Poker News

The Online Railbird Report: Sahamies and South Lead the Pack

Dwan Kick Starts a Comeback

Dwan’s night started at $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha where he sat with a cast of familiar names, such as Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin, Cole South, Brian Townsend, Matatuk and Di “Urindanger” Dang.

After 482 hands at the table and over 4 hours of play, Dwan closed down the game with $155k profit. Not quite ready to call it a night, Dwan moved on to $500/$1,000 Cap No-Limit Hold’em, where he lost over $10k in just 37 hands.

Dwan’s profit brings him up to only $420k in losses on the year.

The biggest winner on the night was Griffin who sat at the $100/$200 PLO for 627 hands, taking away $156k for his effort.

This brings Griffin’s results for the year up to $327k.

Dang only played about half as many hands on PLO as Griffin, but still managed to leave the game with a profit of over $40k. Added to profit earned earlier in the day (playing $100/$200 Cap PLO), Dang’s total profit comes to almost $100k.

This $100k profit pushes Dang to just over $1 million earnings on the year, only $252k behind Gus Hansen in first place.

The biggest loser of the day was a relatively unknown French player by the name of Matatuk. After trying to beat the star-studded $100/$200 PLO, Matatuk logged off for the night with over $207k in losses.

Despite winning the second largest pot of the day (worth $113k), South still came away from the tables down over $109k, bringing his profit on the year down to around $800k.

Townsend, who lost the largest pot of the day to Dwan, continues to struggle in 2010, losing over $55k on the day, bringing his total losses to $350k on the year.

Below are the three largest pots of the day. To see more pots, including Matatuk’s largest loss of the day, head to MarketPulse.

Antonius, Dwan, Ivey and Hastings Crush 7-Game

With players including Tom “durrrr” Dwan sticking around for over 2,500 hands, and several others winning and losing over half a million, last night’s 7-Game action began to resemble the regular nose-bleed action seen in late 2009.

Taking top honors after over 2,200 hands, Patrik Antonius won an impressive $844k, bringing himself back to $79k in the red after a shaky start on the year.

Dwan, who went on one of the largest downswings of his career at the end of 2009, posted a $503k win, bringing himself $131k into the black this year.

While the majority of the $500k came from his 2,500 hand 7-Game session, Dwan also sat for over 1,000 hands of heads-up $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em against URnotINdanger2.

Although his identity is currently unknown, speculation is URnotINdanger2 is the same player who frequented the high-stakes games in 2009 under the alias UrNOTindanger.

At the end of the heads-up session, Dwan made a marginal $33k from the unknown player.

In his first online session of the new-year, Phil Ivey also took a seat at 7-Game. He played just 464 hands, but managed to make over $357k profit in that time.

Also making over $350k was Brian Hastings. After his windfall session at the end of 2009, earning $4.2 million from Isildur1, Hastings continues to grind his way to the top of the earners list, currently sitting in second place with over $428k profit on the year.

Brian Townsend, who has six days remaining in his red-name suspension from Full Tilt, was the night’s biggest loser, dropping over $608k in his 1,100 hands. This loss puts Townsend at the top of the year’s losers list with almost $470k in losses.

The night’s second largest donator was the 7-Game catalyst himself, Gus Hansen. His $550k loss drops him from first to fifth on year’s top winners list, now sitting at $343k profit on the year.

Also posting a $500k loss on the night was Andrew “Browndog19” Brown. Brown, who is working towards making himself a household name for online high-stakes in 2010, currently sits as the year’s fourth biggest loser, down $364k.

With action heating up, and almost all of the game’s biggest names back on the virtual felt, we could be gearing up for an action filled weekend. Stay tuned to MarketPulse to keep abreast of all the action.

Below are the largest three heads-up pots between Dwan and URnotINdanger2.

Tony G May Stake Isildur1

Poker pro Tony G may soon be funding the bankroll of Swedish online poker player Isildur1. The revelation, which appeared in a blog posted on TonyGPoker.com, comes at the same time as Isildur1 revealed that he may file a complaint concerning data mining on Full Tilt Poker.

Tony G explained in his blog that he had conversations with Isildur1 over the phone. In addition, he noted that the mystery Swedish player had only learned how to play Pot Limit Omaha eight months ago. The brash poker pro noted, “Anyway, it is likely I will stake him in some big cash games in the future, this is what I do after all. I like to give people a chance in life to do well.” Isildur1 stormed onto the high-stakes online poker scene on Full Tilt back in November, racking up as much as $5 million in earnings. However, he later crashed back down to Earth and currently stands with career losses of $2.6 million, according to PokerTableRatings.com.

Tony G had originally fingered Viktor “blom30” Blom as the man behind the Isildur1 moniker. However, to open December, Blom told Bluff Europe Magazine that he was not the man of the hour: “I am not the one you are looking for. Keep searching.” In a chat that appeared on Full Tilt at a high-stakes table, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies addressed Isildur1 by name as “Viktor” and the statement went uncorrected. Perhaps due to stringent tax laws in Sweden, the real identity of Isildur1 may never be known. It remains a plot reminiscent of an episode of “Murder, She Wrote.”

The potential new backer of the Isildur1 empire gave his take on the poker world finding out the real identity of Isildur1: “I also have to say that earlier I was guessing and I will never reveal who he is from here on out. I think it’s more exciting for everyone, leaving the mystery as a mystery.” Guesses as to who Isildur1 is have ranged from Blom to Robert “Gulkines” Flink to Todd Brunson, even though the latter is American and a sponsored pro of the Cake Poker Network site DoylesRoom.

Isildur1’s career peek, according to PokerTableRatings.com, came on November 15th, when he racked up $5.03 million in earnings. Within a week, that number had been cut by 90% before a nearly $3 million losing day on December 8th sent his bankroll plummeting into the red. He told PokerNews.com that, despite the adversity on the virtual felts of Full Tilt Poker, he would make his triumphant return in 2010.

In mid-December, a $4.2 million win by Brian Hastings, a CardRunners instructor, at the expense of Isildur1 made waves after it was revealed that Hastings used hands compiled on the Swedish pro to his advantage. Fellow CardRunners pro Brian Townsend took the fall in the end and had his Red Pro status suspended for one month.

Hastings gave credit to Townsend for his performance, telling ESPN columnist Gary Wise in a December 14th interview, "Honestly, I give most of the credit to Brian Townsend here. I mean, Brian is honestly the hardest worker I know in poker. He analyzed a database of heads-up hands that Isildur1 had played and constructed ranges of what Isildur1 was doing in certain spots. In a way, I feel bad that it wasn't Brian who got this win instead of me.”

Tony G was the final table bubble boy in the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2009, earning $172,000 for his 10th place finish. His demeanor in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Grand Prix de Paris earned him a spot among the bad boys of poker.

Dominating Fantasy Football Week 17 with Online Poker Skills

Week 17 of the National Football League (NFL) will feature a hodgepodge of players competing for their spot on rosters in 2010. Players like Curtis Painter and Arian Foster will become household fantasy names on Sunday. How can you use your poker skills to navigate the murky waters?

Live and online poker players are top-notch when it comes to researching their competition. Ask any player in tournaments like the National Heads-Up Poker Championship and they’ll tell you that they research their foes prior to every match. Although Full Tilt Poker recently punished Brian Townsend for compiling hands Swedish poker pro Isildur1, the practice, even though it may be against the Terms and Conditions of many sites, is still somewhat commonplace.

Think about how much information exists on players. Online, sites like PokerTableRatings.com and HighStakesDB.com offer a significant amount of information on a player, including major hands played, notorious opponents, and career earnings. Behold the power of the internet, as more information than you can possibly stomach is at your fingertips. To survive Week 17 of the NFL in a one-week league or in the traditional fantasy playoffs, a bevy of research is needed.

Poker News Daily has partnered with Fantazzle.com, which specializes in one-week fantasy sports games, to bring our readers a free Week 17 contest with a $20 prize. If you win this “freeroll” and make a deposit of $50 using PayPal or a major credit card, you’ll take home five times the value of your prize. Fantazzle.com founder Ryan Parr told Poker News Daily, “Week 17 is all about strategy and skill. At a high level, any poker player thinks they have a chance of winning money. You know football, you think you know fantasy football, and you come on Fantazzle.com to win money because you’re more intelligent than the guy sitting next to you. Some days may be a little rough and some days you won’t get a feel for the guys you’re playing against.”

