Galfond��s $957 bet on the K?4?5? flop up to $2,800, a call was made, and the 2? peeled off on the turn. This time Kyll?nen led out for $5,200 and then three-bet all in for $30,376.59 after Galfond raised to $22,526. A call followed and the A? river completed the board. Kyll?nen showed K?K?10?2? for a set of kings, but the $67,599 pot was pushed to Galfond after he flipped over 6?3?8?4? for a straight.

Sulsky vs. Millar in Monday $100/$200 NLHE Action

Pot-limit Omaha dominated the weekend, but the new week kicked off with an entertaining game of $100/$200 no-limit hold��em where Ben ��Sauce123�� Sulsky squared off against Alex ��Kanu7�� Millar. The two played more than 700 hands over three hours, and Sulsky ended up relieving Millar of $114,000.

In the biggest pot the two played, Millar ($38,905.59) opened for $500 on the button and Sulsky ($51,028.40) three-bet to $1,666. Millar made the call and then bet $2,000 after Sulsky checked the 2?A?8? flop. Sulsky proceeded to check-raise to $6,111, Millar called, and the 5? turned. Millar called a bet of $9,111 from his opponent, and then called off $22,017.59 when Sulsky shoved the 10? river, which created a pot worth $77,809. Millar rolled over A?10? for two pair, but it was no good as Sulsky had flopped a set with 8?8?.

Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers

Week��s biggest winners (10/5-10/10): ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� (+$303,513), Phil ��MrSweets28�� Galfond (+$297,720), ��RaiseOnce�� (+$255,690), Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom (+$212,280), ��Odd_Oddsen�� (+$211,909)

Week��s biggest losers: ��patpatman�� (-$654,593), Ilari ��Ilari FIN�� Sahamies (-$264,245), Rui ��PepperoniF�� Cao (-$237,178), ��joiso�� (-$229,192), Alex ��Kanu7�� Millar (-$227,910)

Year-to-date winners: Ben ��Sauce123�� Sulsky (+$2,977,970), ��EireAbu�� (+$2,302,034), Ben ��Ben86�� Tollerene (+$2,274,159), Jens ��Jeans89�� Kyll?nen (+$2,249,012), Phil ��MrSweets28�� Galfond (+$2,196,270), ��bernard-bb�� (+$1,732,118), Alex ��Kanu7�� Millar (+$1,475,245)

Year-to-date losers: ��Zypherin�� (-$3,048,630), Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom (-$2,369,526), ��patpatman�� (-$1,601,336), Ilari ��Ilari FIN�� Sahamies (-$1,043,385), Benny ��toweliestar�� Spindler (-$1,008,270), Gus ��broksi�� Hansen (-$725,142)

_{Data, hands and replayer obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

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