Online Poker -- Prahlad Friedman Running HotIlari Sahamies Continues Trend of Massive Swings |
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Although Prahlad “Prefontaine” Friedman doesn’t grind the nosebleed stakes in the online world, he has been one of the most consistent winners over the last couple months — and he continued his upswing this past week.
Friedman has won more than $500,000 in October so far, thanks to winnings of more than $300,000 over the past seven days.
At $50-$100 no-limit hold’em on PokerStars early Sunday morning, Friedman had the button and raised to $300. Rich “nutsinho” Lyndaker was in the big blind and three-bet to $1,300. Friedman called, and the flop came 10 8 4.
Lyndaker bet $2,100, and Friedman raised to $8,100. Lyndaker put Friedman all in for just under $50,000 total. Friedman made the call and exposed the 8 8 for middle set. His opponent exposed the 7 6 for flush and straight draws. According to Card Player’s Texas Hold’em Odds Calculator, Friedman was slightly ahead against the massive drawing hand of Lyndaker.
The Q on the turn was safe for Friedman, and he improved to a more than a two-to-one favorite. The 3 fell on the river, allowing the set to hold up. Friedman raked in the $100,799 pot.
While the rumblings were somewhat modest in online high-stakes no-limit hold’em this past week, the fireworks at pot-limit Omaha yielded some of the most massive pots over the past seven days.
Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies continued his recent trend of vicious swings by winning a 1,363-big-blind pot at $200-$400 pot-limit Omaha on Full Tilt Poker late last week.
The massive confrontation started when Sahamies, who had been losing earlier in the session, raised to $1,400 from under the gun. DrugsOrMe was next to act, and he three-bet to $4,800. The next four players to act folded, and Sahamies called.
The flop came K 6 5, and Sahamies bet $10,200. DrugsOrMe called, and the 4 fell on the turn. Sahamies bet $18,800, and his opponent raised to $75,600. Sahamies called, and the river brought the 3. Sahamies bet $181,800, and DrugsOrMe made the call. Sahamies tabled the A 8 K 4 for the nut flush, and DrugsOrMe mucked. Sahamies raked in the $545,397 pot.
Aside from a particular intense session of pot-limit Omaha, action was relatively quiet in the high-stakes online world this past week. Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Dan “Jungleman12” Cates resumed their battle in early October — with Dwan chipping away about $32,000 into his nearly $700,000 deficit — but the duo took the past week off from the challenge.
Gus Hansen, who began October by losing nearly $500,000, was able to recoup his losses by winning slightly more than $500,000 this past week. Hansen, who won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in late September, has continued a recent trend of large swings.