Fantazzle.com offers football, baseball, racing, golf, hockey, and basketball. The latter two sports are just getting into full swing, so even as the football season winds down, there’s still plenty of fantasy action to be had. Baseball is the second most popular fantasy sport behind football and its season kicks off in April.

If you think Week 17 in the NFL is a breeze to navigate, think again. In Week 16, the Indianapolis Colts, gunning for an undefeated season, pulled their starters in the third quarter and, as a result, were thumped 29-15 by the New York Jets and handed their first loss of the season. Fantasy managers who had their seasons riding on players like Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark instead watched Donald Brown and Joseph Addai scamper for touchdowns and Painter throw a pick-six. Clark had four grabs for 57 yards, while Wayne had a paltry three catches for 33 yards.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears versus Minnesota Vikings game turned out to be the shootout of the week, as the Bears won 36-30 in overtime. Minnesota had given up more than 30 points just once all season. Chicago quarterback and Vanderbilt University graduate Jay Cutler threw for four touchdowns for just his second multi-touchdown performance since Week 9. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who leads all tailbacks in fumbles with six, coughed the ball up in overtime to set up the game-winning score. If you think you know what’s going to happen on the field, think again.

Put those researching skills to the test. Who will dominate Week 17 in the NFL? Will the Colts, Green Bay Packers, and Arizona Cardinals rest their starters? Poker players should head to Fantazzle.com and give it a shot.

The Top Winners and Losers of 2009

Below are summaries of the top five money earners, and top five losers of the year, including a month-by-month graph of their results.

To see more stats and hand replays from throughout the year, head to MarketPulse.

Patrik Antonius

It only makes sense to have the year’s top earner at the top of the list, so without further ado, we bring you the 2009 story of Patrik Antonius.

Patrik Antonius just might have hit the life jackpot. He was at one-time a model and tennis pro, before becoming one of the most respected, and feared, poker players in the world. He made the list of the top 10 top profit earners in 2007 under the username FinddaGrind with over $1.3 million earned.

In 2008, he made another $1.3 million, this time as part of Team Full Tilt.

This January Antonius made over $2 million and never dropped below that point. His year was filled with million dollar swings, but in the end, the Finnish pro always found a way to come out good.

On top of being the most profitable player on the year, Antonius was also busy breaking the records for the largest pots ever played online. Despite all of his profits, Antonius has fallen behind in the durrrr Challenge and needs to make close to $1 million in the second half to have a chance.

However, he finished 2009 as the top earner with a massive profit of over $8.9 million.

Phil Ivey

This year Phil Ivey has done exactly what Phil Ivey does every year: Win. In 2008, Ivey was the top online earner with over $7.3 million in profit. In 2007 he was the third largest earner with $1.9 million and this year he ends in second place with $6.3 million.

His story is the same every year: Any players, any game, any stakes. He’ll sit, and most of the time he’ll win. But even Ivey isn’t immune to the swings, starting off the year in the red he had to spend a couple of months getting back to even.

After an $800k loss in May, it was pretty much profit from that point on. Add these winnings to his two WSOP bracelets, Main Event final table appearance and prop bets won, and you have one hell of a good looking year.

Brian Hastings

CardRunners pro Brian Hastings has had one of the most interesting years out of anyone online. He started the year with a backing deal for playing the nose-bleed stakes against Gus Hansen.

Even with Hansen bleeding chips for months, Hastings struggled to get even for the majority of the year, finally showing a profit come August.

Come the end of November, it started to look as though Hastings would be having a positive year, but nothing too spectacular, or worth talking about. That was until he sat down with Isildur1 for possibly the biggest session in online poker history.

By the end of the single session with the game’s most explosive player, Hastings had made $4.2 million in profit; effectively ending Isildur1’s run at Full Tilt’s high-stakes tables.

The win was steeped in controversy when information came to light that Hastings, along with two fellow CardRunners pros Brian Townsend and Cole South, merged their hand history databases together to allow for an in-depth study of Isildur1’s heads up game.

For the full scoop on this controversy, head to: Full Tilt Suspends Brian Townsend.

theASHMAN103

Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin is only 20 years old, and began playing poker seriously in high-school. His downfall has always been bankroll management and tilt issues.

After a series of massive swings he went broke right at the beginning of the year, but Griffin finally got his head in the right spot coming in to April of 2009 when he was forced to get a stake to get back in the game.

Thanks to winning a prop bet for making $500k playing nothing higher than $25/$50 No-Limit immediately before the event was set to start, Griffin was able to enter into the $25k heads-up shootout, which he went on to win for another $500k.

Griffin’s heater continued over the next two months going from broke to the fifth most profitable player on the year. To read a full interview with Griffin about his heater, and life in poker, head to: Ashman103: The Interview Transcript.

Ilari Sahamies

Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies is one of the most well-known and entertaining online players in the world. Above all else he seems to have a love for gambling with sick amounts of money.

For a few days, Sahamies had convinced a few of the nosebleed players to convert the $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tables into $3,000/$9,000. Along with all the massive flips Sahamies played over the year, it’s safe to say he is the biggest gambler at the tables.

But despite his love for gambling, Ziigmund is still one of the most profitable players in the world. The occasional swing aside, Ziigmund’s graph is mostly un-eventful, hovering around the $2-$3 million mark for the majority of the year.

It wasn’t until Ziigmund set his sights on Isildur1 that his graph took a violent swing upwards. After taking a few million from the unknown player, Ziigmund finished his year up an impressive $3.2 million.

Isildur1

True identity still unknown, Isildur1 showed up on the poker scene Sept. 16. He splashed around in medium to high-stakes for about a month before starting to take shots in the nosebleed games.

The true story of Isildur1 started on Nov. 7 when he began his first serious upswing by crushing well known players like Haseeb Qureshi and UgotaBanana. After these wins, Isildur1 seemed fearless, willing to play anyone at any stakes.

Soon Isildur1 set his sights on Tom “durrrr” Dwan and over the next three days he absolutely destroyed him for over $4 million. At his highest point on Nov. 15^, Isildur1 sat with over $5 million in profit, only to lose it all, mostly to Ivey and Antonius, by the 21^st.

After making another quick run back up to almost $3 million in just one week, Isildur1 began his largest downswing.

It was during the downswing where Isildur1 shattered all the records for the largest pots of all time. He first broke the record with an $878k pot versus Patrik Antonius, only to break that record a few days later losing the first pot worth over a million at $1,356,947. 

Mostly a result of losing over $4.2 million in a single session to Brian Hastings, Isildur1 saw his roll get almost entirely crushed, sitting down over $2 million for the remainder of the month.

With his only hands being played at the medium stakes tables, it appears at this point as if Isildur1’s run at the highest stakes games online is through.

David Benyamine

In 2008, David Benyamine was the sixth most profitable online player in the world. He finished the year having made almost $3 million profit and had snagged himself one of the most beautiful girls in poker, Erica Schoenberg.

At the very end of 2008, Full Tilt Poker dropped Benyamine as a red-name pro. As a result, he began 2009 playing under the username “MR B 2 U SON”. He played under that username until July of 2009 when his Team Full Tilt status was re-instated.

At the time of the username switch, Benyamine was down $731,128 on the year. Things continued to get worse for the French pro as he struggled throughout 2009, finishing down $2.9 million. To top it all off, many sources have reported an end to his relationship with Schoenberg.

All in all, 2009 might just have been the worst year in Benyamine’s career.

LarsLuzak

Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro is a 22-year-old Finnish poker pro who showed up on the high-stakes scene in 2007. He made over a million dollars in both 2007 and 2008, plus a rumored large profit from $250/$500 No-Limit sessions played on Betfair poker.

Despite hopes of cementing his name as one of the top players in the world, 2009 turned out to be a complete disaster for Kelopuro.

Starting the year with an $810k loss, Kelopuro was almost able to grind his way back to even in February before beginning a landslide of losses.

At no point in 2009 did Kelopuro show a profit, despite his continued efforts at the games highest stakes. After reaching nearly $4 million in losses on the year, Kelopuro disappeared from the high-stakes games, sparking rumors of a busted bankroll.

