For over a year, PokerStars, which was formerly known for tournaments, has successfully filled the high-stakes void left by Full Tilt Poker’s departure from the market. When PokerStars acquired its former competitor and relaunched the brand last month, this raised the question as to whether the high-stakes cash games would shift back to FTP. If this week’s Online Railbird Report is any indication, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Earlier this week, FTP began the Full Tilt Online Poker Series XXI (FTOPS XXI),, comprising 35 events and representing the return of one of online poker’s most prestigious tournament series.

For a look at the FTOPS XXI results thus far, click here.

Where there are good tournaments, there are also great cash games, and this has been the case all week on FTP. While the week’s biggest winner, “1Il|1Il|1il|” (+$453,595 in 223 sessions/14,828 hands), actually came from PokerStars, the next five biggest winners came from FTP. They included Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (+$424,914 in 36 sessions/3,430), Ilkka “LokoIsBack” Koskinen (+$323,988 in 15 sessions/3,290 hands), Ben “1Mastermind” Chen (+$316,723 in 42 sessions/3,051 hands), “DealMeInFast” (+$299,501 in 28 sessions/3,716 hands) and “pummelfee123” (+$281,070 in 30 sessions/4,570 hands). With that said, it’s worth noting that Sulsky, who plays under “Sauce123”, lost $210,887 over on PokerStars.

Speaking of losers, no one lost more from Nov. 29 through Dec. 4 than Tom “durrrr” Dwan, a member of FTP’s “The Professionals”. He dropped a painful -$688,178 in 8,886 hands across 63 sessions, though that was a far cry from the -$1,829,404 his fellow Professional Gus Hansen dropped the week before. Not surprisingly, the next three biggest losers also came from FTP-“patpatpanda” (-$405,207 in 60 sessions/9,959 hands), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (-$337,375 in 32 sessions/2,912 hands) and Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver (-$302,063 in 31 sessions/2,199 hands).

“1Il|1Il|1il|” Closes November with a $445K Score

On Friday, Nov. 30, the $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha games were going strong over on PokerStars. Once again, “1Il|1Il|1il|” and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies were fueling the action and were joined by an assortment of other high-stakes pros like “patpatman” and Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky. Not surprisingly, the biggest pots of the day were between Sahamies and “1Il|1Il|1il|”, with the former dropping $430K and the latter winning $445.4K.

In one hand, action was three-handed when “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($173,555) opened for $1,200 on the button, Sahamies ($100,000) three-bet to $4,240 from the small blind, and “patpatman” ($116,870) folded the big. “1Il|1Il|1il|” then pushed back to the tune of $14,560, Sahamies called, and the flop came down , which both players checked. When the turned, Sahamies led out for $27,355, “1Il|1Il|1il|” called, and the completed the board on the river. Sahamies wasted little time in moving all in, “1Il|1Il|1il|” called, and suddenly, a $200,475 pot was on the line. Sahamies revealed for a nine-high flush, but it was no good as “1Il|1Il|1il|” tabled for an ace-high flush.

Ilari Sahamies

In another notable hand, which was actually four handed, Sahamies ($148,641) opened for $1,720 from the cutoff, the button folded, and “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($87,785) three-bet to $5,880 from the small blind. The big got out of the way, Sahamies called, and then “1Il|1Il|1il|” fired out $8,400 on the flop. Sahamies refused to back down and raised to $37,675, and then called an additional $44,230 when “1Il|1Il|1il|” moved all in for $81,905.

Showdown
“1Il|1Il|1il|”:
Sahamies:

“1Il|1Il|1il|” had flopped top two pair while Sahamies had a pair of aces with various draws. The turn gave the Finn a bunch more outs, but the river was not what he needed. Ship the $176,125 pot to “1Il|1Il|1il|”.

Speaking of hands where Sahamies ($70,018) had plenty of outs, action was heads-up when “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($337,137) opened for $880 and then called when Sahamies three-bet to $2,800. The flop saw Sahamies check-call a bet of $4,400, and then check the turn. “1Il|1Il|1il|” took the opportunity to bet $11,200 but was soon met with a check-raise to $48,158 by his opponent. “1Il|1Il|1il|” opted to three-bet, and Sahamies called off his last $14,660 to create a pot worth $140,034. The completed the board on the river, and Sahamies turned over for a pair of sixes and a lot of missed draws. Not surprisingly, “1Il|1Il|1il|” won the pot with .

All three of those pots, though nice, were well behind the day’s largest pot, which was awarded to “patpatman” at Sahamies’ expense. In that hand, action was three-handed when Sahamies ($155,505) opened for $1,640 on the button, “patpatman” ($127,025) called from the small blind, and “1Il|1Il|1il|” ($171,443) three-bet to $6,800 from the big. Two calls ensued, the flop came down , and “1Il|1Il|1il|” bet $12,400 after “patpatman” had checked. Sahamies made the call, and then “patpatman” sprung to life with a check-raise to $34,400. “1Il|1Il|1il|” folded, Sahamies three-bet to $148,635, and “patpatman” called off his remaining $85,825. The and were run out on the turn and river respectively, and “patpatman” tabled for top set. Sahamies simply mucked and watched the $273,325 pushed to his opponent.

