February 03 2012, Chad Holloway

In the last week, the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship concluded in Melbourne, Australia, and essentially dominated the poker headlines. Add to that a lull in Viktor “Isildur1” Blom activity, who if you recall was responsible for a great deal of action the week before, and it made for a relatively quiet week on the virtual felt – except for a hacking situation involving Daniel Negreanu.

With that said, there was still enough action to keep the railbirds interested. In fact, the biggest winners of the week were all familiar names. The biggest winner over the past seven days was Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky, who banked $255,090 in 19 sessions of 2,935 hands. Rounding out the top four were Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil ($245,823 in 59 sessions/8,254 hands), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($211,791 in 170 sessions/14,000 hands), and Ville Wahlbeck ($209,391 in 19 sessions/2,103 hands).

Eunjong Byun was the week’s biggest loser after dropping $253,926 in 29 sessions of 4,677 hands. Benny “Toweliestar” Spindler (-$195,619 in 19 sessions/2,530 hands), nasud 11 (-$190,077 in 125 sessions/12,641 hands), and Zypherin (-$170,568 in 8 sessions/2,557 hands) round out the top four losers.

K_O_S_T_Y_A Tops a Subdued Friday

The most notable action last Friday concerned a heads-up $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha match between “nasud 11” and the Russian pro “K_O_S_T_Y_A.” The two played on eight tables and in the end, K_O_S_T_Y_A won $109,000, which made him the day’s biggest winner.

In their biggest hand of the day, K_O_S_T_Y_A ($35,248.15) opened for $300 on the button and nasud 11 ($64,502.44) three-bet to $900 from the big blind. K_O_S_T_Y_A made the call and watched as nasud 11 fired out $1,079.70 on the flop. K_O_S_T_Y_A responded by raising to $3,000, nasud 11 called, and the appeared on the turn.

At this point, nasud 11 checked, K_O_S_T_Y_A bet $6,100, nasud 11 check-raised to $26,099.50, and K_O_S_T_Y_A moved all-in for $31,348.15. Nasud 11 called the additional $5,248.64 and the cards were turned up.

Showdown

Both players had turned a full house, but K_O_S_T_Y_A’s kings full of tens were best. The river was of no consequence and K_O_S_T_Y_A took down the $70,496.30 pot.

In the other big hand between the two, K_O_S_T_Y_A ($36,064.30) opened for $300, nasud 11 ($28,288.50) called, and the two saw a flop of . Nasud 11 checked, K_O_S_T_Y_A bet $500, nasud 11 check-raised to $1,779.59, and K_O_S_T_Y_A called, bringing about the turn. Nasud 11 led out for $3,326.94, K_O_S_T_Y_A raised to $14,139.54, and nasud 11 moved all-in for $26,208.90. K_O_S_T_Y_A called the additional $12,069.35 and the cards were turned up.

Showdown

Nasud 11 had flopped top set, but K_O_S_T_Y_A had turned a straight to take the lead. The former needed the board to pair on the river, but it was not in the cards as the appeared. K_O_S_T_Y_A took the $56,577 pot.

Even though he lost big in the aforementioned hand, nasud 11 managed to beat Terje “Terken89” Augdal in a heads-up match to finish in the black; consequently, Augdal was the day’s biggest loser as he dropped $226,000 throughout the day.

Kyllönen vs. “nasud 11” in Weekend Rumble

The mysterious “nasud 11” was back in action on Saturday as he took on Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen in some $50/$100 PLO matches. When the dust settled, Kyllönen was the day’s biggest loser, dropping $113,600, while nasud 11 finished as the day’s big winner with $96,000. Their match took place throughout Saturday and into the early morning hours of Sunday.

As the weekend wore on, Kyllönen managed to fight back and got revenge on nasud 11 by winning $161,500 on Sunday. Most of that came in a four-hour session comprised of 850 hands. There were two big hands in the match.

Hand #1: Kyllönen ($135,687.04) was on the button and opened for $300, which nasud 11 ($33,148.75) three-bet to $800 from the big blind. Not to be outdone, Kyllönen four-bet $2,400, nasud 11 called, and the flop came down . Nasud 11 proceeded to check-call a bet of $3,100 before checking the turn. Kyllönen kept the pressure on with a $7,800 bet, but this time nasud 11 moved all-in for $27,648.75, which Kyllönen called.