With a laundry list of impressive results from both cash games and tournaments, it’s safe to assume the poker world will hear more from Kelopuro in 2010.

Tom “durrrr” Dwan

Tom Dwan has to be considerd one of the most entertaining poker players in the world. As a result, there has been more time spent talking about Dwan in 2009 than any other online player.

His year began by losing over $4 million in the first two months, only to grind back up to over $1.4 million in profit just four months later. However, the massive swings were only one of Dwan’s many stories on the year.

The first came with the introduction of the durrrr Challenge. After almost two months of speculation and rumors, Patrik Antonius stepped up as the first competitor, and the challenge was underway.

After a short period of consistent play between the two competitors, the Challenge took a hiatus as both players chose to focus on busting a new fish splashing around at the highest stake tables available.

It didn’t take Dwan, and the rest of the online regulars, long to bust a new fish calling himself Martonas, and the challenge seemed as if it would resume.

But it wasn’t long before another new face showed up on the scene and began stirring the pot. Luke “fullflush1” Schwartz proved to be as strong at the table as he was mouthy, focusing the majority of his insults at Dwan, including the now infamous “cork it durrrrballs”.

Schwartz successfully made over $700k at the tables before cashing out, and buying a house with his profits.

The next big story for Dwan came with the third unknown player to splash around in the big game. Unfortunately for Dwan, this player, Isildur1, would end up taking him for over $5 million, before giving it all away to everyone else.

Shortly after losing the majority of his online roll, Dwan became the newest member of Team Full Tilt, and began grinding his way back towards even. By the end of 2009 Dwan had brought himself back to -$4.3 million from his November low point of -$6.8 million.

On the bright side, he is ahead in the durrrr Challenge by over $937k.

Gus Hansen

This year’s story for Gus Hansen is simple: He made $3 million in the first month, mostly off Tom Dwan, then proceeded to lose almost exclusively for the remainder of the year. Although there were months in which he showed a profit, Hansen’s graph on the year is anything but encouraging.

Due to his consistent negative results, Hansen has become one of the most popular online players amongst the other regular high-stakes grinders. As he explained in an interview with PokerListings, the high-stakes games on Full Tilt simply follow him from table to table.

As a result, Hansen chose to play almost exclusively 7-Game for the remainder of the year, at times killing absolutely all high-stakes action for all other variants.

For a look into high-stakes, and how some of the other players in the game view Hansen, head to: State of the High Stakes Poker Nation.

Poker Community Divided Over Brian Townsend Suspension

One of the top stories of 2009 was the arrival of the Scandinavian high roller “Isildur1” to the nosebleed stakes of Full Tilt Poker and the attempts of several players to chop his bankroll legs from under him. Caught up in those attempts was CardRunners’ Brian Townsend who, after compiling hand histories that he had obtained against “Isildur1,” gave the information to fellow CardRunners pro Brian Hastings, who dealt the fatal blow. The action set off a chain of events that has divided many in the poker community.

The information gleaned by Townsend, Cole South, and Hastings - and the confession of the use of that information by Hastings against “Isildur1” - led to Townsend’s status as a Full Tilt Poker “Red Pro” being suspended for 30 days on December 21st. At the time, Townsend himself admitted that the compiling of data violated the Terms and Conditions of Full Tilt Poker, but he further stated, “We (Hastings, South, and I) never shared hands where mucked hands were shown besides a few hands I posted on weaktight.org, and in fact all the information I received could be taken from watching the game.”

In a poll on the noted poker forum TwoPlusTwo, responders were divided on the issue. Over 48% of those who responded stated that Townsend’s “Red Pro” suspension from Full Tilt was appropriate. 52% of those responding said that Townsend’s suspension was unwarranted or that they need to see more information before making a decision. Some of the conversations between the members of the forum reflect the diversity of opinions among many of the posters.

“How many more times does he have to be caught breaking the rules before he is considered a cheater in your eyes? Your opinion on the rules or the ethics surrounding his indiscretions are immaterial,” wrote “JabrielP” on the forum. “A cheater is someone who acts dishonestly and/or looks to violate the rules deliberately. That is exactly what Townsend is/did. He is a cheater. There is no fairer description.” Poster “blackf1re” agreed with “JabrielP,” saying, “How can anyone vote no in this case? He has broken the T&C's. Therefore he is a cheater. That's all there is to it. What you personally think of this whole issue is totally irrelevant.”

Others, however, didn’t see anything wrong with Townsend’s actions, comparing the research and study as to what professional athletes do in preparation for big games. Poster “gianakki” said, “To me, this is no different than a pitcher receiving a scouting report on a team lineup. 0-2 facing Jeter, throw him cutters up and away; 3-1 versus ARod, jam him inside.” Fellow poster “aojr03” agreed, stating, “How is he a cheater? Because he went over HH and tendencies with friends? Because he studied the guy and sought out the leaks in his play? If you want to win you find a way to gain an edge. It's poker, not ballroom dancing.”

Finally, there were those who recognize the gray area that Townsend’s actions fall under. “Depends if you think multi-accounting and data mining is cheating. People who do either or both probably don't think he's a cheat, people who don't probably do,” stated “Lister27.”

Others tended to focus on how or why the rules are written the way they are. Poster “otacon” had that subject in mind when he stated, “This poll will no doubt be skewed by people considering what they perceive to be the ethical judgment on his actions, not the fact that the rules as written have been deliberately violated.”

Whichever side of the argument you agree with, it is obvious that the latest online controversy will continue to be debated well into 2010. As of now, Townsend is about ten days into his suspension. It remains to be seen if there will be changes by online poker sites regarding data mining of player information.

Poker Community Rings in the New Year

Now that Christmas is over and done with, people are setting their sights on the next big celebration, New Year’s Eve.  Party plans range from night club celebrations to cozy gatherings at home with family and friends, but almost everybody intends to do something to celebrate the end of the decade.  Those based in Las Vegas can enjoy an elaborate fireworks show on the Strip, with pyrotechnics being shot off the roofs of seven different casinos, including the MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, the Venetian, the Stratosphere and the newly-opened Aria.

One poker pro who will be at Aria to ring in the New Year is UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth.  He has been invited to one of the biggest New Year’s Eve parties in Las Vegas and the Poker Brat couldn’t resist name-dropping some of the celebrities he would be rubbing elbows with as the clock strikes Midnight via his Twitter account (@phil_hellmuth).  As Twitter reports, Hellmuth will watch the ball drop with the likes of Eva Longoria-Parker, her husband Tony, and countless others at the Beso Restaurant and Eve Nightclub in CityCenter.

Reality star Kim Kardashian will also be on hand and will play host to a pre-New Year’s Eve party Wednesday night at Eve, which is situated above Beso.  Both Eve and Beso are owned by Longoria-Parker, who worked hand-in-hand with famed chef Todd English to launch the Las Vegas version of her popular Los Angeles restaurant of the same name.  The New Year’s Eve bash will serve as the grand opening of Eve, while Kardashian’s party will be a precursor to the official launch of the club.

Jean-Robert Bellande of “Survivor” fame has spent the final days of 2009 gallivanting all over Latin America.  According to his Twitter feed (@BrokeLivingJRB), he has been everywhere from Cabo San Lucas to Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic this holiday season.  Bellande can’t seem to go too long without getting his poker fix, though, and found time to play online in between lounging on the beach and sightseeing: “Booked a small win over Brian Townsend this morning after being stuck big in 2-7. Feeling very relieved.”

Online poker pro Jeff “ICuRaRook” Sluzinski is going to take a small break from his schedule to celebrate the New Year and a friend’s birthday.  “No poppin’ crazy bottles at clubs or anything for me,” Sluzinski told Poker News Daily.  “We might go to the Strip, but we will probably just chill at [my friend’s] house.”  However, Sluzinksi does plan to log some hours online New Year’s Eve, as he is in contention for the Yearly Tournament Leaderboard honors on PokerStars.  The top three finishers all win entries into stops on the various PokerStars-sponsored tours.  He currently sits in fifth place and has a couple more days to boost his numbers and claim one of the top prizes. Although he admits he will be playing online on New Year’s Eve, Sluzinski intends to call it an early night.  “I’ll stop around 7 or so,” he explained.

