Biggest Online Poker Pots Of All Time

This is a discussion on Top 5 Pots Of ALL TIME In No Limit Hold'em Online within the online poker forums, in the General Poker section; Hello everyone! Here is a video about the 5 biggest pots. Nov 26, 2015 The top five biggest online poker pots of 2015 (so far) were revealed this week by the High Stakes DB website, and predictably Viktor “Isildur1” Blom stars in four of them. We say predictably.

Nicole Gordon

These pots are worth more than your car. They're worth more than your house. And in many parts of the United States, they're worth more than an entire block of houses. Even among the few dozen rarefied high-stakes online players who exchange six-figure sums on a daily basis, losing one of these monsterpottens can be a soul-crushing affair… and several of them have done it one more than one occasion (hello Ziigmund!). You'll notice a lot of familiar faces in the lineups that produced these record-setting pots including Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Di 'Urindanger' Dang, Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond, and Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, who laid claim to four out of the ten largest online pots ever played (though he also lost two of the top three). Some are classic aces vs. kings confrontations, others see straights flushed away and one was won by nothing more than a pair of deuces. Behold, online poker's ten largest pots, all played on Full Tilt Poker.

10. $585,009 – Jay 'pr1nnyraid' Rosenkrantz vs. TonyBliar, $500/1,000 NLHE

June 25, 2008. Until that day, the record for the largest online pot was over two years old-- belonging to a $465,451 hand played between Fast_Freddie and Johnny 'bad_ip' Lodden on the Ladbrokes network back in June 2006. Jay 'pr1nnyraid' Rosenkrantz and 'TonyBliar' ended up shattering the record that night while playing on the newly created $500/1,000 'Rail Heaven' table on Full Tilt Poker, but the strange manner in which the hand played out, not to mention the fact that 'TonyBliar' had never played such high-stakes before, led to forum discussions as to whether the hand was staged for publicity's sake. Check out the action and decide for yourself.

Playing heads-up, TonyBliar opened for $3,000 from the button/small blind, Rosenkrantz reraised to $11,000 from the big blind and TonyBliar called. The flop came down . Rosenkrantz led out for $19,000 and TonyBliar called. The turn brought the and Krantz fired another $53,000, which TonyBliar flat-called. The river fell the and Rosenkrantz bet $61,000. TonyBliar put in a raise to $122,000, only to be met with a three-bet all in from Rosenkrantz for his remaining $209,504. TonyBliar called off his last $87,504 and showed for a full house. Rosenkrantz had him beat with the for a bigger boat and raked in the pot.

9. $593,935 - Tom 'durrrr' Dwan vs. Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies, $500/$1,000 PLO

March 4, 2009. Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies were playing heads-up on Dwan's own deep-stacked $500/1,000 PLO table.

Dwan raised to 3,000 from the button, Ziigmund reraised to 9,000 from the big blind and Dwan called. Sahamies led out for 18,000 on the flop, Dwan raised to 51,600, and Sahamies called. The came on the turn, Sahamies leading again for 121,200. Dwan flat-called. Sahamies moved all in for $244,897 when the fell on the river , and Dwan snap-called for his remaining $115,167, showing for aces full of jacks. The nut straight Sahamies had flopped with was toast and Dwan dragged the massive pot.

8. $609,730 – Guy 'patatino' Laliberte vs. Hac 'trex313' Dang and Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond, $500/1,000 NLHE

September 12, 2008. Guy 'patatino' Laliberte, 'regista8,' Hac 'trex313' Dang, Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond, and Tom 'durrrr' Dwan were playing five-handed $500/1,000 no-limit hold'em.

Laliberte limped in for $1,000 from UTG+1, Dang completed the small blind, and not content to just check his option from the big, Galfond put in a raise to $5,000. Both of his opponents called. The flop came down . Dang checked and Galfond made a continuation bet of $9,200, which kicked off a raising war. Laliberte made it $35,000 to go, and Dang came back over the top for $88,000. It was enough to chase Galfond away, but Laliberte responded with an all-in bet of $337,080. Dang called for the $292,767 he had behind and the cards went on their backs.

Biggest Online Poker Pots Of All Time

From behind computer screens the world around, jaws dropped as the hands were revealed. Laliberte showed for a naked flush draw while Dang turned up for a lower flush draw and an open-ended straight draw. As the percentages fall, Laliberte was actually a 62.6% favorite in the hand with his queen-high. The on the turn gave Laliberte bottom pair, but Dang could still survive with a non-diamond jack, nine, seven, or queen. However, the river blanked out with the , Laliberte winning $609,730 with a lowly pair of deuces. At the time, this shattered the record for the largest online pot ever played.

