Isildur1 reaffirmed his regal status as ‘King of the Swings’ in Wednesday’s action on Fulltilt when he reclaimed his PTR top hat badge and plunged back into the red on the same day! He logged 9,852 hands over a 20 hour period where he took Zeejustin for over $500k at the NLH tables and Cole South for $558k at the PLO tables before dropping just over $1m to Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and suffering a devastating $1.87m defeat at the hands of Phil ‘OMGClayAiken’ Galfond which left Isildur1 $1.25m in the red.

Durrrr retrieved his nice 7 figure sum from Isildur1 in just 888 hands of $300/$600 PLO.

Durrrr landed a big pot when he flopped top two pair and had a pot-sized bet called by Isildur1 who was holding just middle pair. Isildur1 may have been planning something fancy on the turn but ended up catching a smaller two pair and check-raising all in. The river drew blank sending durrrr the $302k pot.

Durrrr hit the money card on the turn when it filled his gut shot straight whilst giving Isildur1 a set. Isildur1 check-raised all in and durrrr retained the nut straight on the river to win a $293k pot.

Isildur1 spiked a lucky turn which improved his dominated trips to a full house and left durrrr’s trips trailing badly. Isildur1 called all in and his full house held up to take down a $157k pot.

Isildur1’s game with Phil ‘OMGClayAiken’ Galfond had been on the cards for a few days and Phil’s patience paid off big time when his turn came around on Wednesday night as they played over 4,200 hands of $300/$600 and $500/$1000 PLO, finishing the session with a whopping $1.87m win and resetting his ‘best day’ recorded online. 6 tabling online poker’s 2nd biggest winner of all time since first records began in it’s self could be viewed as a bit of a challenge so Isildur1 made sure he warmed up sufficiently beforehand with 12.5 hours of play against Fulltilt’s top pros.

Isildur1 got lucky in the largest pot of the session when he called all in on the flop with middle pair and a gut shot straight draw against Phil’s top pair top kicker with the nut straight-flush draw. Isildur1 hit a miracle as he caught his straight and avoided a flush or full house card on the river to take down a $416k pot.

Isildur1 wound up in bad shape on the turn when he called all in with a live flush draw and dominated straight draw against Phil’s made straight. Isildur1 missed his flush on the river sending Phil a $393k pot.

Isildur1 picked a bad time to bluff when he reraised all in on the river with top pair top kicker against Phil’s 2nd nut flush. Isildur1 tried to take advantage of the paired board and the fact he was holding the ace flush card, but by this time in the match, the hand had ’steaming’ written all over it and Phil made the call to win the $390k pot.

After Isildur1 lost a few big pots to Phil, it looked like the long hours got to his game as time after time he kept showing up with the 2nd best hand in huge pots. Hopefully Isildur1 can bring his A-game back to the virtual felt when he resumes play and reignite one of his patented hot streaks that have captivated Fulltilt’s railers since his first appearance at the nosebleed tables.

King of the swingers, Isildur1, swung his way to a $1.86m win throughout Tuesday’s action on the Fulltilt tables resetting his ‘best day’ record and bringing his overall profit to $524k in the black! It was Cole South and Brian Hastings who felt the full force of Isildur1’s hot streak yesterday as he took the cardrunner pros for $865k and $832k respectively at the nosebleed PLO tables.

Cole South was once again stripped of his PTR top hat and sent tumbling into the red as he battled against Isildur1 heads up from $100/$200 up to $300/$600 PLO resulting in Isildur1 dominating all 4 sessions.

Isildur1 won the biggest pot when he called all in on the turn with a two pair and 2 flush draws against Cole’s top set. The river delivered Isildur1 his flush card to bag him a $181k pot.

Isildur1 was in no mood for sharing pots as both players moved all in with top pair queen kicker and gut shot straight draws. Isildur1 spiked his straight on the turn which held up on the river to scoop the $120k pot.

Again Cole missed out on a split pot when he and Isildur1 moved all in preflop with pocket kings and the flop brought a gut shot straight draw for Isildur1. The turn drew blank but a miracle 4 on the river completed Isildur1’s straight to scoop another pot worth $167k.

A fresh Brian Hastings then stepped in to battle Isildur1 at the $300/$600 PLO tables in an attempt to avenge the defeat of his fellow cardrunner, and maybe have a repeat of his December game against Isildur1 when he steamrolled him for $3.2m which would have been a bonus. But it was not to be as after 811 hands, Brian was $250k lighter, and another 1,356 hands at the $500/$1000 tables dropped him another $582k.

