March 28 2011, Chad Holloway

Last week, it took Viktor “Isildur1” Blom 1,439 hands to dismantle fellow Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and take his entire $150,000 bankroll in the SuperStar Showdown. It was a landslide, to say the least. On Sunday, Negreanu returned to the virtual felt for a rematch. Blom not only entered with all the momentum, but he also boasted an intimidating SuperStar Showdown record of 4-1.

SuperStar Showdown Breakdown

How It’s Played: While the SuperStar Showdown may conjure images of the “durrrr Challenge,” there are some differences. The SuperStar Showdown is designed as a one-time high-stakes match where challengers face Blom in a heads-up match of 2,500 hands (as opposed to the “durrrr Challenge,” which is 50,000 hands and can last over many months — or years).

The match is played across four tables of $50/$100 or higher no-limit hold’em and/or pot-limit Omaha, depending on the competitor’s preference. The winner is the player who shows a profit at the end of the match or who felts his or her opponent in the process. What’s more, the SuperStar Showdown matches are announced in advance, so poker fans can enjoy the action live on PokerStars, unlike the “durrrr Challenge,” which has been inconsistent. In this particular match, Blom and Negreanu decided to duplicate their first match by playing four tables of heads-up no-limit hold’em.

The Outcome: Early on, things looked as if they might be a repeat of their first meeting. In fact, Negreanu was down $120,000 in 1,300 hands, which was just over the halfway point of the match. Amazingly, Negreanu was able to right the ship and mount an epic comeback. He not only did lasted the entire match, but he also managed to erase his deficit and finish $26,500 in the black.

Here is a look at a few of the biggest and most notable hands from Blom and Negreanu’s second match.

Fast Start for Blom: Within 350 hands Blom, had managed to build a lead of $28,000 and continued to add to that over the next hour. In one hand, Negreanu opened for $300, Blom reraised to $1,000, and Negreanu made the call. When the flop fell , Blom fired out $1,200 and was met with a raise to $3,100 from Negreanu. Blom responded by moving all in, Negreanu called, and the cards were turned up.

Negreanu:
Blom:

Negreanu had floppd a flush and was in a dominating position; however, that all changed when the hit the turn followed by the river. Blom went runner-runner to hit a full house and take the $27,700 pot.

Not long after, Negreanu looked down at and got it all in preflop against Blom’s . Once again he was in a dominating position and once again that all changed when the flop delivered a queen. The rest of the board blanked for Negreanu and he lost the $20,100 pot, prompting him to comment in the chat, “This is unreal.”

Time for a Comeback: Negreanu found himself down $119,600 after 1,279 hands and seemed to be in big trouble. Things looked bleak until a few timely double-ups put him back in contention. In one hand, Negreanu four-bet to $2,400 with pocket queens, Blom five-bet shoved for $27,550 holding , and Negreanu called off his remaining $12,800. The queens held to send the $30,400 pot to Negreanu, who didn’t stop there.

A short time later, Negreanu held and got all his money in on a flop, Blom had plenty of outs with the , but both the turn and river blanked, cutting his lead over Negreanu in half. Things seemed to have turned around for Negreanu who used that momentum to four-bet preflop and see a flop of . Blom checked, Negreanu bet $3,100, and Blom check-raised to $7,650. Negreanu, who held the bigger stack, wasted little time in moving all in and Blom called off for $17,700.

Blom:
Negreanu:

The turn and river changed nothing and Negreanu took down a pot worth $56,300.

Winding Down: Negreanu managed to ride his momentum into the black and somehow managed to wrest the lead from Blom. In their last all-in pot, Blom held and three-bet shoved on a flop of . Negreanu made the easy call holding and sweated the turn and river. Ship the $20,000 pot to Negreanu, who wound up winning a modest $26,500 in the match, putting him down $123,500 over the course of both matches.

Big Pots: After the match, Negreanu took to his blog to discuss the match and commented on the big pots he played against Blom: “In total we played 39 pots of 20k or more . . . I ended up winning $26,500, EV adjusted was $55,000. Now, I know some people hate that I post the EV adjusted total, but I think it’s a very interesting note to add to the results of a session so I’m not going to stop doing that, even if I start running above EV. In the two matches versus Isildur1, I ran a combined 70k below average in all in pots. I’m not whining about it, I swear! Just posting the facts people. Of the 39 pots we played that were 20k or bigger, I won 21-18. Over both matches I lost 23-30.”

Next Up?: The next SuperStar Showdown has already been announced. This weekend, on Sunday, April 3, Blom will square off against Scott “urnotindangr” Palmer in another two-part match. As always, you can watch that match on PokerStars.

SuperStar Showdown Breakdown

If you want to find out more details and hands from this installment of the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown, check out the PokerStars Blog.

Want to learn more on the SuperStar Showdown and on other happenings in the poker world? If so, be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

February 18 2011, Chad Holloway

The online high-stakes cash games at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were in full swing during the midweek. Many of online poker’s biggest stars were in action including Patrik Antonius, Scott “UrnotINdanger2” Palmer, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Phil Ivey, and Gus Hansen.

