The Online Railbird Report: Ilari Sahamies' Heater Continues; Wins $1.1 Million

Copy link Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Nov 02, 2012 6 min read Last updated Nov 16, 2021

The PokerStars high-stakes cash games have been dominated by one man this week — Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies. The Finn won a robust $803,468 last week, and he followed that up with a $1.1 million win in the last six days of October. That made him far and away the week’s biggest winner and allowed him to dig out of a $1.5 million hole just a few weeks ago. In fact, Sahamies is now making another late-year push toward becoming the biggest online winner of the year, a title he captured in 2011.

Sahamies played 7,431 hands over 83 sessions and won $1,134,615, which was more than three times the total of the next biggest winner, Jens “Jeans89” Kyll?nen, who profited $331,890 in 7,115 hands over 93 sessions. Other winners included “patpatman” (+$264,907 in 20 sessions/2,420 hands), Andreas “Skjerv?y” Torbergsen (+$209,409 in 116 sessions/5,157 hands) and Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$203,597 in 53 sessions/6,016 hands).

On the flip side, Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond made a rare appearance on the loser’s list after dropping $615,921 in 4,523 hands over 19 sessions. Other losers included “Zypherin” (-$350,658 in 6 sessions/1,791 hands), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (-$275,667 in 31 sessions/3,324 hands), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$233,049 in 94 sessions/6,483 hands) and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$180,768 in 38 sessions/1,467 hands).

Sahamies Cleans House on Thursday

On Thursday, Oct. 25, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies got off to a bad start by dropping $170K playing $100/$200 heads-up pot-limit Omaha against Andreas “Skjerv?y” Torbergsen. However, he was able to recoup those losses and then some later in the evening playing $200/$400 PLO against high-stakes regulars like Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Jens “Jeans89” Kyll?nen and “1Il|1Il|1il|”.

In the biggest pot the Finn won, action was six-handed when “Axelf82” ($54,798) opened for $1,200 on the button, Sahamies ($197,373.77) three-bet to $4,480 from the small blind, and Blom ($97,411,25) four-bet to $15,120 from the big. “Axelf82” folded and then Blom called before check-calling a bet of $31,915 on the 10?3?6? flop. When the 10? hit the turn, Sahamies checked, Blom moved all in for $50,376.26, and the Finn called to put the Swede at risk.

Blom held queens and tens, but it was far behind the trip tens of Sahamies. The 4? changed nothing on the river, and the $196,338 pot was pushed to Sahamies.

While that pot was big, the biggest of the day went to Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky. In that hand, four players were in action when Sahamies ($261,617.25) opened for $1,720 under the gun only to have Sulsky ($108,745.75) three-bet to $5,680 from the big blind. Sahamies responded with a four-bet to $19,280, Sulsky called, and the flop fell 5?9?10?. Sulsky led out for $35,635 and then called off his remaining $53,830.75 after Sahamies put him all in.

Both players had a little something, but it’d be the 6? on the turn that’d give Sulsky the nut flush. The meaningless 6? was put out on the river for good measure, and Sulsky took down the $217,847 pot.

Sahamies Wins Another $777,500 on Saturday

As if things couldn’t go better for Sahamies, he continued to roll right on into the weekend. During the early-morning hours Saturday, Sahamies took on Jens “Jeans89” Kyll?nen and Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, struggling against Kyll?nen but putting a hurt on Galfond.

In one hand, Sahamies ($105,058) was playing heads-up against Kyll?nen ($113,435) when both put in $1,000 preflop, bringing about a 3?6?5? flop. Sahamies checked, Kyll?nen bet $1,618.50, and the Finn check-raised to $7,013.50. Kyll?nen opted to push back to $17,600, Sahamies called, and the 2? fell on the turn. Sahamies ended up check-calling a bet of $26,000 and then moved all in for $60,458 when the 9? peeled off on the river. Kyll?nen called and tabled 4?7?8?K? for a flopped straight, which was good enough to win the $210,114 pot against the 6?6?A?J? of Sahamies. Kyll?nen went on to win $232.1K on the day.

In another hand, Sahamies ($100,000) was playing heads-up against Galfond ($167,931) when he opened for $1,360 from the small blind. Galfond pushed back from the big with a three-bet to $4,240, Sahamies four-bet to $12,880, Galfond called, and the flop came down 7?J?A?. Galfond proceeded to check-call a bet of $14,800 and then led out for $55,518 on the 3? turn. Sahamies moved all in for $72,320, Galfond called the additional $16,802, and the cards were turned up.