Showdown

Both players had flopped trip aces with a king kicker, but the spiked on the river to give Kyllönen a winning full house and the $66,297.50 pot.

Hand #2: Kyllönen ($38,082.75) opened for $300, nasud 11 ($30,908.04) exercised his option in the big blind with a raise to $900, and Kyllönen made the call, leading to the flop. Nasud 11 wasted little time in firing out $1,079.70, Kyllönen raised to $4,700, nasud 11 three-bet $15,899.50, and Kyllönen moved all-in for $37,182.75. Nasud 11 called off his remaining $14,108.54 and the cards were turned on their back:

Showdown

Kyllönen had flopped two pair to crack nasud 11′s aces. He did not relinquish the lead as the appeared on the turn followed by the on the river and was shipped the $61,816.09 pot.

Negreanu’s PokerStars Account Hacked

There were some interesting games on Monday and Tuesday involving Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu at the $50/$100 and $100/$200 no-limit hold’em tables. On Monday, “wobbly_au” was the day’s biggest winner after profiting $138,000, some of which came from Negreanu.

In the biggest hand of the day, which happened at a six-handed table, wobbly_au ($53,979.90) was under the gun and opened for $400, which cleared the field all the way around to Negreanu ($116,598.69) in the big blind. He made the call and then checked the flop. Wobbly_au took the opportunity to bet $700, Negreanu check-raised to $2,100, wobbly_au three-bet $3,500, Negreanu four-bet $12,100, wobbly_au five-bet $21,200, and Negreanu moved all-in. Wobbly_au called off his remaining $32,379.90 and discovered his had Negreanu’s drawing dead. The and were run out on the turn and river, as wobbly_au was pushed the $108,009.80 pot.

In another hand, action was four-handed when “sat1337en” ($6,695) opened for $400 under the gun and Negreanu ($50,070) three-bet to $1,200 from the button. Wobbly_au ($40,128) then exercised his option in the small blind with a four-bet to $3,200, sat1337en folded, and Negreanu made the call, leading to a flop of .

After his opponent checked, Negreanu bet $3,800, wobbly_au called, and the peeled off on the turn. Again wobbly_au check-called a bet, this time $11,000, and the was put out on the river. Wobbly_au checked for a third time, and Negreanu shoved all -n. Wobbly_au quickly called off his remaining $22,128 and revealed , which bested Negreanu’s .

Surprisingly, Negreanu ended up as the day’s biggest loser on Monday, dropping $98,000, though he got about $50,000 back in the early morning hours of Tuesday. This is where things got interesting.

According to reports, Negreanu’s PokerStars and email accounts had been hacked, meaning it was not him playing in the hands mentioned above. Negreanu explained on Twitter:

Negreanu also posted the following on TwoPlusTwo:

“I was on an airplane home while this guy was joyriding my Stars account. He hacked my email and I got that back, still figuring out what happened. When I have all the details I’ll share when it makes sense to. Some of you NVGtards really thought that was me??? Man HSP has really done wonders for my image ”

According to HighStakesDB, the unknown hacker played over 400 hands under Negreanu’s account and lost more than $46,000. The hacking incident is currently under investigation by PokerStars.

Biggest weekly winners/losers all on PokerStars

Week’s biggest winners (1/27-2/2): Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$255,090), Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (+$245,823), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($211,791), Ville Wahlbeck (+$209,391)

Week’s biggest losers: Eunjong Byun (-$253,926), Benny “Toweliestar” Spindler (-$195,619), nasud 11 (-$190,077), Zypherin (-$170,568), Rafi “refaelamit” Amit (-$164,085)

Year-to-date winners: patpatman (+$916,534), Jens “Jeans89” Kyllönen ($745,211), Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky (+$671,148), Niklas “ragen70” Heineckerragen (+$608,130), bernard-bb (+$544,615), Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (+$437,377), Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (+$349,939)

Year-to-date losers: Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond (-$663,653), GVOZDIKA55 (-$499,607), long90110 (-$369,936), VietRussian (-$354,355), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (-$350,537)

Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com

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January 31 2012, Chad Holloway

In 2007, the amiable Raymond Rahme was introduced to the poker masses after making the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event, becoming the first person from Africa to do so. Rahme, then 62, the elder statesman at the final table, outplayed some tough competition on his way to a third-place finish and $3,048,025 prize.