In typical fashion, many poker players, like Joe Sebok, are waiting until the last minute to finalize their New Year’s plans.  He Tweeted about his options and has not even decided what city he is going to ring in 2010 in, Los Angeles or Las Vegas.  Unfortunately for the “Poker2Nite” host, he may be sidelined from all festivities thanks to a cold, as he noted on @JoeSebok: “Woke up with scratchy throat, a headache, and sore body. I get it 2009, you ain't going down w/o a fight. You are going out tho, you b***h.”

Poker News Daily would also like to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year.  May your New Year’s Eve celebrations be lively and fun and may 2010 be a year for all of you to remember.

Top 5 of 2009: Isildur1 and the Seven-Figure Pots

With an eye on the great poker personalities that have made the scene and the interesting fodder they’ve provided for us over the past 12 months, we’ve come up with our very own Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

The plan is to present them to you every other day from now until New Year’s Eve and we continue today with No. 2: Isildur1 and the Seven-Figure Pots.

An unknown Swedish player using the name Isildur1 first showed up on Full Tilt’s $25/$50 tables in September to very little fanfare.

Before long he was crushing the regulars, most notably taking close to $500k from Haseeb "INTERNETPOKERS" Qureshi.

Soon after he was taking on all comers at $200/$400, $300/$600 and even $500/$1,000 and the poker world began to take notice.

Those who weren’t paying attention were suddenly forced to when the unknown Swede rocked Tom "durrrr" Dwan for $3 million over four days of action in early November.

Isildur1 continued to pound on Dwan, raking in another $2.2 million, as players like Phil Ivey, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Brian Townsend and Patrik Antonius stepped up.

As he traded pots with the biggest names in online poker's biggest games, rumors of Isildur1's true identity ran rampant and Dwan was left shaking his head and hoping for another shot.

“He’s a big action player and he did very well versus me,” Dwan told PokerListings. “Hopefully we’ll play again in the future and things will swing more in my favor.”

The action really heated up by mid-November, when Antonius and Isildiur1 teamed up to break the one-year-old record for the largest pot in online poker history, tangling over a whopping $878,959.

Less than a week later they did it again, breaking their own record and playing the first ever seven-figure pot online, worth $1,356,947.

Just two days after that, Isildur1 won a $1.1 million pot off Ivey marking the second and only other time in history players have jousted over seven-figures online.

By the time the dust had settled, Isildur1 had helped set a new standard in high-stakes poker online, having found himself in the middle of seven of the ten largest pots in online poker history.

But the action was far from over.

While most of his earnings from Dwan had been dumped to Antonius, Ivey and Sahamies, it appeared Isildur1 had a sizeable enough bankroll to continue to take on poker’s premier high-stakes players.

Until CardRunners’ Brian Hastings came along, picking Isildur1 apart to the tune of $3.2 million on Dec. 9.

It would later be revealed that Hastings used reports and queries on Isildur1’s game put together by fellow CardRunners instructor Brian Townsend to help him destroy the Swede in one massive session, resulting in a suspension for Townsend.

But the damage was done.

Isildur1 posted a few more losses at smaller stakes and by late December was nowhere to be found.

However, by taking part in the seven of the ten biggest pots in online history, including the only two seven-figure hands ever recorded, the unknown Swede had certainly made his mark and earned the No. 2 spot on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.     

PokerListings' Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009:

• No. 5: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz
• No. 4: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year
• No. 3: The durrrr Challenge

2009 Online Poker Year in Review

In 2009, the online poker world continued to provide excitement, drama, and controversy for the denizens that participated in the game. 2009 saw a great deal of changes in the number of rooms offered as the competition for customers became fierce. In addition, cash games - a long neglected area of online poker - became the featured event for online poker, outdistancing the industry’s multi-table tournaments.

At the beginning of 2009, online wunderkind Tom “durrrr” Dwan issued the Million Dollar Challenge to the online world. Dwan stated that he would take on anyone in a heads-up battle that would last 50,000 hands. Playing a minimum of four tables at $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha or No Limit Texas Hold’em, the challenge was for Dwan’s opponent to come out on top after the required number of hands. If Dwan were ahead by $1 or more, his opponent must fork over $500,000. If Dwan's opponent were ahead by $1 or more, “durrrr” would cough up $1.5 million.

While the only player excluded from the Durrrr Challenge was Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, there were plenty of players willing to take on Dwan. Phil Ivey and David Benyamine threw their hats into the ring, but it was another poker superstar, Patrik Antonius, who drew the honor of being the first to step up. Taking place on the virtual tables at Full Tilt Poker, the Durrrr Challenge set off early in 2009.

The play in the online event has been hit-and-miss throughout the calendar year, but each session has been crowded with railbirds watching the battle and online sites like DurrrrChallenge.com have been offering commentary on the proceedings. Due to their hectic live play schedules and the mid-year World Series of Poker (WSOP), there have only been 29,764 hands played between Antonius and Dwan as 2009 comes to a close. After Antonius started out with a lead, Dwan mounted a huge comeback. As the year comes to a close, “durrrr” has been able to amass a nearly $1 million lead over Antonius.

The other online poker headline that has captured the community’s attention is the phenomenon that is “Isildur1.” The Scandinavian came from nowhere to take on the biggest guns in the game at nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt Poker. Demonstrating great skill at the tables, the most confounding thing for online poker aficionados was the identity of the mystery Swede. While there has been conjecture by many, “Isildur1” has been able to keep his identity secret.

At the tables, “Isildur1” has played some of the biggest names in the game. He was able to take a few million dollars out of Dwan’s pockets before running into Antonius at the table. Antonius was able to take back much of what was lost by Dwan and, as the year closed, poker professional Brian Hastings depleted the remainder of “Isildur1’s” bankroll.

The defeat at the hands of Hastings has caused a tidal wave of debate in the online world, however. Hastings admitted to using datamined hands from other players to study “Isildur1’s” tendencies, resulting in a 30-day Red Pro suspension for fellow CardRunners instructor Brian Townsend. “Isildur1” is considering filing a complaint to regain the money lost in the session against Hastings. Even if the complaint is turned down, “Isildur1” has said that he will be back and 2010 should be a very interesting year in high-stakes cash games if he does.

Many may have thought that the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which had been slated to begin in December, would have caused people to leave the game. Online poker, however, refused to fall prey and continued on stronger than ever. With the delay of enforcement of the UIGEA until mid-2010 and the possibility of other legislation that would amend it, online poker continues to draw new blood into its ranks. According to PokerScout.com, the industry is growing at an annual rate of 30%.

Finally, the closure and consolidation of non-U.S. facing online poker rooms was a major story throughout 2009. Sites like Eurolinx and BetOnBet closed under mysterious circumstances that are still being investigated by police and Pitbull Poker closed its doors after an alleged superuser scandal. DoylesRoom, headed by the legendary Doyle Brunson, joined the Cake Poker Network, as did Third Bullet Poker.

This type of consolidation should continue through 2010 as the online poker world streamlines itself to maximize its earnings and create stronger competition against such online behemoths as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

The durrrr Comeback: Turkey, Eggnog, Ziigmund and $730k

Dwan’s session started late last night at $50/$100 Pot-Limit Omaha, playing a mix of heads-up and short-handed with players including Browndog19, geoff7878 and OneUponAStar.

Dwan left the tables after 149 hands, up $42,902.

After starting off with modest success, Dwan doubled the limits to play 65 hands of $100/$200 PLO. The opponents were primarily the same, with a brief appearance from Richard Ashby.

The $100/$200 session ended with Dwan up another $80,813.

After a 30-minute break, he sat at a six-max $300/$600 PLO table with Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies that quickly filled up with familiar names like La Key U, rospodin, Hac "trex313" Dang, Ashby and Brian Townsend.

The three largest pots from the table involved Dang and were all over $200k. Dang took down the first and third largest, both against the currently pro-status suspended Townsend.

Townsend ended the night down nearly $725k.

Before leaving the $300/$600 session up $53,890, Dwan added a second table, taking on Sahamies at $500/$1,000 PLO.

They played 109 hands heads-up with Dwan taking both the largest pots of the night, leaving the session up $552,669.

Finishing the night up an impressive $730,274, Dwan’s losses for the year have now been shrunk to just over $4.5 million.

Below are the three largest pots of the night, or you can head to MarketPulse for the rest.

