Nosebleed round-up

Player of the week: ilvdnfl

With everyone and their dog emigrating Down Under for this month’s Aussie Millions, the high-stakes tables have undergone something of a lull. But poker’s biggest names have still made sporadic appearances to the felt and our standout pro has to be ilvdnfl.

Rumoured to infamous nosebleed grinder Di ‘Urindanger’ Dang, ilvdnfl has gone on a six-figure heater this week, taking down the PokerStars tables for more than $300,000. And if the mysterious new face really is Dang, that puts the PLO specialist up more than $1.6million since the start of 2011, including Full Tilt winnings.

But unknown Russian pro NEKOTYAN has not had such a good week. The nosebleed pro is fairly new to the high-stakes scene and may not be around for too long if his 2011 downswing continues to gather pace. Since the turn of the year, NEKOTYAN has lost more than $1,000,000, including a whopping $800,000 in the past seven days alone.

However, the biggest news of the week is that two of the nosebleed’s most high-profile pros will lock horns this Sunday in the latest SuperStar Showdown.

Dan ‘jungleman12’ Cates, the high-stakes star of 2010, is lacing up his boots for a clash with Viktor ‘everyone knew I was Isildur1 all along’ Blom across four tables on PokerStars.

The duo will each put down $150,000 for a 2,500 hand battle on the $50/$100 tables, and the railbirds are close to exploding with excitement! Check back with us next week to see who’s crowned the new high-stakes king.

Hand of the week:

Our hand of the week goes to ilvdnfl, whose $186,714 pot was the highlight of a hard fought session against fellow high-flyer Also11 on PokerStars $200/$400 PLO tables.

Also11 min raised from the button with 8d-6s-7c-10c, and ilvdnfl threebet to $2,160 with Jd-9d-Ac-4c. Also11 came back over the top for $4,800 and ilvdnfl flat called. 8h-3c-5c on the flop gave both players a slew of outs and they were keen to get all their money in the middle. A 9-c on the turn gave ilvdnfl the nut flush, leaving Also11 drawing dead.

Winners*

Patrik Antonius  $736,773
jungleman12  $395,559
ilvdnfl  $386,171
Gus Hansen  $337,153
Also11  $320,604

Losers*

NEKOTYAN  -$816,700
Phil Ivey  -$384,023
Sauce123  -$248,508
Bttech86  -$199,103
babayaro  -$175,524

*as of Jan 27