7. $617,968 – Tom 'durrrr' Dwan vs. Sami 'LarsLuzak' Kelopuro, $500/1,000 NLHE

October 28, 2008. Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and Sami 'LarsLuzak' Kelopuro were settled in, playing a little $500/1,000 no-limit hold'em. Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies had just joined the action, buying in for $100,000 but was not dealt into this hand.

Kelopuro kicked off the action with a raise to $3,000 from the small blind, and Dwan called. Dwan checked the flop, opening the door for Kelopuro to put out a $4,000 continuation bet. Dwan came in with a check-raise to $12,700 and Kelopuro called. The landed on the turn and Dwan took the lead, betting $24,700. Kelopuro came along again with a call. The on the river didn't slow Dwan down at all, firing another $68,700. Kelopuro moved all in for his entire $270 832 stack and Dwan called.

Kelopuro turned up , his massive river bluff having failed in the worst way possible. Dwan showed and raked in the pot with top two pair.

6. $637,353 – Sami 'LarsLuzak' Kelopuro vs. Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies, $500/1,000 PLO

December 21, 2008. Sami 'LarsLuzak' Kelopuro, Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies were playing five-handed $500/ 1,000 pot-limit Omaha.

Gus Hansen opened the action with a min-raise to $2,000 from under-the-gun. Ivey and Dwan folded, and Sahamies came in with a reraise to $7,000 from the small blind only to have Kelopuro, sitting in the big blind, four-bet it to $23,000. Hansen gave up his hand but Sahamies called. Sahamies checked the flop, Kelopuro bet $32,000 and Sahamies called. The on the turn put two flush draws out there and Sahamies responded with a pot-sized bet of $112,000. Kelopuro called. When the fell on the river Sahamies moved all in for $205,327 and Kelopuro called off the $150,677 he had behind.

Though Sahamies had turned the nut straight with , Kelopuro rivered the ace-high flush with , snatching away the $637,353 pot.

5. $643,986 – Tom 'durrrr' Dwan vs. Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies and LokoIsBack, $500/1,000 PLO

December 31, 2008. As the clock ticked down toward 2009 over Western Europe, David 'MR B 2 U SON' Benyamine, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, Patirik Antonius, 'LokoIsBack', and Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies were engaged in a New Year's Eve session of $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha.

Benyamine open-limped from UTG, Dwan raised to $4,500, Antonius folded, LokoIsBack flat-called from the small blind and Sahamies came in with a pot-sized raise to $19,000 from the big blind, setting LokoIsBack all in. Benyamine folded, Dwan called, and LokoIsBack called. Sahamies and Dwan went to war on the flop, Sahamies betting $58,000 Dwan potting to $232,000, Sahamies moving all in for $350 993, and Dwan making the call.

With all three players all in, the cards were turned up, Sahamies with for a wrap draw and a flush draw, Dwan with for top set and a higher flush draw, and LokoIsBack for a pair of sixes and a gutshot straight draw. It was all over on the turn, however, the falling to make Dwan quads. The inconsequential hit the river and Dwan took down $643,986.

4. $657,070 – Tom 'durrrr' Dwan vs. Di 'Urindanger' Dang, $500/1,000 NLHE

December 6, 2008. A five-handed $500/1,000 NLHE game came together around Guy 'elmariachimacho' Laliberte, featuring Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, Di 'Urindanger' Dang, 'LokoIsBack', and Phil 'OMGClayAiken' Galfond.

Dwan was the initial raiser, making it $3,000 to go from UTG, and Dang reraised to $10,500. LokoIsBack, Laliberte and Galfond all folded and Dwan called. Dwan took a $17,600 stab at the pot on the flop, Dang raised to $44,200, and Dwan called. Dwan fired again when the came on the turn, betting $71,200 and Dang flat-called. The river fell the and Dwan moved all in for $201,887, getting a call from Dang. Dwan's bottom set with was good, Dang mucking his hand and Dwan dragging the $657,070 pot.

3. $678,069 - John Juanda vs. Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, $500/1,000 NLHE

October 26, 2008. An epic five-handed session unfolded featuring Phil Ivey, Di 'Urindanger' Dang, Guy 'elmariachimacho' Laliberte, John Juanda and (of course) Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, where the record for the largest online pot ever would be broken four times at this table over the course of the night.