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 21-27, 2009

This week the front page of PokerListing was slammed with huge stories like Brian Townsend getting suspended by Full Tilt Poker, Tom “durrrr” Dwan making a desperate charge to get even for the year and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler finally finding a structure he likes.

Of course, like every week, there were still a few lesser-known stories that threatened to get lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, on PokerListings.com we compile all those stories in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we’re going to take a look at Poker2Nite heading to Europe, new poker chip technology, a new PokerStars rewards program and more.

The Poker Channel Europe Airs Poker2Night

It’s already a hit in North America but the Joe Sebok and Scott Huff hosted Poker2Nite made its debut in Europe last week on the Poker Channel Europe.

The channel is airing episodes of the show every Wednesday at 22:00 CET for the entire run of the first season. Repeats will run Thursdays and Saturdays at 16:00 CET. The channel is Europe’s largest dedicated gaming TV network and shown in more than 18 million European homes.

Poker2Nite is now its fifth week of operation in North America, where it appears on Fox Sports West on Wednesday at 23:00 EST.

To celebrate the show’s success, UB is also currently running a Poker2Nite Pro Challenge promotion, awarding two WSOP packages.

Nicole Rowe Applies for Million Dollar Challenge

Cancer victim Nicole Rowe will be trying out for a spot on the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.

Rowe is perhaps most well-known in the poker world for finishing second to Abraham Korotki, a man, in the 2009 Borgata Ladies Event.

Inspired by witnessing a taping of the Million Dollar Challenge, Rowe decided to enter a 10,000 player tournament on PokerStars just for the chance to audition for the show. She won the tournament and has since posted her audition video on YouTube.com.

“My plan is to come out and beat Daniel Negreanu for the $1 million and use that money for breast cancer awareness and donate a portion of my winnings to breast cancer foundations such as the Susan G Komen,” said Rowe in the video.

Earlier this week 911 Veteran Mike Kosowski became the first player in the show’s history to win all his heads-up matches and take home the $1 million first place prize.

PokerStars Introduces VIP Stellar Rewards

PokerStars upgraded its VIP program this week with the announcement of VIP Stellar Rewards.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, PokerStars players who earn 750 VIP player points will be able to go to the PokerStars store and spend 1 frequent player point (FPP) to receive $10.

It doesn’t stop there as players will have the opportunity for 18 cash bonuses as they journey from 750 VIP points all the way up to 90,000 Supernova status.

In total, players will receive an extra $1,000 if they make it all the way to Supernova thanks to the VIP Stellar Rewards program.

To learn more go to PokerStars.com.

GPI to Unveil New Poker Chip Technology

Gaming Partners International Corporation will present a dramatic new approach to the construction of poker chips at the 2010 International Gaming Expo in London on Jan. 26-28.

At the Expo, GPI will introduce RFIDPoker, which is being developed to improve accuracy and increase the speed of various actions at the poker table.

Easily fitted to any poker table the technology sees every chip outfitted with a small RFID chip, which makes calculating a pot size error free. The system can also calculate pot-size in real time, while a hand is being played out.

According to GPI’s studies, RFIDPoker has the potential to increase hands per hour by as much as 30%.

Titan Launches 2010 Irish Open Promo

The 2010 Irish Open doesn’t start until April, but Titan Poker is already running satellites to the tournament.

Titan Poker will run a weekly Super Satellite on Sundays that will award a $7,200 package, which includes the €3,500 buy-in. It’s possible to qualify for these weekly satellites for just $2.20.

The Irish Poker Open is the longest running No-Limit Hold’em tournament in Europe and it typically takes place over Easter weekend in Dublin.

Last year Christer Johansson beat Kara Scott heads-up to claim the €600,000 first place prize.

Titan Poker generally has a large presence at the Irish Open and last year sent 32 players to represent the brand.

Click here to learn more about Titan Poker’s Irish Open promotions.

Isildur1 May File Online Poker Data Mining Complaint

Online poker player "Isildur1" has been careful about keeping his identity a secret since bursting onto the high-stakes scene in October. However, poker publication PokerNews.com was able to track down the unknown Swede for an interview earlier this week to discuss his poker career, nosebleed matches with the game's best, and the recent scandal involving Brian Townsend and fellow Full Tilt Pros sharing hand histories.

Isildur1 has been on a wild ride since taking a shot at the highest games on Full Tilt. After recording massive wins over Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies early on, the Swede took severe hits to his bankroll during sessions with Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Brian Townsend. The million dollar swings caught the attention of the poker world and seemingly restored the Full Tilt nosebleed games that had appeared to be drying up in 2009.

When asked by PokerNews.com who his toughest and weakest opponents were at the $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha tables, the Swede didn't shy away: "Out of all the players I faced, I felt as if I had the biggest edge over durrrr. He tends to make some stupid plays, and I was able to take advantage of them. Phil Ivey was tough for me, as he only likes to play two tables at a time. But for me two tables is not enough action, and I had to play others at the same time."

While his losses to Ivey and others were gargantuan, it was a session against CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings that created a buzz never seen before in online poker. After five hours of ruthless heads-up Pot Limit Omaha action, Hastings walked away with $4.2 million of the Isildur1's money, leaving the Swede scratching his head over what took place during the richest match ever played online.

Shorty after the historic bout in an interview with ESPN, Hastings openly admitted to sharing hand histories with Townsend and Cole South in order to break down Isildur1's strategies. "Honestly, I give most of the credit to Brian Townsend here," Hastings told ESPN. "He analyzed a database of heads-up hands that Isildur1 had played and constructed ranges of what Isildur1 was doing in certain spots."

According to Full Tilt's Terms and Conditions, such a practice is not allowed: "The use of shared hand histories provides detailed information on opponents a player has little or no personal experience playing against, and is deemed to be an unfair advantage. Violating this policy is subject to the maximum penalties for prohibited software use." PokerNews.com made sure to ask Isildur1 if he knew of the restrictions that the site had in place involving data-mining and hand histories.

"I was not aware of the exact rule that you just mentioned," he replied, "but since seeing that it is in fact a rule at Full Tilt Poker, I think I am going to put through a formal complaint, as I think this is a case where the sharing of hand histories directly affected the match I played with Brian [Hastings].”

“I played with Brian Townsend and Cole South a lot," Isildur1 continued. "They were always waiting for me. The last session where Hastings won all the money, it just felt like something was wrong. Everything that could go wrong for me did. Every time I tried to pull off a bluff of some kind, it felt as if it was being picked off. At the time, I just thought it was crazy luck, but now, knowing they shared a lot of their analysis of hand histories with each other, it makes a lot more sense.”

This eye-opening information resulted in a month-long suspension for Townsend from Full Tilt as a Red Pro, meaning he won't collect any benefits (such as 100% rakeback), but should be able to continue playing on the site. He confessed to the violation in his blog, saying, "Of the three I was the sole one to break the T&C of Full Tilt. The three of us never shared hands where mucked hands were shown besides a few hands I posted on weaktight.org, and in fact all the information I received could be taken from watching the game."

Meanwhile, Isildur1 has virtually disappeared from Full Tilt Poker since his loss to Hastings, but he explained his reasoning behind his absence. "I still have a bankroll and will be back," he told PokerNews.com. " I am planning on putting in the request to Full Tilt to look into [the Townsend/Hastings situation] further, and until I hear back, I don't plan on playing much poker on the site.” Full Tilt Poker is the second largest online poker site in the industry, trailing only PokerStars.

We'll continue to bring you the latest high-stakes news involving Isildur1 and the Full Tilt Pros here at Poker News Daily.

Top Poker Professionals Speak Out About Data Mining

PokerNews Op-Ed: Hand History Analysis Has and Always Will Be Part of Poker

Isildur1 speaks about Brian Hastings

PokerNews got an interview from Isildur1 where the Swede “opens” up about the 4 million dollar losses he had against Brian Hastings.

Isildur1 tells that he didn’t know that Hastings had analyzed some hands what Isildur1 had played against other players. He also adds that he had played some NLHE and PLO against Hastings before, but only a few hands.

Isildur1 thought that he had been very unlucky against Hastings after he lost those 4 million dollars to him. But now, after there has been confirmation that Hastings, Cole South and Brian Townsend did indeed collude against him, he doesn’t believe in bad luck anymore.