Galfond had flopped two pair, but was behind Sahamies’ set of jacks. The 10? river was a dud, and Sahamies won the $200,000 pot.

As the day wore on, Sahamies won another $268K playing six-max games before resting for ten hours and returning to the $200/$400 PLO tables. It was there that he started off losing $300K before hitting a heater and recouping those losses plus $200K in profit.

Sahamies ($324,241) was playing a three-handed game against “patpatman” ($111,634) and Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky ($12,508) when a big hand developed. Sulsky folded the button, Sahamies raised to $1,440 from the small blind, and “patpatman” three-bet to $4,560 from the big. Not to be outdone, Sahamies four-bet to $13,920, “patpatman” called, and the flop fell Q?8?Q?. Sahamies was first to act and fired out $14,800, but was met with a raise to $30,800 from “patpatman”. Sahamies responded with a three-bet to $120,475, and “patpatman” called off his remaining $66,914.

It was a great flop for “patpatman” as he made eights full, which was out in front of Sahamies’ trip queens. Unfortunately for “patpatman”, the Q? gave his opponent quads on the turn, and after the meaningless J? completed the board on the river, the $223,343 pot was pushed to the Finn.

In another notable hand between the three, Sulsky ($136,765) limp on the button and then called when Sahamies ($107,527.50) three-bet to $1,840. The 6?A?7? flop saw Sahamies lead out for $3,600, Sulsky call, and the 9? appear on the turn. This time Sahamies checked and opened the door for Sulsky to bet $9,200. Sahamies responded with a check-raise to $39,115, Sulsky three-bet to $128,060, and Sahamies called off his remaining $62,892.50. The 10? river complete the board and Sulsky rolled over 9?10?8?3? for a straight; however, it was no good as Sahamies had rivered a bigger straight with 8?10?6?J? to claim the $21,530 pot. It was a tough beat for Sulsky, who went on to lose $440K on the day.

More for Sahamies on Monday

After losing a paltry $64K on Sunday, Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies was back in action Monday and won +$450K playing two three-hour sessions of $200/$400 PLO. As usual he took on some of the game's best and came out on top. The win put Sahamies up $2.6 million in just a week, giving him $1.25 million in profit for 2012.

Here’s a look at his two most notable wins:

Hands #1: Action was three-handed when “patpatman” ($61,120.30) opened for $900 on the button and Sahamies ($337,190.63) three-bet to $3,340 from the small blind. Ben “Ben86” Tollerene ($50,054) then four-bet to $11,160 from the big, only Sahamies made the call, and the flop came down J?7?6?. Sahamies proceeded to check-call a bet of $23,455, and then led out big on the 9? turn. Tollerene called off for $15,439 and the cards were turned up.

Sahamies flopped a wrap, and he ended up hitting it on the 9? turn. The meaningless 2? was put out on the river and the Finn was pushed the $101,083 pot.

Biggest Weekly PokerStars Winners/Losers

Week’s biggest winners (10/25-10/31): Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$1,134,615), Jens “Jeans89” Kyll?nen (+$331,890), “patpatman” (+$264,907), Andreas “Skjerv?y” Torbergsen (+$209,409), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$203,597)

Week’s biggest losers: Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (-$615,921), “Zypherin” (-$350,658), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (-$275,667), “1Il|1Il|1il|” (-$233,049), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$180,768)

Year-to-date winners: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$3,036,363), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$2,463,421), Jens “Jeans89” Kyll?nen (+$2,253,948), “EireAbu” (+$2,176,527), “bernard-bb” (+$1,678,797), Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (+$1,501,466)

Year-to-date losers: “Zypherin” (-$3,552,742), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$2,657,363), “patpatman” (-$2,461,718), Gus “broksi” Hansen (-$1,093,446), Benny “toweliestar” Spindler (-$1,012,435), “Fake Love888” (-$991,295)

_{Data, hands and re-player obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook now!

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

Follow on

• Tags Ilari 'Ilari FIN' Sahamies Phil Galfond PokerStars Railbird Report Viktor Blom
• Related Room PokerStars
• Related Players Phil GalfondViktor Blom