Ivey folded UTG, Dang raised to $3,000, Laliberte called, and Juanda came in with a three-bet to $14,500 from the small blind only to have Dwan four-bet to $43,800 from the big. Dang and Laliberte both folded, but Juanda came back over the top for $137,400. Dwan moved all in for $382,304, and Juanda called, turning up to Dwan's . Though the flop was a safe and the turn the , the spiked on the river, Juanda hitting a two-outer to soul-crush Dwan, win the $678,069 pot, and break the record for the largest online pot ever played.

Juanda, however would hold this record for all of forty-five seconds. Read on…

2. $687,024 – Phil Ivey vs. John Juanda, $500/1,000 NLHE

October 26, 2008. The same crazy session.

On the very next deal, Dang folded, Laliberte limped in, and Juanda raised to $4,500 on the button. Left with only $2,468 after the last pot against Juanda, Dwan moved all in from the small blind, putting the action on Phil Ivey in the big blind. Ivey decided to three-bet to $16,958, successfully chasing out Laliberte, but Juanda responded with a four-bet to $54,370. Ivey flat-called and they saw an flop. Ivey checked, Juanda bet $112,208, Ivey moved all in for $287,409, and Juanda called.

Juanda turned up for a king-high flush draw while Ivey showed for middle set. Ivey's hand held up on the turn and the river, winning the $687,024 pot from Juanda and wresting away his record (not to mention his profit) in the process.

1. $723,938 – Di 'Urindanger' Dang vs. Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, $500/1,000 NLHE

October 26, 2008. It's about eight hours after the wild session that bore the last two record-setting pots. 'La Key U', Di 'Urindanger' Dang, Guy 'elmariachimacho' Laliberte, Gus Hansen, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, and John Juanda are playing six-handed.

La Key U folded UTG, Dang opened for $3,000, Laliberte flat-called, and Dwan raised to $16,300 from the cutoff. Juanda and Hansen folded, but Dang came back over the top for $45,000. That got Laliberte to fold his hand but Dang made the call. Dwan and Dang got out all their artillery on the flop, Dwan check-raising Dang's $52,700 bet to $139,500, only to have Dang move all in for $367,671. Dwan called and turned up , but Dang had him crushed with . The turn was the , the river fell the , and Dang earned the largest pot in online poker history, a $723,938 monster which still holds the record today.

Nicole Gordon's 'Poker Top 10' lists appear weekly here at PokerNews. Dreaming about joining the high-stakes online action? There's no better place to start than opening an account today at Full Tilt Poker.

  • Tags

    Full Tilt PokerGus HansenIlari 'Ziigmund' SahamiesJohn JuandaPhil IveyPoker Top 10Sami KelopuroTom Dwan
  • Related Players

    Phil IveyJohn JuandaGus HansenTom DwanSami Kelopuro

Last week, Denmark's Gus Hansen appeared on the Joey Ingram podcast and gave some unique insights into his life. At one point in the podcast, Hansen said he wasn't planning to play the big games online anymore, after his attempts on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker had resulted in a combined result of minus $20 million.

Still, 'The Great Dane' returned to the high stakes anyway, sitting down on Wednesday in a $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha game on partypoker called 'Trickett's Room', named after partypoker Ambassador Sam Trickett.

While he broke with his vows, the result of plus $336,866 must have excited Hansen.

Gus Hansen wins a $205,000 Pot (1,025 Big Blinds) from Leon 'KingsOfLeon' Tsoukernik
($100/$200 PLO 6-Max)

In a massive pot, replayed by Ingram, Hansen won over $200,000 in a hand against Trickett and King's Casino owner Leon 'KingsOfLeon' Tsoukernik.

The action began with Tsoukernik opening to $700 from the hijack before Hansen three-bet to $1,200 from the cutoff. Trickett then cold four-bet from the button to $4,600 and the players in the blinds folded.

Tsoukernik called before Hansen jacked it up with a five-bet to $18,700. Trickett and Tsoukernick called before the flop came .

The action continued to pick up with Tsoukernik leading out with a pot-sized bet of $42,295. Hansen then went all-in for $146,701. Trickett folded and Tsoukernik called his remaining stack of $39,522.