He hasn’t been in touch with Hastings nor Full Tilt Poker yet but is going to make a formal complaint because they clearly broke the rules.

What makes the whole incident even more juicier is the fact that Isildur1 hasn’t analyzed any hands at all - not even his own ones. Only thing he has ever wanted to do, is to play poker, and play it against people who wants to play against him.

Isildur1 will not play on Full Tilt until he gets an answer to his complaint. He thinks he deserves at least somekind of compensation from his losses. Also, Isildur1 will not reveal his identity just yet, but will write about his rise to the high stakes games and how he has felt like playing against the best poker pros in the world.

Source: PokerNews

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Isildur1 speaks about Brian Hastings

Brian Townsend admits breaking Full Tilt rules

Full Tilt Suspends Brian Townsend

The allegations, which claimed Cole South, Brian Hastings and Townsend colluded to cheat Isildur1 out of millions, began almost immediately after Brian Hastings’ one-day $4.2 million dollar win against the unknown Swede.

The first public comments made by any of the accused came from an ESPN.com interview with Hastings and Townsend after Hastings’ big win.

According to Hastings, the three players worked together to understand and find weaknesses in Isildur1’s game.

"Honestly, I give most of the credit to Brian Townsend here. I mean, Brian is honestly the hardest worker I know in poker,” Hastings told ESPN.

“He analyzed a database of heads-up hands that Isildur1 had played and constructed ranges of what Isildur1 was doing in certain spots. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I'm very thankful to him and to Cole as well."

When it comes to sharing hands and information on opposing players, Full Tilt’s terms and conditions are very clear:

“Full Tilt Poker defines an unfair advantage as a user accessing or compiling information on other players beyond that which the user has personally observed through his or her own game play” (from item #8 of the Full Tilt T&C).

Townsend has taken full responsibility for the infraction, and through his blog clearly explained exactly what his infraction consisted of.

“I had about 20k hands of play on Isildur and I acquired another 30k hands” wrote Townsend.

“Of the three I was the sole one to break the T&C of Full Tilt. The three of us never shared hands where mucked hands were shown besides a few hands I posted on weaktight.org, and in fact all the information I received could be taken from watching the game.”

In layman’s terms, Townsend combined his own showdown hand histories with another 30,000 hands from South and Hastings to run definitive reports and queries on Isildur1’s game, allowing detailed strategic discussions between Hastings, South and himself, which directly led to Hastings having the successful session he did.

"At that level, to be successful, you really have to take advantage of the little things," Hastings told ESPN. "They can help make the difference. That's why [analysis and discussion] is so important."

The actual breach of Full Tilt’s T&C’s is considered a relatively small one, which the majority of serious online players are assumed to commit daily using software or websites to acquire or view hand histories from hands they were not specifically a part of. These histories do not share any private information and can be found through multiple sources, including PokerListings' own MarketPulse section.

As a result, Full Tilt decided to suspend Townsend’s Red Pro status on the site for a period of 30 days. It is assumed that during this suspension Townsend will no longer receive any of the benefits or rewards from being a Red Pro, potentially costing the online pro thousands of dollars.

As for the allegations of collusion, ghosting and multi-accounting, Townsend denies all claims.

“Cole, Hastings and I live about 3000 miles from each other," he wrote. "I have never played on Brian H's or Cole S's account.

When it comes to the issue of conglomerating hand histories, Townsend said that is simply not what happened.

"I analyzed the database I put together, and the three of us chatted about my analysis, and optimal strategy against Isildur," he wrote. "Any discussion we had occurred away from the table when we were not playing a session.”

Townsend was first suspended by Full Tilt for six months in 2008 after he admitted to moving down in stakes and playing under a secondary username "Stellarnebula".

He at no time played under mulitple usernames at the same table, but it is against the site's terms and conditions to have more than one active account at any time.

As of the time of publication Townsend ($1.5 mil), South ($210k) and Hastings ($3.8 mil) have taken a combined total of over $5.6 million from Isildur1.

As a result, Isildur1 currently sits with over $2.6 million in losses on the year, and appears to have either lost his roll or spirit. The Swede's last session came Sunday, resulting in a $25k loss from games as low as $10/$20 Pot-Limit Omaha.

Brian Townsend’s Full Tilt Poker Status Suspended for Isildur1 Controversy

In the wake of the arrival of Swedish high-stakes online poker player Isildur1, Brian “sbrugby” Townsend, a CardRunners instructor, has had his Full Tilt Poker Red Pro status suspended for one month.

According to PokerTableRatings.com, which has seen its traffic explode as a result of Isildur1 playing nosebleed stakes against the likes of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, and Patrik Antonius, Townsend took nearly $1.6 million off Isildur1 over 17,725 tracked hands. He ranks as Isildur1’s fourth “Worst Enemy” behind fellow CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings, Ivey, and Antonius.

The allegations of possible collusion against Isildur1 stemmed from an interview with Hastings posted by Gary Wise on ESPN.com. On his $3 million day against Isilaur1 that took place earlier this month, Hastings told Wise, “Obviously I'm happy and I'll take it, but Brian [Townsend] did a ton of work. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I'm very thankful to him and to Cole as well." Hastings’ comments, as benign as they may seem, ignited a firestorm of controversy around the industry as players cried foul on behalf of Isildur1.

Full Tilt Poker’s Terms of Service states, “Players are not permitted to use the hand histories for hands that they have not personally participated in.” Accordingly, poker software such as Poker-Edge, Poker Crusher, and IdleMiner are strictly prohibited because they give players an unfair leg up in the game. Examples of shunned practices in the Terms and Services also include “exchanging hand histories with a friend.”

In a blog posted on CardRunners.com, Townsend admitted to acquiring a total of 30,000 hands on Isildur1 to supplement his own chest of 20,000. The poker training instructor noted, “This is against the T&C of Full Tilt Poker and because of this violation I am going to have my red pro status suspended for one month.” CardRunners instructors are sponsored pros of the site as part of an agreement forged in March of 2008. The group also includes Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby, Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron, Andrew “muddywater” Wiggins, and 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Ryan “Daut44” Daut.

Townsend defended his actions, saying, “[Hastings, Cole South, and I] never shared hands where mucked hands were shown besides a few hands I posted on weaktight.org, and in fact all the information I received could be taken from watching the game.” Isildur1 has been notably quiet on the virtual felts after storming the high-stakes online poker scene last month. According to PokerTableRatings.com, of the eight largest pots in the history of online poker, Isildur1 has been involved in every single one, winning half of them. Antonius scooped the largest pot ever seen in the industry, which registered at $1.3 million.

This isn’t Townsend’s first run-in with Full Tilt Poker authorities. In September of 2008, his Red Pro status was revoked for six months after the pro engaged in multi-accounting. Townsend played under two monikers on the world’s second largest online poker site, “Stellarnebula” and “Brian Townsend,” resulting in the disciplinary action. Townsend donated $25,000 to charity to help make up for his transgressions, commenting at the time, “This is by no means me making my actions correct, but I hope that it shows some good faith towards those that I work closely with.”

In his most recent admission of violating Full Tilt’s Terms of Service, Townsend noted that he has never played on South’s or Hastings’ online poker accounts. He commented, “I analyzed the database I put together, and the three of us chatted about my analysis, and optimal strategy against Isildur.”

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest high-stakes headlines.

Isildur1 will most likely appeal against Hastings

Tony G wrote about Isildur1’s 4 million dollar loss to Brian Hastings in his latest blog entry. According to Tony G, Isildur1 is going to make a formal appeal against Brian Hastings.

Tony G is still really sure that Isildur1 is Viktor Blom and what he has heard are some rumblings about a potential controversy in the last session where Isildur1 lost those 4 million dollars. Isildur1 thinks that he played against the Team Cardrunners “Corporation” and is going to make a formal appeal to Full Tilt Poker.

After Hastings won those 4 million dollars, he has given some interviews which raised some doubts that Brian Hastings, Cole South and Brian Townsend would have colluded against Blom.

Full Tilt Poker commented the allegations on 2+2 forum and according to the user name “sean” (some Full Tilt Poker spokesman), Team Cardrunners didn’t collude against Isildur1.

Source: Tony G, 2+2

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Isildur1 will most likely appeal against Hastings

Are Team Cardrunners Cheaters or Just Hard Workers?