Brian landed the biggest pot of the session when he called a flop bet with top pair and was then reraised all in on the turn after picking up a straight draw. Isildur1 was ahead with pocket kings but Brian spiked top two pair on the river to win the $335k pot.

Isildur1 ran into a terrible turn card that completed his straight while bumping Brian’s hand up to a full house. With the pot and hands so big, all Brian had to do was call the pot bets on the turn and river to bag the $318k pot.

Brian lost a weighted coinflip flop with pocket aces when they ran into Isildur1’s middle pair with a wrap straight draw. Brian survived the turn but the river gave Isildur1 the nut straight to take down a $300k pot.

Isildur1 is once again making some big waves at the nosebleed stakes but Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan hasn’t been around to catch one. A big rematch seems imminent and would be a good opportunity for durrrr to retrieve his epic losses to Isildur1 in a matter of sessions. But whilst Isildur1’s momentum keeps building, no pros bankroll is safe.

Isildur1’s recent hot streak at Fulltilt’s nosebleed tables claimed another victim as he took Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies for over $1m over their last 3 games. It seems whenever these 2 hardened players lock horns there is usually a 7 figure swing involved and this time it was Ziigmund’s turn to pick up the tab after completing nearly 1k hands of $300/$600 PLO and 259 hands of $500/$1000 PLO against Isildur1.

Ziigmund lost a monster pot when his pot size bet on the flop with pocket aces and gut shot straight draw was quickly reraised all in by Isildur1 who held top set. Ziigmund called and Isldur1’s set improved to a full house on the river to land a massive $423k pot.

An action flop had both stacks in the middle for the 2nd biggest pot of the sessions when Isildur1’s wrap straight draw met Ziigmund’s top two pair. Again Ziigmund’s luck let him down as Isildur1 turned the nut straight which survived the river to win the $240k pot.

Ziigmund got a glimmer of hope on the turn when he made his flush against Isildur1’s top two pair. However it was short lived as Isildur1’s hand improved to a full house on the river to scoop another big pot worth $179k.

Isildur1’s luck finally ran out when he went on to play Justin ‘ZeeJustin’ Bonomo who relieved him of $187k at the $200/$400 NLH tables, and a rematch with his arch-nemesis, Brian Hastings, dropped him a further $219k at the $500/$1000 PLO tables. But Isildur1 still managed to finish off Monday’s sessions at the virtual felt $532k better off and left railers grateful to see the $500/$1000 tables back in action!

Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and Isildur1 dominated the Fulltilt felt this weekend as they racked up $1.3m and $436k wins respectively, leaving Patrik Antonius and Brian Hastings footing large bills.

Durrrr’s long awaited hot streak peaked at a whopping $1.6m on Sunday morning when he bagged a $625k win in just 360 hands of $300/$600 PLO against Patrik Antonius and PixKim.

Durrrr set a trap for Patrik when he flopped a straight and called 3 barrels all in. Patrik’s pocket aces didn’t improve by the river sending durrrr a $147k pot.

A cold deck preflop had all 3 players stacks all in when Patrik’s kings and 4’s ran into PixKim’s aces and durrrr’s aces and 10’s which had the lead by a whisker. By the turn it was looking likely to be a split pot between the aces but durrrr spiked a 3rd 10 on the river to scoop the $423k pot with a full house.

Durrrr took down a huge pot when he flopped the nut straight and let PixKim do the betting. Durrrr still had the nuts on the river and his huge reraise got paid off to win him a $436k pot.

Isildur1 proved he was still ‘king of the swingers’ when he took close to a $500k dive by Saturday morning before embarking on a $926k mega hot streak. His most lucrative session was the 1,689 hands of $300/$600 PLO that he played on Sunday evening where he landed a $517k win.

Isildur1 won his biggest pot of the session when he flopped top set against Ziigmund’s pocket aces with a gut shot straight draw and both stacks were pushed all in. Isildur1 turned a straight which improved to the nut straight on the river to win the $257k pot.

Isildur1 caught a runner runner when Ziigmund decided to slow play trips on the flop. Isildur1 called the turn which had given him the 2nd nut flush draw and spiked the flush on the river. Ziigmund must have thought Isildur1 was capable of calling the river light as he decided on a check-raise all in and Isildur1 called him down to land a $132k pot.

Trex313 couldn’t have asked for a better flop when his hand improved to trips with the 2nd nut flush draw, but unfortunately it had run straight into Isildur1’s flopped full house. Trex313 missed his 2 outs on the turn and river sending Isildur1 another large pot worth $109k.