PlayerHandEquity on
Gus 'Gus__Hansen__' Hansen75.49%
Leon 'KingsOfLeon' Tsoukernik24.51%

Hansen was a 3:1 favorite in the hand and Tsoukernik was drawing dead after the turn gave Hansen a flush. The completed the board on the river shipping Hansen a pot worth $205,929.

You can check out this hand and another that Hansen lost here, compliments of Joey Ingram.

Ingram actually did a long live stream showing the action, which can be viewed here.

Gus Hansen wins a $336,866 Pot (1,684 Big Blinds) from Leon 'KingsOfLeon' Tsoukernik
($100/$200 PLO 6-Max)

Tsoukernik opened the cutoff for $700 before Hansen on the button three-bet to $2,400. The blinds got out of the way and Tsoukernik four-bet to $7,500. Hansen called to see a flop.

On , with $15,295 in the middle, Tsoukernik bet pot. Hansen called and the two got the on the turn to work with. Tsoukernik bet pot again, this time for $45,885, and Hansen tanked for a bit.

Tsoukernik had $61,556 behind and would soon have to commit it as Hansen moved in. Tsoukernik called.

PlayerHandEquity on
Gus 'Gus__Hansen__' Hansen82.5%
Leon 'KingsOfLeon' Tsoukernik12.5%

Hansen was in great shape and collected the full pot when the on the river paired the board.

You can watch the hand here, courtesy of the partypoker Twitch stream.

Catching Up on High Stakes Action: Three Biggest Pots of The Week

In addition to the huge action last week at partypoker, there were tons of big pots played at PokerStars as well. The top 29 hands according to HighStakesDB.com all took place at $100/$200 pot-limit Omaha tables.

1) Ben 'Sauce123' Sulsky wins a $86,895 Pot (434 Big Blinds) from 'BERRI SWEET' (March 29)
($100/$200 PLO 6-Max)

The action began in the biggest pot of the week at PokerStars with 'BERRI SWEET' raising the button to $600 and Ben 'Sauce123' Sulsky three-betting to $1,800. 'BERRI SWEET' four-bet to $5,400 and Sulsky called to bring the preflop pot already up to $10,800.

Both players checked on the flop. Sulsky fired out for $3,567 after the appeared on the turn and got a call from his opponent.

Sulsky led out for $5,517 after the completed the board on the river. 'BERRI SWEET' raised to $34,481 and Sulsky called. Sulsky shipped a huge pot of $86,895 after he turned over for the second nut flush, good against the over pair and nut-flush blocker held by 'BERRI SWEET' with .

2) 'BERRI SWEET' wins a $77,966 Pot (390 Big Blinds) from Ben 'Sauce123' Sulsky (March 29)
($100/$200 PLO 6-Max)

The second biggest hand of the week took place five hours before the biggest pot, involving the same duo of 'BERRI SWEET' and Sulsky. This time, 'BERRY SWEET' was able to get the best of Sulsky to snag a pot worth $77,966.

The hand kicked off with 'BERRI SWEET' opening from the button for $600 before he called a three-bet from Sulsky to $1,800. Sulsky then led out for $2,037 on the flop and got called.

After the appeared on the turn, Sulsky check-raised a bet from 'BERRI SWEET' from $2,297 to $11,196. 'BERRI SWEET' called and the completed the board on the river.

Sulsky jammed his remaining stack of $23,957 and 'BERRI SWEET', who had him covered, called. Sulsky turned over for trips, which proved to be no good against the flush held by 'BERRI SWEET' with .

3) Rui 'PepperoniF' Cao wins a $64,337 Pot (322 Big Blinds) from Sami 'Lrslzk' Kelopuro (April 1)
($100/$200 PLO 6-Max)

The high-stakes duo of Rui 'PepperoniF' Cao and Sami 'Lrslzk' Kelopuro battled it out on April 1 when the third biggest hand of the week took place.

Kelopuro opened the action to $680 from the button and called a three-bet from Cao to $2,120. Cao led out for $2,600 on the rainbow flop and Kelopuro called.

Cao check-called a bet of $7,614 after the paired the board on the turn. Cao then checked again after the completed the board on the river. Kelopuro fired out a huge bet of $19,795 and had just $9,771 behind.

Cao raised the action enough to cover Kelopuro's chips. Kelopuro folded his cards went to the muck, while Cao collected a huge pot of $64,337 without revealing his cards.