Brian Hastings had played against Isildur1 only three times before he obliterated him, but he, Cole South and Brian Townsend conglomerated their hand histories, which gave them bigger sample of hands to study how the mystery Swede plays.

In an interview of ESPN.com, Hastings gives most of the credit to Townsend:

“We’ve done quite a bit of studying of his habits,” Hastings reflected. “Honestly, I give most of the credit to Brian Townsend here. I mean, Brian is honestly the hardest worker I know in poker. He analyzed a database of heads-up hands that Isildur1 had played and constructed ranges of what Isildur1 was doing in certain spots.

In a way, I feel bad that it wasn’t Brian who got this win instead of me. Obviously I’m happy and I’ll take it, but Brian did a ton of work. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I’m very thankful to him and to Cole as well.”

Brian and Brian, cheaters or not?

The problem is that Full Tilt Poker has explicitly forbidden the use of shared hand histories. You can see it from this quote taken from the terms of Full Tilt Poker concerning programs that are prohibited at the site:

“Shared hand history databases and “data mining” software, including subscription services and the exchange of personal databases: The use of shared hand histories provides detailed information on opponents a player has little or no personal experience playing against, and is deemed to be an unfair advantage. Violating this policy is subject to the maximum penalties for prohibited software use.

Players are not permitted to use the hand histories for hands that they have not personally participated in. Software designed to collect hand history information from games that the player did not participate in is prohibited.”

Some might say “that rule concerns only programs that gather information”, but there is also another point at the site terms where using other players hand histories for your own use is prohibited:

Full Tilt Poker defines an unfair advantage as a user accessing or compiling information on other players beyond that which the user has personally observed through his or her own game play.

There might have been only one player playing against Isildur1, but still there was many players figuring out the moves Hastings made against him. Unfair? Maybe. Will Team Cardrunners walk away without punishment? Probably.

Even though Brian Townsend was suspended 6 months from Team Full Tilt last year after violating the rules, I doubt he or other Brian will be punished about this. After all there is a fine line between “having a conversation about other players between friends” and “sharing an information about other players between friends for getting an unfair advantage against other players”.

Still I somehow feel like Isildur1 got robbed by Cardrunners.

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Are Team Cardrunners Cheaters or Just Hard Workers?

Truly Free Poker Training Catching Fire as 2009 Comes to a Close

As 2009 comes to a close, the online poker tournament fields around the Web continue to become tougher with Truly Free Poker Training from CardRunners and StoxPoker. The program was launched earlier this year in conjunction with Full Tilt Poker.

After players enroll in Truly Free Poker Training, their Full Tilt Points (FTPs) will be tallied at the end of every month. A total of 5,500 FTPs are required for a one-month membership to CardRunners and 3,000 are needed to receive a one-month subscription to StoxPoker. For 8,500 FTPs, Full Tilt Poker customers can receive one month of poker training on each site. FTPs aren’t deducted from a player’s account; they are merely a way to ensure that customers keep coming back to the world’s second largest online poker site.

Free poker training from CardRunners and StoxPoker is actually doled out in weekly increments, with 750 FTPs required for one week of StoxPoker and 1,375 needed for a week of CardRunners. The latter’s Director of Marketing, Lana Maier, told Poker News Daily, “There are no diplomas in poker and you might as well light a bonfire with your money if you stop improving. Members of CardRunners and StoxPoker understand this and thousands of them enjoy complimentary poker training simply by playing at Full Tilt Poker. It costs no points and takes two minutes to sign up. There is no easier or more cost-effective way to stay on top of the games running today.”

Truly Free Poker Training does not affect rakeback on Full Tilt in any way and players can begin receiving their education the month after they’ve earned the requisite number of points. The total number of points a player has is displayed when customers of the site log into CardRunners or StoxPoker. Full Tilt Poker happily accepts players from the United States.

A dozen CardRunners instructors are members of Team Full Tilt, including Taylor “Green Plastic” Caby, Brian Hastings, and Brian Townsend. Hastings was the recent winner of more than $4 million at the expense of Swedish online poker player Isildur1. All told, according to Poker Table Ratings, Hastings has amassed $3.8 million from the mystery Swede in just 8,400 hands, an average of $450 per pot. Hastings has quickly emerged as one of the top high-stakes pros after his domination of Isildur1. In addition to Hastings, CardRunners instructors Townsend, Cole "CTS" South, and Haseeb "INTERNETPOKERS" Qureshi have all battled against the Swede on Full Tilt.

Other CardRunners instructors include Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron and Ryan “Daut44” Daut. Baron has taken down the Full Tilt $750,000 Guaranteed and PokerStars $100 rebuy during his poker career. In April, he emerged victorious from the field in a $55 rebuy held during the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) for $97,000. Daut won the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $1.5 million, defeating Isaac Haxton heads-up. He also final tabled that year’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT).

In September of 2008, CardRunners and StoxPoker merged, creating one of the largest poker training conglomerates in the industry. Six months earlier, CardRunners instructors officially joined Team Full Tilt. In January of this year, Truly Free Poker Training was launched, with a CardRunners representative telling Poker News Daily at the time, “We’re always looking to give something back to our community. Our relationship with Full Tilt Poker made this possible. We approached Full Tilt Poker and said we should try to structure an arrangement whereby if a player is high-volume, then we can give them something for free like a CardRunners membership.”

Full Tilt Poker is the second largest site in the world, boasting a seven-day running average of 19,200 real money ring game players, according to PokerScout.com. During its peak hours, around 30,000 cash game players call the site home, giving Truly Free Poker Training customers ample ways to accrue FTPs.

Isildur1 loses $600,000 to the CardRunners boys

“Isildur1? couldn’t make a new comeback

“Isildur1″ and Brian Townsend had a short $300/$600 PLO session on Full Tilt Poker yesterday. “Isildur1″ managed to win $80k that time.

They had a new session last night and this time it didn’t end up well for the Swede. Townsend won a bit over 440,000 dollars and “Isildur1″’s games for the last 24 hours are down $434,000.

“Isildur1″ should have only 100,000 dollars on his Full tilt account after the last session - if we believe the latest rumors.

“Isildur1″ has managed to make a nice comeback with a short bankroll before, but can he do the same now?

Source: Highstakesdb, 2+2

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“Isildur1″ couldn’t make a new comeback

Brian Hastings Beats Isildur1 for Over $3 Million

Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Brian Townsend had each taken big portions of the mysterious Isildur1's bankroll over the past month and a half. On Tuesday, it was Brian Hastings' turn. The 21-year-old Full Tilt Pro and CardRunners instructor brawled with Isildur1 at the $500/1,000 Pot Limit Omaha tables on Full Tilt and, five hours later, walked away with more than $3 million of the Swede's money, resulting in one of the biggest winning sessions in online poker history.

Isildur1 had a profitable weekend before colliding with the Hastings buzz saw on Tuesday. He played more than 11,500 hands with the likes of Townsend, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, and Tom "durrrr" Dwan, adding close to $3 million to his account and climbing out of the red as a winner on the site, according to PokerTableRatings.com.

As we've seen many times in the short span the Swede has graced Full Tilt's nosebleed games, Isildur1 lost most of it back. Hastings decided to take a shot against him on Tuesday and the action picked up right off the bat. In one of the very first hands of the match, Hastings raised his button to $3,000 and Isildur1 re-raised to $9,000. Hastings put in another raise to $27,000 and Isildur1 called. The flop came 10c-6h-2s. Isildur1 checked, Hastings led out for $40,000, and the Swede check-raised to $174,000, putting Hastings all-in. Brian called off his remaining $89,000 and showed Qh-Js-Th-8c for a pair of tens, but trailed Isildur1's Kc-Ks-Jh-10d, a pair of kings. The Kd fell on the turn, giving Isildur1 top set and Hastings several outs to hit a straight. Hastings would get there on the river, as an ace gave him Broadway and a pot of $311,000.

That hand seemed to presage the rest of the match between the two players. Isildur1 was the victim of a several of unlucky river cards during the session and when Hastings sat out with the intention of quitting ahead, the Swede let his emotions get the best of him in the chat box, saying, "just f off. u know how lucky u are? i can promise this is the worst luck anyone had."