Sahamies Playing on PokerStars

One player we haven’t covered too much in 2011 is Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. This well-known Finn didn’t have a particularly good year in 2010, and that downswing carried over into the New Year — he is down almost $200,000 on Full Tilt Poker. Well, it appears the online pro has decided to try his luck over at PokerStars where he is playing under the name “Ilari FIN.” Wouldn’t you know it, the change of scenery seems to be working. After playing 1,200 hands of of $25/$50 and $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha against Daniel “w00kie3z” Cates and “LooneyGerbil,” Sahamies notched a nearly $50,000 win.

In Sahamies’ largest hand, LooneyGerbil ($33,090) raised to $400 on the button only to have Sahamies ($54,682) reraise to $1,400 out of the small blind. Cates folded in the big and LooneyGerbil called to see the flop come down . Sahamies led right out with a bet of $2,998, which LooneyGerbil raised to $9,800. Not content, Sahamies popped it to $32,398 and LooneyGerbil called off for $31,690.

Sahamies:
LooneyGerbil:

Sahamies was ahead with a flopped set of kings but LooneyGerbil was drawing to both straight and flush out. That all changed when the spiked on the turn. Sahamies hit quads to lock up the hand and take down the $66,380 pot.

Antonius and Palmer Continue Epic Battle

Our weekend Online Railbird Report reported on an epic heads-up match between Patrik Antonius and Scott “UrnotINdanger2” Palmer over at the Full Tilt Poker $500/$1,000 PLO tables in which nine pots crossed the $200,000 mark. Luckily for online spectators, that match has continued into the midweek. On Wednesday, a hand developed when Palmer ($241,482.50) was on the button and raised to $3,000 and was reraised to $9,000 by Antonius ($350,454.50) in the big blind. After Palmer called, the ran out on the flop, which Antonius checked. Palmer took the opportunity and promptly bet $12,000.

After Antonius called, the appeared on the turn. Once again Antonius check-called a bet, this time to the tune of $32,000, as the spiked on the river. Again it went check, bet $64,000, and call. Palmer flipped over for a full house and Antonius mucked. $234,000 pot to Palmer.

A few minutes later, Antonius took his revenge. It began when Palmer ($165,996) raised to $3,000 on the button, Antonius reraise to $9,000, Palmer made it $27,000, and Antonius called. That led to a flop of , which went check, bet $18,000, and call. When the was put out on the turn, Antonius checked and then called off for his remaining $64,999.50.

Antonius:
Palmer:

Antonius had hit a full house on the turn and was getting maximum value. They ran the river twice but neither the on the first run nor the on the second helped Palmer and the $219,999 pot helped ease Antonius’ earlier beat.

Hansen vs. Ivey

Everyone loves a good Phil Ivey story, especially one involving fellow Full Tilt Pro Gus Hansen. It just so happened the two squared off in the early hours Thursday morning over at the $500/$1,000 CAP PLO tables. In one big hand, Ivey ($73,999.50) raised to $2,000 on the button and was met with a reraise to $6,000 by Hansen ($45,999.50). Not one to be intimidated, Ivey made it $18,000 to go and Hansen called before the flop fell .

Hansen didn’t take long to fire out $22,000, which Ivey called to cap the pot at $80,000. At that point, the cards were turned on their backs.

Ivey:
Hansen:

Ivey was ahead with his pair of aces and even added a flush draw when the hit the turn; however, that same card gave Hansen two pair and the lead. Ivey needed some help on the river and got it when the hit, giving him two pair and counterfeiting Hansen.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down?

Week’s biggest winners (2/15-2/17): Gus Hansen (+$476,186), Matt Hawrilenko (+$336,710), Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$326,258), Phil Ivey (+$187,832), “sauce1234” (+$187,114), “bixiu” (+$112,844), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$110,624)

Week’s biggest losers: “fishosaurusREX” (-$489,239), Rui Cao (-$297,616), Jared “harrington25” Bleznick (-$243,492), “rumprammer” (-$208,336), David Benefield (-$179,710)

Year-to-date winners: Gus Hansen (+$3,060,850), “fishosaurusREX” (+$882,479), “EazyPeazy” (+$795,896), Di “ilvdnfl” Dang (-$740,816), Alex Luneau (-$725,545)

Year-to-date losers: Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond (-$1,098,097), Tom “durrrr” Dwan (-$1,053,206), “UarePileous” (-$919,543), “kagome kagome” (-$837,004), “Kpederson” (-$543,009), Cole South (-$517,363), “cadillac1944″ (-$478,669)

Want to rail the biggest games in the world? Not only will you get a $600 sign-up bonus at Full Tilt Poker, but new depositors also get to play in a $100,000 First Deposit Freeroll — so you can play while you watch! And while you’re at it, follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.