Online Poker Press

Still think poker is just a game of chance? All you have to do is take a look at the 2009 MarketPulse leaderboard to realize that’s just not true.

Halfway through the first month of a new year and the MarketPulse standings are already starting to look much like the 2008 ones, with both Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil Ivey well out in front of all other competition on the Money Makers list.

As PokerListings previously reported, durrrr and Ivey went head to head a couple of times earlier in the month, with Dwan taking the first several battles in what is sure to be a year-long war.

Ivey was victimized in the two biggest pots of the year by the sharpest card on the Internet, with durrrr waxing him to the tune of $302,189 on Jan. 3 and then again for $278,381 on Jan 13.

Ivey, however, has recovered nicely thanks to LarsLuzak. He climbed out of the hole durrrr helped him dig by winning the single biggest online poker pot of the year so far on Jan 15.

Also known as 21-year-old Finnish poker pro Sami Kelopuro, LarsLuzak is no stranger to being beaten badly by Ivey, as PokerListings ace strategist Daniel Skolovy reports here. Jan. 15 was no different.

Holding pocket rockets in a $500/$1,000 heads-up No-Limit Hold’em match at Full Tilt Poker, Ivey raised $2,500 pre-flop, only to be reraised $9,500 by LarsLuzak.

Had you seen Ivey’s hole cards you’d have known that a massive $21,000 raise on top of that aggressive move was coming. You also would have folded (and quite possibly have crapped your pants) right then and there. Not LarsLuzak, who called holding KT.

The 693 flop opened a whole world of opportunity for LarsLuzak but still had Ivey ahead. Ivey bet $44,000, only to be reraised all-in for another $127,907, which he called.

A K on the turn opened up a few more doors for LarsLuzak; however, a 6 on the river closed those doors quickly. And just like that it was aces-up and a massive $406,814 pot – the biggest in online poker this year – for Ivey.

As if that wasn’t enough to tear the heart out of even the most hardened poker pro, LarsLuzak dropped another $268,798 just six minutes later on a similar hand.

Holding A9 in the small blind, LarsLuzak raised to $2,500, only to find himself reraised to $8,000 by Ivey, who was holding a dominant AK. LarsLuzak called before the flop came KTA, giving him another flush draw in addition to his pair of aces.

Again holding aces-up, Ivey came out with a $14,000 bet, which LarsLuzak immediately called. The turn revealed a way too tempting 9, which gave LarsLuzak himself aces-up in addition to the flush draw.

After a $33,000 bet by Ivey, LarsLuzak came all-in over the top for another $78,399, likely sure he was about to recoup a portion of his earlier losses. Not so. Although he still had the hope of a heart flush, the 6 broke both LarsLuzak’s heart and his bank.

The combine total of the two wins equaled more than $675k, which vaults Ivey into a familiar second place on the yearly leaderboard with $414,890 in winnings. It also puts LarsLuzak into the top spot on the yearly online poker losers list, with $425,851 in losses.

Keep an eye on MarketPulse to see if Ivey just turns around and gives up all those winnings up to durrrr as the month marches on. If you’d like to take on some poker action yourself where Ivey likes to play, head to Full Tilt Poker.