Year’s Biggest Winner Makes His Presence Known on Full Tilt to Durrrr’s Detriment

Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky is currently the year’s largest online winner thanks to $3.6 million in profit over on PokerStars, but on Sunday, Dec. 2, Sulsky made his presence known on Full Tilt Poker when he won $258,400 playing under “Sauce1234”. That came courtesy of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, who lost $214,600 at the $200/$400 no-limit hold’em tables. Despite being dismantled by Sulsky, Dwan did manage to win the day’s biggest pot, which actually came from a five-handed $75/$150 PLO table.

It began when Dwan ($69,444.50) opened for $450 under the gun and Chris “Genius28” Lee ($25,16.50) called from the cutoff. “Patpatpanda” ($75,272) then three-bet to $2,150 from the button, both blinds folded, and Dwan four-bet to $7,700. Lee got out of the way, “patpatpanda” five-bet to $24,700, Dwan called, and the flop fell . Dwan wasted little time in leading out for $45,900, and then called off his remaining $969.50 when “patpatpanda” raised.

Showdown
“patpatpanda”:
Dwan:

“Patpatpanda” held aces, but they were no good as Dwan had flopped top two pair. The duo agreed to run it twice, but neither the on the first run nor the on the second delivered “patpatpanda” salvation. With that, Dwan scooped a pot worth $139,636.

More on Dwan’s FTP Slide

Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s return to Full Tilt Poker actually happened back on Nov. 17, which he followed up by playing five days in a row. It was during this time that he chose to take on no-limit hold’em specialist Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar in $300/$600 heads-up NLHE. That match didn’t result in any big swings-Millar won $15K in an hour and a half over 460 hands-but it did produce a couple of interesting hands.

In the first, Millar ($64,799.50) raised to $1,200 on the button, Dwan ($116,035) defended from the big, and the appeared on the flop. Dwan proceeded to check-raise Millar’s $1,440 bet up to $5,600, Millar three-bet to $12,600, and Dwan four-bet $30K. Millar called, the peeled off on the turn, and Dwan quickly put out a big bet, which saw Millar call off his remaining $33,599.50.

Showdown
Millar:
Dwan:

Dwan had flopped two pair, but Millar had taken the lead by making a bigger two pair on the turn. The river failed to help Dwan, and he watched the $129,599 pushed to the man from the U.K.

Here’s a look at the other notable hand from that match:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

More recently, FTP once again produced the biggest winners and losers this past Monday, most of which came from the $200/$400 no-limit 2-7 Triple Draw tables. It was there that Dwan dropped -$478K, most of which went to the day’s three biggest winners-“DealMeInfast” (+$275.7K), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (+$219.4K) and Ben “1Mastermind” Chen (+$203K).

Biggest Winners/Losers

Week’s biggest winners (11/29-12/4): “1Il|1Il|1il|” (+$453,595), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky* (+$424,914), Ilkka “LokoIsBack” Koskinen* (+$323,988), Ben “1Mastermind” Chen* (+$316,723), “DealMeInFast”* (+$299,501), “pummelfee123”* (+$281,070), Alex “Kanu7” Millar (+$241,727)

Week’s biggest losers: Tom “durrrr” Dwan* (-$688,178), “patpatpanda”* (-$405,207), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene* (-$337,375), Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver* (-$302,063), “NyPogadi11” (-$253,897), “kagome kagome”* (-$221,595), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (-$210,887), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$208,148), “patpatman” (-$179,869)

Biggest Year-to-date winners: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$3,630,292), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen (+$2,464,966), Ben “Ben86” Tollerene (+$2,217,507), “EireAbu” (+$2,176,527), Alex “Kanu7” Millar (+$1,601,077), Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker (+$1,558,324), “bernard-bb” (+$1,507,058), Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (+$1,417,998), “longerpig” (+$1,392,569)

*Indicates Full Tilt Poker

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

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Tom ” durrrr” Dwan and Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom haven’t had any epic battles at Full Tilt Poker since 2010, but that’s about to change this weekend. We’re bringing you that story, plus the return of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Zynga is making a move to enter the real-money gaming market in Nevada. Get the full story here at PokerNews.com.

The 2012 World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic resumed Wednesday in Las Vegas. Michael Mizrachi finished Day 2 as the leader, but several notables were right on his heels.

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) resumed on Wednesday. Who took down the biggest score? Find out in our FTOPS XXI Day 4 recap.

Phil Hellmuth is moving up the Global Poker Index after his impressive run at the World Series of Poker this year. Did he do enough to crack the top five in this week’s rankings? Mickey Doft breaks down the biggest movers and shakers of the GPI.

Day 1c of the 2012 World Poker Tour Prague Main Event took place on Tuesday. Yannick Bonnet was the leader with 197,200 chips, just 7,000 more than Kevin MacPhee.

Clash Of The Professionals

Online railbirds will have good reason to log into Full Tilt Poker on Sunday. At 15:00 ET, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom will face off at the site for the first time in nearly two years, each putting up $100,000 across four tables for a winner-take-all heads-up match.