Hastings agreed to play 30 more minutes, but things didn't change much. The biggest hand of the match came with Isildur1 sitting behind a stack of $252,463 and Hastings having more than $471,000. Again, Hastings raised the button to $3,000, Isildur1 re-raised to $9,000, Hastings 4bet to $27,000, and Isildur1 called. On the 10h-3s-3c flop, Isildur1 checked, Hastings fired $18,000, and the Swede called. The 6h came on the turn and again Isildur1 check-called, this time a bet of $72,000. He checked for a third time when the river brought the 4c and Hastings moved all-in. Isildur1 called and mucked his hand when Hastings revealed 8h-7d-5h-4d for a straight. The Full Tilt Pro pulled in a pot worth more than $500,000.

The amount Hastings won from Isildur1 Tuesday ranges between $3.2 million and $4.2 million, depending on which high-stakes database site you look at. Regardless, it was the biggest day of his poker career and he reflected on the massive win in his blog on CardRunners, saying, "Wow. I just had the biggest winning day in online poker history. Did this really happen? For it to happen, one needs a combination of very large amounts of both skill and luck. And here I am, winning a record $4.18 million in one day (well not exactly -- no I didn't have 100% of my own action, and no I am not going into any further detail about this) playing online poker.”

We'll continue to bring you the latest high-stakes action between Isildur1 and the Full Tilt Pros here at Poker News Daily.

Brian Hastings Lives the Dream, Reflects His Special Day

Brian Hastings, a member of Cardrunners and the Full Tilt pro team, is humble and grateful after winning the record amount of money in one day. He acknowledges that for the accomplishment he needed not only skill, but also huge amounts of luck.

In his latest blog post Hastings tells the story of his poker career from the very beginning. It all started in the spring 2005 when Hastings was a 16 year-old high school junior and had played poker only in home games with his friends. Then he found out that his math teacher was playing online poker and he started to chat about poker with him.

Hastings wanted to try online poker too and created an account and started to play with play money. After a couple of weeks he deposited $50 and started to play with real money. Hastings spent next summer playing poker and dedicated the time in improving his game.

As one of the original members of Cardrunners, Hastings acknowledges that CR and 2+2 had a large impact on his game. He spent hours after hours reading and discussing strategy posts. Improving his game and a learning process has always been the exciting part of the poker for Hastings.

After he felt that he had learned all about NLH, Hastings started to play PLO, but found out that the transition wasn’t an easy one. He would normally win in NLH and lose most of his winnings at PLO tables. Afterwards he feels that he started to play PLO way too high and should’ve started by playing smaller games.

Hastings is fortunate that he has such a good friends like Brian Townsend, Cole South and Taylor Caby. He also gives credit for Isildur1, who he thinks is “an excellent player in his own right”. Even though it is two adults gambling with their money and knowing the risks, Hastings does feel bad for the Swede. Hastings knows what the downswing feels like after losing $1.4 million last year, taking 100% of his own action.

The whole post is very long and here is just main points of it, but the way how he talks about things shows how humble man Brian Hastings is even after winning a staggering amount of money in just one day. The blog can be found here.

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Brian Hastings Lives the Dream, Reflects His Special Day

Antonius Cleans up at 7-Game

The one rule of thumb in the high-stakes world is simple: The action will always follow the biggest fish.

And until Isildur1 showed up on the scene, it was Hansen at the top of everyone’s hit list.

“There has been a trend in the online high stakes,” Hansen told PokerListings. “People have been following this guy who is called Gus Hansen. So I think, very soon, there is going to be some action in the 7-game mix.”

With Isildur1 either taking a break or busto after his latest loss, Antonius, Chau Giang, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Matt Hawrilenko, David Benyamine, Brian Townsend, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, John Juanda and David Oppenheim all spent the night playing mixed games with Hansen.

Antonius came out on top, up over $510k, well ahead of Giang (AKA "La Key U" online), who finished next in line with almost $248k.

Surprisingly, it was the fish of the game who took third place in profit, with Hansen leaving the session up over $222k.

The largest loser on the night was Hawrilenko, who dropped over $432k. Second place on the bad side went to Sahamies, who ended the night down over $395k.

Townsend, who was one of the first high-stakes players to make the move to 7-Game earlier this year, lost over $312,000, twice as much as Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who left the session down $153k.

The rest of the players either won or lost less than $100k.

For more on the latest trends in high-stakes online poker, and what the biggest names in the game have to say about it, check out PokerListings' State of the High Stakes Poker Nation.

Hastings and Antonius dominates early December

Just like in November, December has been filled with high stakes action on Full Tilt Poker. “Isildur1″ has been swinging like crazy. He has flown high, only to crash and burn hard.

“Isildur1″ likes the rollercoaster

After losing almost his whole bankroll, “Isildur1″ hasn’t been seen online, so it’s a good time to look at the high stakes results for December.

Brian Hastings and Patrik Antonius are the most dominant figures

Brian Hastings got an early christmas present after he destroyed “Isildur1″. Hastings won over 4 million dollars in just one session.

Also Patrik Antonius has been busy. He has made about 2,5 million dollars in early December.

Jani Vilmunen, the fresh Full Tilt Poker red pro, has had a great start as well after he signed his deal. He has won a bit over $200k so far.

Jani Vilmunen debating at the Grand Casino Helsinki

December hasn’t been good for everyone

“Isildur1″ and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies are by far the biggest losers in December. “Isildur1″ lost almost his whole bankroll to Brian Hastings and is down about 3 million dollars. “Ziigmund” isn’t far behind with his 2,3 million losses.

Top 5 winners for December:

1. Brian Hastings – $4.236.390
2. Patrik Antonius – $2.525.807
3. Tom “durrrr” Dwan – $769.083
4. Rafi “howisitfeellike” Amit – $512.649
5. Andrew “Browndog19? Brown – $490.734

Top 5 losers for December:

1. “Isildur1? – -$2.904.413
2. Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies – -$2.314.851
3. Brian Townsend – -$1.639.984
4. “jungleman12? – -$551.394
5. “thecranium” – -$274.614

“Isildur1″’s game graph for last 30 days:

Source: Highstakesdb

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Hastings and Antonius dominates early December

Isildur1 Drops $3.2 Million to Hastings

Isildur1’s session started around noon, playing Brian Townsend heads-up at $500/$1,000 PLO. Their session lasted four hours with over 2,400 hands dealt, and despite winning the largest pot of the day, worth $757,998, Townsend left the session up just a little over $45k.

Just six minutes after Townsend mucked his last hand, fellow CardRunners instructer Hastings took the empty seat across from the unknown Swedish player and began to open fire.

The session was a digital massacre from the start with four pots worth over $500k, and another dozen over $400k.

Surprisingly, Hastings actually started the session by losing close to $1 million before going on a sick $4.2 million dollar heater to end the 2,565 hand session up over $3.2 million.

One of the first tables Hastings sat at, named Stony Ridge, began with him putting $100k into play against Isildur1’s $200k across the table.

After multiple $100k+ pots, the two players played the largest pot of their session when Isildur1 moved all in on the turn with top-two pair, getting called by Hastings with a wrap straight draw. The river completed Hasting's straight, shipping him the $682,994 pot.

Thanks to the $682k pot and numerous other pots worth over $100k each, Hastings was able to turn his starting $100k stack into just over $1.3 million before finally dropping the table.

This $3.2 million dollar loss puts the Swedish unknown back down over $2.1 million on the year, almost exactly where he was just five days ago.

Below are the three largest pots of the day. You can find more by clicking to MarketPulse.

Brian Townsend plays the biggest online pot of his career

After a long night’s work, “Isildur1″ has finally went to bed. In his latest Full Tilt Poker session he played against Patrik Antonius, Brian Townsend and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies - again.

The matchup between Townsend and “Isildur1″ was the wildest one - the Swede got Brian to sit down on four $500/$1000 PLO tables. At one point Townsend was up over million dollars, but ended up winning only $80k.

During the wild heads up, Townsend played the biggest online pot of his career - $719,908!

After all the play the results ended up like this:

“Isildur1? – $+1,504,810
Patrik Antonius – $+368,464
Brian Townsend – $+79,818
Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies – $-1,999,754

The Swedish wonder ninja still manages to surprise - If you believe the rumors, he has made $60k into over three million dollars in just two days!

Source: Highstakesdb

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Brian Townsend plays the biggest online pot of his career