The Online Railbird Report: Hansen Back on the Upswing, Isildur1 Back in Action

Nicole Gordon

May 13, 2010 3 min read

The Online Railbird Report: Hansen Back on the Upswing, Isildur1 Back in Action 0001

When it comes to the nosebleed-stakes scene, everyone likes to take shots at Gus Hansen. After a miserable end to 2009, Hansen rebounded with an astonishing $1.8 million in winnings during January and February, only to lose $1.6 million of that haul in March.

Hansen slowed the bleeding in April, shedding $375,000 to take his yearly earnings into the red. But thus far in May, the old Hansen is back, grinding long sessions and winning $926,000 so far this month. Of those winnings, $730,000 came this week as the high-stakes action moved over to the 7-Game and cap pot-limit Omaha tables. Isildur1 also made a return appearance on Full Tilt Poker this week, but dropped about $215,000.

Hansen hits his stride in cap PLO, 7-Game

Gus Hansen��s journey to the top of the weekly leaderboard began at the 7-Game tables, but quickly detoured to the $500/$1,000 cap pot-limit Omaha games where regulars like Tom ��durrrr�� Dwan, Ashton ��theASHMAN103�� Griffin, Cole South, and Ilari ��Ziigmund�� Sahamies spent most of their online time this week. Hansen, however, scored his biggest slice of cheddar on Tuesday night, raking in more than $680,000. The game, once again, was $500/$1,000 cap PLO and Hansen was South's primary beneficiary, dropping $575,000.

The maximum amount went in the middle on this hand, where both Hansen and South flopped flushes. Holding Q?10?4?4?, Hansen limped in on the button for $1,000 and South made it $3,000 to go with [Js9?8?8?. Hansen called, and they saw a 9?5?4? flop. South flopped a jack-high flush, but Hansen flopped a queen-high flush along with a set of fours for a redraw to a full house or quads. South led out for $5,000 and Hansen called. South then fired out $13,000 on the turn when the 2? hit, Hansen looking him up. The river was the 7? and South led again, this time for $19,000. Hansen flat-called and raked in the $80,000 pot.

Hello Isildur1, we��ve missed you

Our mysterious Swedish friend wasn��t exactly building $500k pots this week as he returned to action on Full Tilt Poker and stuck primarily to heads-up no-limit hold��em. First he took on ��jungleman12�� in a multi-table $50/$100 match where they later agreed to raise the stakes to $100/$200. After a 2,400-hand battle, Isildur1 booked a small win, finishing $25,000 to the good.

Isildur1 made a huge call on the river in this $51,000 pot despite facing a pretty scary board. Jungleman12 led off the action with a raise to $600 from the button, Isildur1 three-bet to $2,200, and jungleman12 came back over the top for $4,200. Isildur1 called and they saw a Q?J?2? flop. Both players checked. The turn was the 8? and Isildur1 passed to jungleman12, who bet $5,400. Isildur1 called and they went to the river, which fell the 3?. Isildur1 checked a third time and jungleman12 moved all-in for $32,492, having Isildur1 well-covered. After a bit of a think, Isildur1 committed his remaining $15,772. Jungleman12 could only show the nut-no pair with A?K?, while Isildur1 took down the $50,745 pot holding J?7?.

The following day, Isildur1 was back online, his next opponent the formidable ��URnotINdanger2.�� Another long session ensued, but Isildur1 was not as fortunate this time, dropping $138,000. One of their largest confrontations of the session came in a $49,000 pot in which both players hit the flop hard and neither could get away from their hands. URnotINdanger2 opened for $600 and Isildur1 called from the big blind. Isildur1 checked the Q?9?5? flop over to URnotINdanger2, who bet $800. Isildur1 raised to $2,600 and URnotINdanger2 called. The turn was the 4? and Isildur1 bet $4,600. URnotINdanger2 moved all-in for $21,299 and Isildur1 delightedly called off the $16,599 he had behind, turning up 5?5? for a set while URnotINdanger2 showed A?Q? for top pair, top kicker. The river was the 8? and Isildur1 raked in the $48,798 pot.