Rahme, married with six children, still lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and continues to play poker, a hobby he has enjoyed for more than three decades, though he spent the vast majority of that time playing stud. So how did a 62-year-old retired bed-and-breakfast operator come to play in the WSOP? He actually won a travel package after taking fourth in the 2007 “All Africa Poker Championship”, the largest poker tournament ever held in Africa.

Since his final table appearance, Rahme has racked up some notable tournament cashes. In November 2007, he took first in the All Africa Poker Shootout Tournament for $15,038 and then won another All Africa Poker tournament in May 2008 for $142,371. In addition, he has other cashes from the Aussie Millions, European Poker Tour, WSOP, and WSOP Europe.

PokerNews caught up with Rahme at the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship to find out what he’s been up to since 2007 and how making the final table changed his life.

What have you been up to since your final table appearance at the 2007 World Series of Poker?

I had two and a half good years. I won all the major tournaments in South Africa, cashed in Europe, cashed in London, Italy, and Monte Carlo. Some very good cashes, but no wins, unfortunately, no final tables. Close to it though. I’ve had two Aussie Millions cashes, a 36th and 46th, and Europe also in the thirties, just missing the final tables.

I started to run a bit cold and I also slowed down on the traveling. I have a very big family. A lot of children, grandchildren, a big family, brothers and sisters, so I slowed down on the traveling to spend time with them. I had a bit of a break, about a year and a half. Played a little in between. I played the World Series Main Event, made it down to Day 4 or 5, that’s why I’m having a bit of a bad run. So I just slowed down with it and am starting again this year.

When you made the WSOP final table, did it result in any sort of “boom” in South Africa?

Yes, very much so. It’s still going well there, still big there. Since then there have been a couple of South Africans who’ve had good showings at the World Series like Warren Zackey, who finished took 22nd in 2009, and Konstantinos Mamaliadis, who took 13th in the Main this last year. So we’ve had a couple of good years.

The poker boom was not as big as Australia’s. We’ve only got a certain demographic of the population that plays, but it’s been good.

After your third-place finish, did you make any big purchases?

Just tiny investments. Some were good, some were bad. Properties have been bad, as you know, and I did invest in a bit of property. It’s been rough, but not damaging. That’s about it.

In 2007, they didn’t have the concept of the November Nine, which was introduced in 2008. Is that something you would have liked when you made the final table?

It’s got its pluses and minuses. I think, going into the final nine, I probably would have liked it. The pluses were that you had four months to negotiate deals, whereas I signed a deal when we were down to 37 players. They approached me and I signed then, so the deal I got wasn’t as lucrative as what they’re getting today [with the November Nine]. So that’s the pluses.

The minus is, as a poker player, if went deep and if I got to the November Nine, I may have wanted to play it out. You’re running hot, and you can continue running hot. Yes, it can change, but I thought I could continue running hot and go deeper. [With the November Nine] they have four months to check out the other players and see their style of play . . . To play to win, I think I’d like to play throughout.

What did your family think of your deep run? Were they in Vegas with you?

Only my wife was with me. I had a couple of relations based in Vegas, a lot of South Africans who weren’t family, but they were good to me. Back home, my family never slept. They are nine hours ahead of America, and the kids, my grandchildren, didn’t go to school, because they were watching the updates. My son-in-laws and daughters all sat up. They were very ecstatic.

You spent some time as a Team PokerStars Pro. What was it like being a sponsored pro on the circuit?

I was one for two years. It was very good, they were very good to me. I have no qualms with them. I think they were buckling down a bit, with the perks that they were giving, and maybe I wasn’t happy with it. At the same time, there was just too much traveling. You play ten tournaments abroad, and I was playing tournaments in South Africa, it just became a lot. I opted to go my own way. Also, you go to the same places all the time, and I decided I wanted to go to different places.

Speaking of different places, the Aussie Millions has become quite popular. How long have you been coming to Melbourne?

I’ve been playing this for maybe six years now, since 2007. The tournaments are unbelievable. You can’t say they’re better than the World Series, which gets 7,000 players . . . but outside of that, the Aussie Millions is one of the best tournaments in the world.

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