The Online Railbird Report: Brian "$tinger 88" Hastings Returns with $379,000 Win
With PokerStars�� 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker well under way and the World Series of Poker right around the corner, one might expect the online high-stakes cash games to take a back seat. Although that may be the case in a couple of weeks, nothing was further from the truth this week as hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands.
The week��s biggest beneficiary was a man we haven��t written too much about this year �� Brian ��$tinger 88�� Hastings, who won $379,976 in a modest 3,844 hands spread across 55 sessions. That was more than $100,000 more than the next two biggest winners, ��patpatman�� and Chris ��Genius28�� Lee, who won $257,662 (26 sessions/2,076 hands) and $241,245 (99 sessions/8,764 hands) respectively.
Of course, where there are winners there are also losers as ��doncarignano�� can attest. He was the week��s biggest loser, dropping $208,081 in 3,392 hands across 94 sessions. Not far behind was ��!P0krparty?,�� whose hot streak we told you about last week came to end as he lost $198,110 (152 sessions.13,452 hands), and Andrew ��Kanu7�� Millar, who gave away $133,954 in just 1,400 hands over 25 sessions.
Lee Wins Big on Monday While Sahamies Loses Two Big Pots
On Monday, WSOP bracelet winner Chris ��Genius28�� Lee played an early morning session at the $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha tables and pretty much won against every opponent he played. In less than five hours, he won $155,000 and became the day��s biggest winner.
In one of Lee��s ($46,613.90) most notable hands, action was six handed at a $50/$100 PLO table when ��LUFCBas�� ($78,566.36) opened for $300 under the gun and cleared the field all the way to ��YoussefAhmed�� ($11,725) in the small blind. After he made the call, Lee decided to three-bet to $1,320 from the big, prompting a call from ��LUFCBas.�� After ��YoussefAhmed�� got out of the way, the flop fell 9?10?7? and Lee fired out $2,000.
��LUFCBas�� wasted little time in bumping it up to $5,450, Lee called, and then the latter then check-called a bet of $7,775 on the 5? turn before leading out for $24,000 on the 5? river. ��LUFCBas�� made the call but mucked when Lee rolled over 10?10?A?A? for tens full and the $77,505 pot was sent in Lee's direction.
Lee��s profit was more than twice the amount of the day��s second and third biggest winners, Gabriel ��verve.oasis�� Goffi (+$77,000) and Ilari ��Ilari FIN�� Sahamies (+$75,000). Sahamies was mixing it up at the $100/$200 and $200/$400 PLO tables and became entangled in two of the biggest pots we��ve seen as of late.
In the first, which happened at a heads-up $100/$200 table, Sahamies ($228,876.30) opened for $680 on the button and ��Phisherman36�� ($151,956) three-bet to $2,120 from the big blind. After a call, the flop came out 6?7?Q? and ��Phisherman36�� fired out $3,600, which Sahamies also called.
When the 7? peeled off on the turn, ��Phisherman36�� bet $7,400, Sahamies raised to $33,718 and the former called, bringing about the 9? on the river. ��Phisherman36�� ended up check-calling a bet of $65,100 with 6?6?4?4? for sixes full of sevens, which was good enough to take down the $209,154 pot after Sahamies revealed the mediocre Q?9?10?4?.
In the other hand, which was played at the same stakes and between the same players, Sahamies ($309,070.29) once again opened for $680 on the button and ��Phisherman36�� ($71,814) three-bet to $2,120; however, instead of just calling this time Sahamies put in a four-bet to $3,560. ��Phisherman36�� made the call and then proceeded to check-call a bet of $5,400 on the 2?A?6? flop. The 5? turn saw ��Phisherman36�� check again, opening the door for Sahamies to fire out $11,800. This time ��Phisherman36�� opted for a check-raise to $53,398, Sahamies three-bet and ��Phisherman36�� called off his remaining $9,456.
Showdown
| Sahamies | 9?9?5?5? |
| ��Phisherman36�� | K?K?7?3? |
The turn had given Sahamies the lead with a set of fives, but to win he needed to dodge ��Phisherman36��s�� outs on the river, which included both straight and flush draws. Much to Sahamies' dismay, he couldn��t do it as the 9? spiked to give ��Phisherman36�� the king-high flush and the $143,626 pot.
Tuesday Belongs to Hastings and ��patpatman��
On Monday, Brian ��$tinger 88�� Hastings lost $83,000. On Tuesday, Hastings returned to the virtual felt and erased that loss by banking an impressive $292,000 �� enough to make him the day��s biggest winner. Much of that came at the $50/$100 PLO tables at the expense of ��Phisherman36,�� who finished as the biggest loser after dropping $186,000.
Also in action was ��patpatman," who finished as the day��s second biggest winner with $229,000 in profit. That came in some no-limit hold��em action against Alex ��Kanu7�� Millar and Daniel ��w00ki3z�� Cates, who dropped $136,000 and $84,000 respectively.
In one hand, action was three-handed when ��patpatman�� ($254,093.06) opened for $800 on the button and Cates ($92,940.63) three-bet $3,200 from the small blind. After Millar folded from the big, ��patpatman�� called and the flop came down 8?6?5?. Cates led out for $4,800, ��patpatman�� raised to $11,800, Cates called and the 10? turned.