Cole South managed to retrieve his PTR top hat over the weekend as the 1,021 hands of $100/$200 PLO he played with Isildur1 gave his bankroll a $242k boost, once again pushing his profit over the $1m mark.

Cole won the biggest pot when he flopped bottom pair and a flush draw against Isildur1’s top set with a straight draw. Cole spiked a well disguised backdoor flush by the river and check-called all in to win the $80k pot.

Cole hit a cold flop that gave him trips against Isildur1’s full house. Isildur1 delivered the bad news on the turn and had just 1 out sweat on the river which he survived to take down a $42k pot.

Isildur1 delivered a suck out when he reraised all in with top and bottom two pair against Cole’s top two pair. The river landed Isildur1 a higher two pair to snatch the $57k pot.

Cole had his revenge just a few hands later when he called all in with a dominated flush draw against Isildur1’s top pair top kicker with a flush draw and managed to dodge the flush cards to pick up a runner runner two pair that bagged him a $40k pot.

Can Isildur1 deliver a repeat performance and cause chaos amongst the pros bankrolls and will durrrr be wanting a show down at high stakes? Two of online poker’s most fearless players have just recharged their bankrolls leading me to believe the nosebleed action on Fulltilt this week should leave railers more than satisfied.

For the better part of two years, “Jrockhaf” has been crushing the 100nl full ring games on PokerStars. He boasts a win-rate of over 4 BB/100 during a career that spans millions of hands. As one of the top grinders that we track here at PTR, it was our pleasure to catch-up with this well known grinder and get insight into one of the best small stakes poker players in the world.

PTR: Could you give us a quick introduction of yourself?

Jrockhaf: My screen name is Jrockhaf on PokerStars, I am from Ontario, Canada and I am 31 years old

PTR: How did you get into online poker and how long have you been playing?

Jrockhaf: I got started in poker back in 2003 at a casino 2 hours from my hometown. The casino only had Limit Hold’em, so that’s what I played when I started. Online, I played $2-$4 and $3-$6 limit, where I was a small winner at best.

PTR: You’ve been crushing 100nl full ring on PokerStars for years now. The big question a lot of people have about you is why you don’t move up in stakes to 200 or even 400nl games?

Jrockhaf: I actually used to play 200-400nl back before the UIGEA was enacted, Then suddenly when that law passed I had my first losing month and the games got very tough. So I moved down to 100nl where I could at least win again. After playing 100nl for a while I found out about Cardrunners and watched a few videos and realized that even though I was winning I had so many leaks.

After plugging some leaks I started really crushing the 100nl games and every time I moved up I would run bad/play bad and it would tilt me to no end. Winning a bunch of buy-ins at 100nl then losing them all back at 200nl in half the amount of hands was discouraging. Finally I said I am never moving up again and I’ve stuck to it for the most part. I went like 6 months and was absolutely killing the 100nl games. I had two 100k hand stretches that I was over 8ptbb which was really sick.

In the last couple of years I just feel it doesn’t make sense anymore for me to risk a breakeven month so I can try and move up. I feel like one of my best assets is looking at a game and knowing if I have an edge in it. If I don’t think I have an edge I don’t play, simple as that.

PTR: What is your computer setup like?

Jrockhaf: Nothing special, just a 30″ and a 24″ monitor. My buddy is a computer nerd so he takes care of all my computer stuff, I don’t even know what kind it is, I think he said he built it himself. I use HEM but don’t pay much attention to stats, just VPIP and PFR.

PTR: Your session times and stats are incredibly consistent. It seems you’ve set up a real strict routine for yourself? Could you elaborate on that routine and how you created it?

Jrockhaf: As far as routine I just try to play when my wife goes to work and she works 8-4. It’s pretty simple, I get up when she leaves, maybe go to the gym and then play until she gets home. However, we are expecting or first child within the month so I might be kissing that routine good bye.

PTR: Your win-rate at 100nl is over 4BB/100 which is really amazing given the volume and game you play. What are some of your success points for playing a consistent game so often?

Jrockhaf: I guess just not tilting and not letting your ego get in the way. You have to always remember to play for money, not pride and that is tough to do with the aggression in today game.

PTR: Do you live off your earnings or do you do something else full time in “the real world” when not logged in?

Jrockhaf: Right now I just play poker. I’d really like to get into business but it’s hard to find something that won’t interfere with poker. I own a rental house and it’s pretty easy to manage so I’m thinking of buying a few more of them.

PTR: Where do you hope your online poker endeavors take you three years from now?

