Railbird Report: Gavin "gavz101" Cochrane Wins Big

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Jan 22, 2018 5 min read Last updated Jan 23, 2018

A new year provides new opportunities and it's Gavin "gavz101" Cochrane who's taken an early lead on the 2018 leaderboard at the PokerStars high stakes cash game tables. Cochrane doesn't dabble a lot in live tournaments, with just six recorded cashes to his name, but is a force to be reckoned with on the digital felt, and Pot Limit Omaha in particular. With $239,862 in winnings, Cochrane has already taken a sizable lead over his nearest challenger Luke "Bit2Easy" Reeves.

Cochrane burst onto the high stakes scene back in 2011 with a mouth-watering heater of nearly two million dollars

Cochrane burst onto the high stakes scene back in 2011 with a mouth-watering heater of nearly two million dollars in two months. Epic clashes at the highest PLO tables ensued, including memorable sessions with Viktor "Isildur1" Blom in the months following Black Friday. Back then, Cochrane and Blom fired up to six tables of heads-up $50/$100 Pot Limit Omaha, which included six-figure swings in single sessions. Cochrane couldn't maintain his nearly two million in winnings and dropped back to nearly $500K over the course of 2011 and 2012. His recent 2018 surge has put his lifetime profits at the high stakes tables at $658,035.

Below is one of the many pots Cochrane and Blom played heads-up. After five-betting preflop, Cochrane had a pot-sized bet left on J?8?6? and moved all in with A?A?A?7?. Blom called with 9?7?6?5? and caught the 4? on the turn to lock up the $49,200, or 492 big blinds pot. With Cochrane as the 2018 top dog and Blom still very active, it will be interesting to watch if the two will reignite their feud.

Catching Up on High Stakes Action: Three Biggest Pots of The Week

The biggest pot of the past week went to "bajskorven87" in a heads-up match against Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger. The biggest Pot Limit Omaha pot of the week was between "ActionFreak" and "JayP-AA".

1) "bajskorven87" wins a $48,052 Pot (481 Big Blinds) from Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger ^{($50/$100 NLHE 6-Max)}

In a heads-up match, Loeliger raised to $251 on the button, "bajskorven87" three-bet to $1,200, Loeliger four-bet to $3,000, and "bajskorven87" called.

On the 3?5?10? flop, "bajskorven87" checked to Loeliger, who bet $1,502. "bajskorven87" check-raised to $5,800, Loeliger moved in for $21,006 and "bajskorven87", who had Loeliger barely covered, called it off.

"bajskorven87" was marginally ahead with his top pair and needed to fade the aces and clubs to win. The players agreed to run it twice and Loeliger bricked every step of the way: 9? and 7? on the first rundown, 3? and J? on the second. The entire $48,052 pot went to "bajskorven87".

2)"ActionFreak" wins a $43,845 (438 Big Blinds) pot from "JayP-AA" ^{($50/$100 PLO 6-Max)}

The action started off rather innocuous with "ActionFreak" raising to $340 on the button and "JayP-AA" defending the big blind. On the 3?J?5? flop, "JayP-AA" checked, "ActionFreak" bet $502, "JayP-AA" check-raised to $1,794, and "ActionFreak" called.

After check-raising the flop, "JayP-AA" checked again on the 8? turn. "ActionFreak" fired a pot-sized bet of $4,305, "JayP-AA" check-raised once pot, this time for pot ($17,220), "ActionFreak" went all in for $19, and "JayP-AA" called it off to create a 438 big blind pot.

"ActionFreak" was in the lead with top set, while "JayP-AA" held straight and flush draw to make him a 2:1 dog to win the hand. The river brought the 10?, not what "JayP-AA" needed, and "ActionFreak" scooped.

3) Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger wins a $41,593 (208 Big Blinds) pot from Jordi "prot0" Urlings ^{($100/$200 NLHE 6-Max)}

Despite losing the biggest pot of the week, Loeliger is having an amazing 2018 so far and is currently ranked #3 on the 2018 leaderboard. One of the pots that got him there was a 208 big blinds pot at a three-handed $100/$200 No Limit Hold'em table against Jordi "prot0" Urlings.

Loeliger raised to $502 on the button and Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov folded his small blind. Urlings three-bet to $2,200 from the big blind and Loeliger called. The flop was A?Q?7? and Urlings continued for $2,292. Loeliger called to see the 2? on the turn appear. Urlings bet $4,631 and Loeliger called once again.

On the 4? river, Urlings moved in for his last $11,623 and Loeliger had an easy call with A?6? for the nut flush. Urlings' A?K? was second best and he was forced to reload.

This Week's Online High-Stakes Biggest Winners and Losers

The 2018 Leaderboard

As we said before, Cochrane has claimed the early frontrunner spot for 2018. With $239,862 in profit, Cochrane is leading Luke "Bit2Easy" Reeves, while Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger rounds out the top three. The biggest loss so far has been noted by "lynx4334", who had to part with $178,930 of his bankroll. Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov, who was last year's second-biggest winner, and Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz also started the year in the red.

The above top winning and losing players in online poker for 2018 only takes PokerStars accounts into consideration. All public data courtesy of HighStakesDB.com. If you want to opt out of being listed in this PokerNews update on high-stakes action, send an email with your username to [email protected].

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A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.

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