It seems that our news pages have been alive with information on Rich “nutsinho” Lyndaker and Ben “sauce123” Sulsky, two high stakes online poker regulars and prominent members of FlopTurnRiver. First it was their series of heads-up battles on PokerStars where the two were sparring against each other, then sauce123 went on a very impressive streak and now it’s nutsinho who, not to be outdone, has turned around and won what many people believe to be the biggest pot ever played on PokerStars, in a hand against Niki “RealAndyBeal” Jedlicka.
Rich “nutsinho” Lyndaker is a highly valued member of FlopTurnRiver, and known for being an extremely proficient poker player. The young pro has enjoyed success in live tournaments that alone would be the cause of envy for many, but this is far outshone by his achievements on the online cash felt. nutsinho is a force to be reckoned with at seemingly any form of poker he puts his hand to, but is probably to be most feared at Heads Up No Limit Holdem, where he has amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years. While first coming into his own as a poker player, nutsinho used the FlopTurnRiver strategy forums extensively to further his skill, and to this day still posts, offering insightful advice and help to members of all levels.
His opponent in the fateful hand was Niki “RealAndyBeal” Jedlicka, perhaps better known by his Full Tilt Poker handle “KaiBuxxe” than his aforementioned PokerStars screenname. Jedlicka’s a Full Tilt red pro and boasts career winnings in the hundreds of thousands, both from live tournaments and online play. On the digital felt he is perhaps best known – and most feared – as a Pot-Limit Omaha player, where he can be found at the highest stakes playing against seasoned experts such as Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen.
Indeed it was a Pot-Limit Omaha hand that reached such a high dollar amount this week, causing quite a stir in the online community. With just the two players on the table the stakes were $200/$400 and the pot itself reached a staggering $263,146.00, which even for players with immense skill and deep pockets is still a very sizable number. While no official statement has yet to be made, there has been a lot of speculation that this is the biggest pot ever played on PokerStars, and nobody seems to have been able to dig up any evidence to the contrary, strengthening the claim.
Preflop nutsinho raised from the small blind with JJ65 double suited to hearts and spades, was 3-bet by RealAndyBeal and made the call to see a flop. The 8h7sKc flop gave nutsinho two backdoor flush draws and an open-ended straight draw to go with his pair of jacks, and he flatted a 3/4 Pot-sized bet to see a turn card. The 4c turn killed any chance of nutsinho making a flush, but it instead gave him the nuts as it completed his straight draw. This time he put in a substantial raise when he was bet into, which was called to reveal the innocent 2h on the river. With this, the aggression slowed down, but as nutsinho pushed all-in for less than three quarters of the pot RealAndyBeal made the call, and received the bad news. nutsinho was up against JTKK singly suited to the clubs, which had flopped top set and a gutterball to the nut straight, and then turned a club flush draw but missed the river.
If you think you could’ve done better then why not head over to PokerStars and start grinding up your bankroll till you can sit with these high stakes pros and show them who the real poker player is? If you’re not quite that ambitious then a good place to start is the FlopTurnRiver strategy forums, where many solid players have found help and advice that would be critical in defining their poker success.