Blom announced the terms of the match via Twitter on Thursday:

Dwan and Blom make up two-thirds of The Professionals, Full Tilt Poker’s pro team (Gus Hansen is the other member). But the two cash-game specialists have battled for millions of dollars in the past, playing some of the biggest pots in online poker history. Blom has gotten the best of Dwan for the most part, taking more than $4.5 million from his nemesis during their previous encounters at Full Tilt Poker, according to Poker Table Ratings.

During a four-day stretch in 2009, Dwan lost more than $3 million to the Swede. At that time, Blom’s real identity was unknown; it wasn’t until the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that Blom was revealed as the mysterious Isildur1.

Although this doesn’t quite have the feel of some of their previous battles, we still expect some eye-popping action at Full Tilt Poker on Sunday. Be sure to check out PokerNews on Monday for the results.

NBC Brings Back National Heads-Up Poker Championship

After a one-year hiatus, the popular NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship will return in 2013, according to a Twitter post by POKER PROductions on Thursday.

The $20,000 buy-in event will run from Jan. 24 through 26 at Caesars Palace, the same venue where the event was held from 2005 through 2011. POKER PROductions announced Thursday that episodes will arrive in March and run for six consecutive weeks. Each episode will air for two hours.

The event posted a respectable 1.5 rating during its seven years on NBC, but the network pulled the plug after PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, two of the show’s biggest advertisers, were removed from the U.S. market.

The National Heads-Up Poker Championship is mostly an invitation-only event featuring 64 of the world’s top poker players and celebrities. Phil Hellmuth won the inaugural event in 2005, and he was followed into winner’s circle by several heavy hitters, including Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Annie Duke, and reigning champ Erik Seidel.

The show is produced by Poker PROductions, the same company that produces the World Series of Poker for ESPN, as well as Poker After Dark. In an interview with PokerNews in February, producer Mori Eskandani said there was a “90 percent chance” that the event would return to TV in 2013.

“That’s a very fun event and I know it’s going to be sorely missed this year, but it’s coming back,” Eskandani told Chad Holloway. “All these shows are coming back, it’s just that things got murky out there, and like I said, all of a sudden there were dark clouds up there. I know it’s still there and all of us are hoping it’ll go away. I’m confident, I have a lot of faith in our justice system, and I think things will get worked out.”

Aria Introduces Multi Action Poker

The Aria poker room might be on the brink of something big. On Wednesday, the room launched a new poker format dubbed Multi Action Poker, a new format intended to increase the action of live poker – similar to the multi-table options you’d find online.

Photo c/o John Kim

The table may look odd and unique, but the concept is simple: each player is dealt two hands, each of which will be placed over a red spot and a blue spot separated by a wooden plank to distinguish hole cards and chip stacks from each player. The table will remain a nine-handed game with two dealers facing each other in the middle of the table with two decks in play. There will also be different colored chip stacks, but for the time being, Aria has not implemented this technique.

Aria officials explain that the games will start off as limit hold’em but are open to the players wants if there’s interest. “For speed, it’s definitely better suited for limit games,” Timothy Frazin, creator of the game, told PokerFuse. “But it’s not called multi speed poker; it’s called Multi Action Poker. If you want action, it’s built for action.”

Many players have tweeted photos and posted mixed reactions on the TwoPlusTwo forums. Frazin initially thought of the idea in 2007 but didn’t act on it until recently. Using trial runs, he has already worked out the quirks to run a smooth game.

“I love the action,” said Frazin. “And if you’re a casual player, this could draw you in.”

PokerFuse has more.

Celebs, Poker Pros Go All-In for CP

On Saturday, Dec. 8, the Fifth Annual All-In for CP charity poker tournament will be held at the Venetian in Las Vegas. The event, co-hosted by actress Cheryl Hines and poker pro Karina Jett, aims to raise funds toward easing the lives of those with cerebral palsy.

The charity tournament kicks off at 2 p.m. PST and features a $500+$40 buy-in with $200 rebuys for the first 90 minutes. Among the celebrities and poker pros scheduled to attend are Donnie Wahlberg, Sam Simon, Jennifer Tilly, Joe Jonas, Rick Tocchet, Mekhi Phifer, Scotty Nguyen, Mike Sexton, Mike Matusow, Antonio Esfandiari, Patrik Antonius, Andy Bloch, and Phil Laak.

Players who reach the final table will receive a share of more than $25,000 in cash and prizes. There will also be on-site raffles with rare and collectible memorabilia.

The One Step Closer Foundation has raised more than $460,000 in the first four All-In for CP charity poker tournaments, including $290,000 in 2011 alone. The event is the brainchild of Jacob Zalewski, who copes with cerebral palsy and serves as president and CEO of the One Step Closer Foundation. Over the years, Zalewski has made friends with many of poker’s biggest stars, many of whom support his foundation by playing in the event.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights from last year:

Get more information about the great event at the One Step Closer Foundation website.

Check out the original source here! Originally from PokerNews.com