Jrockhaf: I hope I keep winning and I hope the games get better. I’d also love a final table at a WSOP event but that’s probably a stretch because I have no clue how to play tournament poker.

PTR: How important is table selection to you during a session and what do you look for out of a table?

Jrockhaf: As far as game selection goes, I just start tables. Two years ago it was the thing to do because “rennwurm” and I were the only ones doing it. Now there are a minimum of five regs all day every day doing it, so if you’re not that good HU, which I am not, it kinda sucks.

PTR: Just about every major poker site has changed their buy-in structure to disallow shortstacker play. PokerStars is expected to make an announcement (one way or the other) in mid-April. Where do you stand on the issue, and would you ever leave PokerStars?

Jrockhaf: As far as SSers go I don’t have to deal with them much because I just play 50bb tables. I know it is a real problem at the higher limits and I hate angle-shooters so yeah, ban them and raise the buy-ins. I actually am still thinking about leaving PokerStars just because the games are way softer on Full Tilt but they won’t give me RB so I can’t really play there.

PTR: For grinders out there begging to find the same success that you have had at the tables, what advice could you give them?

Jrockhaf: The biggest leaks I see in most regs are that they tilt and they think they are good and crushing a limit because they win big over a 200k sample which really means nothing. Check your ego at the door and play for the money not the pride.

PTR: Finally, what goals did you set for yourself for 2010 and how are they coming along?

Jrockhaf: My main thing I try to improve on everyday is playing longer sessions when I’m winning and quitting early when it’s not going well. Most of the time in everyday life if things are not going well the right thing to do is stay at the office late and put in those extra hours. But I think in poker its best to do the opposite.

Mystery Swede Isildur1 was back grinding Fulltilt’s virtual felt on Wednesday afternoon where he managed to claw back $113k from the high stakes PLO tables. 240 hands of CAP PLO heads up against MicahJ was all Isildur1 needed to relieve him of $25k but his biggest win of the day was at the $100/$200 CAP PLO short hand tables where within 561 hands, he was sitting pretty with another $81k win.

Sunra18 took a nasty beat when he flopped the nut straight against Isildur1 who pushed all in with pocket jacks and a gut shot straight draw. Isildur1 spiked his gut shot straight on the turn which held up to win the $19k pot.

Sunra18 set a trap for Isildur1 when he flopped middle set and just checked the flop and turn. Isildur1 bit on the turn when he caught top pair and found himself calling all in and praying for a 3 outer. Sunra18 survived this draw and took down the $16k pot.

Isildur1 hit a tasty flop which gave him bottom two pair backed up with a straight-flush draw against LarsLuzak’s top pair top kicker with a live gut shot straight draw. Both stacks moved in on the flop and LarsLuzak turned a higher two pair and survived the river to win the $16k pot.

Isildur1 seemed to be executing some well controlled bankroll management yesterday and hasn’t had any run ins with the red pros which seems to be working well for him, but I’m guessing it’s just a matter of time until he breaks these habits and attempts another repeat performance at the nosebleed stakes. Go Isildur1!

The community here at PokerTableRatings.com was sent into a flurry when the announcement of the new “Premium Access” hit the front page of the site. The new premium area has been in development for months with features based on the feedback of the community. If you haven’t already, be sure to submit your application to become a beta tester. All registered users at PTR can apply for candidacy to assist our efforts in testing out the new features. I got an exclusive sneak peek at the premium area and have plenty to report!

The main crux of the premium content is found in the player profile section. There is a new “Premium” tab in golden color to click on alongside what you already see with Overview, Analysis, Hands, Sessions, Opponents and Grader. Within this premium tab there are, as of this point in the beta testing, six different features to take advantage of.

The “General” area of the premium section will break down specific stats about any player you put in to the player search. There is a stakes filter that you can use that will alter the stat reports to reflect only the stats from within that stake level. There are a ton of stats that you can see, including bottom line stats, pre-flop, flop, turn, river and showdown specific statistics of game play tendencies.

There are also charts for each one of the sub-sections within the general area of the premium section for player analysis. We can’t talk specifically about the charts but they are very interesting and insightful to each player’s game. All the stats on this page are clickable which dynamically alters the related graph to give a more visual feel to the stat for more meaning. There are some other really cool features about the general tab that are coming too that will be available to the first group of chosen beta testers.

The results section lets you take a look at a bar/line graph hybrid that shows ongoing results as time and hands are played. The chart does some really cool dynamic things when hovered over with the mouse, which will be revealed at a later time, but suffice it to say it’s pretty damn slick. Below the chart is a scrollable section that outlines each day that a player put in time at the tables and breaks out net winnings, rake paid, hands played, hands won and VPIP/PFR stats for each session.