At that point, Cates ended up check-raising all-in over ��patpatman��s�� $18,800 bet, and the latter called.
Showdown
| ��patpatman�� | 9?7? |
| Cates | 10?10? |
Cates turned top set only to find himself behind the flopped straight of ��patpatman.�� The 4? river was of no consequence and ��patpatman�� took down the $186,276 pot.
Not long after, ��patpatman�� took down another sizable pot. It happened when Cates ($77,952.50) opened for $800 on the button, Millar ($84,980) called from the small blind, and ��patpatman�� ($91,340.19) three-bet to $3,600 from the big. Both his opponents made the call and then Millar checked the 8?8?9? flop, opening the door for ��patpatman�� to bet $4,000. From there, Cates decided on a raise to $10,400, Millar folded and ��patpatman�� made it $17,800 to go. Cates made the call and then fired out $14,800 when ��patpatman�� checked the Q? turn. The latter quickly check-raised all-in and Cates called off his remaining $41,752.50.
Showdown
| ��patpatman�� | A?J? |
| Cates | 8?6? |
Cates had flopped trips and was well out in front, but that changed when the 10? spiked on the river to give ��patpatman�� a straight and the $159,500 pot.
Feel the $ting of Hastings
Brian ��$tinger 88�� Hastings returned to action on Wednesday and picked up right where he left off the day before, winning $145,000 and becoming the biggest winner for the second day in a row. He did so in a short session of $100/$200 PLO, which happened to include Ben ��Sauce123�� Sulsky. Surprisingly, the year��s biggest winner didn��t add to his total but reduced it by $169,000, enough to make him the day��s biggest loser.
Even though he lost, Sulsky managed to win one of the day��s most interesting hands. It happened when action was three-handed and Hastings ($80,242.24) opened for $500 on the button. The small blind got out of the way and Sulsky ($58,326.50) exercised his option in the big blind by three-betting $1,720. Hastings made the call and then bet $2,000 after Sulsky checked the 2?K?3? flop. The latter woke up with a check-raise to $7,358.50, Hastings called and the K? appeared on the turn. Again Sulsky opted for a check-raise, making Hastings�� $6,800 bet $17,600 to go. Instead of just calling, Hastings pushed back to the tune of $35,200, which inspired Sulsky to four-bet $56,800. Another raise and call saw Sulsky��s stack in the middle and the cards on their back:
Showdown
| Sulsky | K?K?J?7? |
| Hastings | 9?8?5?2? |
Sulsky had flopped top set and improved to quads on the turn, which meant Hastings was drawing dead headed into the 10? river. Sulsky raked in the $116,788 pot.
Interestingly, Hastings lost another big pot a short time later. In that hand, Hastings ($134,313.25) opened for $600, Sulsky ($50,500) called from the small blind, and ��patpatman�� ($57,883.58) three-bet to $2,520 from the big. Hastings then four-bet $8,880, Sulsky folded and ��patpatman�� made the call, bringing about a flop of 7?10?6?.
��patpatman�� was first to act and didn��t hesitate to lead out for $10,200, which Hastings quickly raised to $47,875. ��patpatman�� responded by moving all-in for $49,563.58 and Hastings called the additional $1,128.57.
Showdown
| ��patpatman�� | Q?Q?6?6? |
| Hastings | J?5?4?3? |
Hastings held a flush draw and an open-ended straight draw, and needed to hit to overcome ��patpatman's�� bottom set. The 10? turn put an end to any suspense as it improved ��patpatman�� to a full house and left Hastings drawing dead. After the meaningless J? was put out on the river, ��patpatman�� was pushed the $116,402 pot.
Despite losing the two aforementioned hands, Hastings finished atop the day��s leaderboard and went on to become the week��s biggest winner.
Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers
Week��s biggest winners (5/11-5/17): Brian ��$tinger 88�� Hastings (+$379,976), ��patpatman�� (+$257,662), Chris ��Genius28�� Lee (+$241,245), Gabriel ��verve.oasis�� Goffi (+$193,904), Ignat ��0Human0�� Liviu (+$169,488), Terje ��Terken89�� Augdal (+$147,747)
Week��s biggest losers: ��doncarignano�� (-$208,081), ��!P0krparty?�� (-$198,110), ��Phisherman36�� (-$167,059), Andrew ��Kanu7�� Millar (-$133,954), ��YoussefAhmed�� (-$125,371), Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom (-$120,828)
Ben ��Ben86�� Tollerene (-$336,031), ��Tsubi87�� (-$250,516), Benny ��toweliestar�� Spindler (-$220,829), Randy ��nanonoko�� Lew (-$192,339), Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom (-$181,068)
Year-to-date winners: Ben ��Sauce123�� Sulsky (+$1,714,587), ��EireAbu�� (+$1,680,930), ��bernard-bb�� (+$1,249,368), Jens ��Jeans89�� Kyll?nen (+$1,123,713), Phil ��MrSweets�� Galfond (+$1,029,005)
Year-to-date losers: ��Zypherin�� (-$1,869,000), Viktor ��Isildur1�� Blom (-$1,125,871), Ilari ��Ilari FIN�� Sahamies (-$839,722), ��1Il|1Il|1il|�� (-$754,060), Benny�� toweliestar�� Spindler (-$704,534)
Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com
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