This Week's Online High-Stakes Biggest Winners and Losers

Biggest Online Poker Pots Of All Time Game

Rui 'PepperoniF' Cao was easily the biggest winner of the week notching up a healthy profit of $210,102 while also winning three of the six biggest hands of the week. His big week catapulted him from a small career loss at PokerStars into one of the site's profitable players in high-stakes games.

On the flip side, one of Cao's victims Sami 'Lrslzk' Kelopuro lost the most money this week by recording the week's only six-figure deficit of $104,081.

(user)namehandsprofit/loss 3/29- 4/4profit/loss 2018profit/loss all time
Winning Players
1Rui 'PepperoniF' Cao1,864+$210,102+$279,697+$195,717
2'BlackFortuna'609+$43,981+$216,659+$363,225
3Ben 'Sauce123' Sulsky1,440+$41,445+$248,468+$5,410,074
4'MMAsherdog'2,733+$32,484+$17,751-$17,005
5'Venividi1993'315+$27,283+$46,953+$63,451
6Joni 'bustoville' Jouhkimainen1,142+$27,035+$27,928+$30,562
7Andras 'probirs' Nemeth1,029+$24,487+$163,772+$224,734
8'Xplode7777'816+$24,091+$35,797-$27,170
9'haochunyang'262+$19,477+$19,353+$19,353
10Jonas 'OtB_RedBaron' Mols717+$19,295-$262,537+$2,109,645
Losing Players
1Sami 'Lrslzk' Kelopuro1,225-$104,081-$80,274-$2,061,174
2'Grazvis1'1,274-$56,801+$119,259+$409,407
3Daniel 'DANMERRRRRRR' Merriless231-$50,258-$73,870-$261,036
4'kycb113'77-$45,036-$58,736-$58,736
5'BERRI SWEET'1,297-$41,191-$199,945+$2,130,369
6Jordi 'prot0' Urlings1,010-$$38,000-$182,302+$369,854
7'gragik'1,044-$34,886-$76,140-$97,222
8'farruh1415'355-$27,724-$28,355-$28,355
9'boerni21'645-$24,318-$32,927-$21,508
10'huang33'417-$19,298+$41,029-$154,354

Biggest Online Poker Pots Of All Time Season

The 2018 Leaderboard

Linus 'LLinusLLove' Loeliger extended his lead on the 2018 leaderboard despite minimal play while James 'JayP-AA' Park remained in second place and Alexander 'joiso' Kostritsyn remained third despite not playing a single hand last week.

Likewise, the bottom three spots on the leaderboard remained the same. Once again, 'ImagineKing' added to his losses and has a firm hold on the biggest loss of the year. Mikael 'ChaoRen160' Thuritz with a strong week was able to climb out of the bottom three with Blom losing big in heads-up play and taking his spot in second to last on the leaderboard.

Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom added slightly to his losses with minimal volume while Elior 'Crazy Elior' Sion didn't play a hand last week and has remained in third to last on the yearly leaderboard for a third straight week.

(user)namehands 2018profit/loss 2018profit/loss per hand 2018profit/loss all timemost played game 2018
Winning Players
1Linus 'LLinusLLove' Loeliger26,460+$568,908+$21.50+$1,199,489NL Hold'em
2James 'JayP-AA' Park15,354+$316,630+$21.62+$2,642,409PLO
3Alexander 'joiso' Kostritsyn9,269+$291,585+$31.45$4,253,4558-Game
Losing Players
1'ImagineKing'24,518-$761,574-$31.06-$2,321,281PLO
2Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom22,092-$318,406-$14.41+$1,838,092PLO
3Elior 'Crazy Elior' Sion3,745-$293,492$-78.36-$171,0558-Game

The above top winning and losing players in online poker for 2018 only takes PokerStars accounts into consideration. All public data courtesy of HighStakesDB.com. If you want to opt out of being listed in this PokerNews update on high-stakes action, send an email with your username to [email protected]

The Stars Group is a majority shareholder in iBus Media

Finding a trustworthy room to play online poker can be a monumental burden. That's all the more true if you're just looking for a place to play poker for free. We've listed five of the best play-money poker sites to enjoy and help hone your skills.

  • Tags

    Alexander KostritsynCash PokerGus HansenIsildur1Online PokerpartypokerPokerStarsRailbird ReportSam TrickettSami KelopuroViktor BlomVideo
  • Related Players

    Alexander KostritsynGus HansenSam TrickettViktor BlomSami Kelopuro