One of the really cool new sections for premium users is the Positions area which shows position stats and results. Once again you have a stake filter, along with a special filter you’ll have to see to believe. A table graphic will be shown with early, middle, cutoff, button, small blind and big blind play all broken out. Each position shows profit/loss, hands played and VPIP/PFR stats. Clicking on each position’s box brings up even more broken out stats and even an extra feature that will blow your socks off.

Another part of the premium area is the “Vs.” section which will show all the players that have played against the person you’ve dialed up in the search. There are player, hands and net columns that can be sorted and you can bring in just about every player that guy has ever faced in the report. Clicking on one of the opponents in this section brings up all the hand they’ve played against each other along with a link to each hand’s individual replay.

Finally, perhaps my personal favorite feature is the “Compare” option. This allows you to put any two poker players side-by-side and compare their entire stats. Want to see the differences between Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Patrik Antonius? No problem. How about comparing the top winners at your stakes level and yourself? Again, no problem. All the stats and graphs available in the general section appear as a comparison between any two players you want, even across poker sites they play at.

This is just a taste of what the premium section has to offer. There are some other features in development that promise to be pretty darn cool. Although we haven’t tipped our entire hand in this short sneak-peek article, there’s no doubt that the chosen few who become beta testers will have plenty to play with come March 8th.

Cole South relinquished his PTR top hat badge on Tuesday evening as his PLO heads up games against Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies slashed his bankroll by over $1m. Cole took his biggest hits at the $200/$400 PLO heads up tables against durrrr where they completed 2 sessions that sank Cole’s bankroll by a total of $693k over 1067 hands.

Durrrr hit the better side of an action flop when he caught top set against Cole’s pocket 9’s with a straight-flush draw. Both stacks went in on the flop and durrrr turned a full house to win a $98k pot.

Durrrr hit a lucky river when he reraised all in on the flop with top pair against Cole’s bottom two pair with a flush draw. Durrrr dodged the flush cards and spiked top two pair on the river to take the $101k pot.

Cole called all in dead on a flop when his flush draw unfortunately ran into durrrr’s flopped full house that netted durrrr an easy $126k pot.

Cole has been no stranger to 7 figure swings so far this year and has already proven that he recovers well from big losses but durrrr has now gained a relatively small $39k lead in the 12,659 hands they have played together so far, could this be a durrrr edge beginning to show?

Luckexpress10 didn’t live up to his name throughout Monday’s action at the Fulltilt felt when he finished the day’s sessions $308k lighter, resetting his ‘worst day’ online record. Previously, he had been tearing up the nosebleed NLH tables at an incredible win rate of 14.81BB/100 however his recent switch to the PLO tables has not mirrored this success.

Luckexpress10 took a 6 figure hit when he played 241 hands of $200/$400 PLO against skjervoy who finished the session $110k better off.

Skjervoy escaped a cold flop when he flopped trips with a 10 kicker against luckexpress10 who decided to slow play his trips with a jack kicker. Skjervoy took advantage of the free card on the turn and spiked a full house on the river where he cautiously called down a bet to take the $37k pot.

Luckexpress10’s fortune didn’t improve later that day when he took on Fulltilt pro, David Benefield, for another 91 hands of $200/$400 PLO, this time taking a $64k hit to his bankroll.

David caught a lucky river when he slow played trips on the flop only for luckexpress10 to catch a full house on the turn. All the money went in with luckexpress10 as a huge favourite but David caught a bigger full house on the river to snatch the $39k pot.

David hit the flop hard when caught top two pair with a gut shot straight draw against luckexpress10’s pocket kings. David reraised all in on the flop and his hand improved to a straight on the river as he took down a $41k pot.

Luckexpress10 has only logged 7.5k hands of PLO so it is likely that variance just caught up with him and hopefully he will be able to retain his PTR top hat next time around.

Applications to join the closed beta for PokerTableRatings Premium are now being accepted. This new section has been in development for months and was inspired by the feedback from the community survey sent back in August.

Beta testers must be willing and able to thoroughly test the new features and report back any bugs and suggestions. All registered users at PTR will be able to apply for candidacy. To apply to take part of the new and exciting PTR Premium, submit your application here.

Chosen applicants will be notified via email on March 8th, 2010 with free private access and further instructions.

Personally, I’ll be reporting back in later this week with an exclusive “Sneak Peek” look at the Premium section of the site.

Be sure to head over and apply today for a chance to gain first access to the new PokerTableRatings Premium!