It had been a while since we had seen monstrous pots play out online. But in August, following the retrofitted online WSOP, GGPoker hosted high stakes cash games that generated the two largest No-Limit Hold’em pots in online poker history. With the all-time record inching toward seven figures, it got us thinking about the “old days,” when these sorts of hands seemed to happen more frequently.
Don’t we all remember jaw-dropping pots between Patrik Antonius and Swedish online legend Viktor “Isildur1” Blom? And those Tom Dwan vs. Phil Ivey nosebleed matchups?
While those sessions might’ve gotten up there, the biggest hands were mostly Pot-Limit Omaha — a common theme for all the highest stakes action ever seen on the internet. But now that No-Limit Hold’em hands are approaching levels only previously seen in PLO, it seems like as good a time as any to look back at the Top 10 biggest online poker hands of all time, regardless of the stakes and game.
1. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ vs. Patrik Antonius ($1,375,999)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
Ah, the glory days of Full Tilt Poker. Viktor Blom, the infamous “Isildur1,” played many huge pots, but none bigger than the hand above against the great Patrik Antonius in 2009. The Pot-Limit Omaha pot at $500/$1,000 stakes began with a standard pot-sized raise to $3,000 by “Isildur1.” Then came the three-bet ($9,000), four-bet ($27,000), and finally, a five-bet ($81,000). To the flop they went, which ran out 4-5-2. Antonius led for $91,000, his opponent raised the pot to $435,000, leaving $162,475 behind. Antonius moved all-in and got a snap-call.
Blom showed 6-7-8-9 (open-ended straight draw), while Antonius turned over A-3-K-K (made straight). The board ran out 5-9, staying clean for Antonius, who shipped the $1,375,999 pot.
2. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom vs. Phil Ivey ($1,127,955)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
Doug Polk has the analysis of this hand, which we scrubbed from his YouTube channel. Isildur is back again for another wild hand. But this time, he took down the pot, valued at $1,127,955.
Unfortunately, we have no clue as to what cards Ivey held since he lost the hand on Full Tilt Poker 11 years ago, and his cards weren’t visible. We’ll just go ahead and pretend he held K-J or J-10. As Polk explains in the video, it’s tough for him to call off such a massive river bet (nearly $400,000) with anything but a full house on a board of J-K-J-10-5. Blom had pocket kings, so only one hand beat him (pocket jacks). Even in Pot-Limit Omaha, flopping quads is still highly unlikely.
3. Ali Imsirovic vs. Tan Xuan ($974,631)
- 2020
- $500/$1,000 + $200 Ante NLH
- GGPoker
GGPoker and its sister site, Natural8, played host to some of the most massive pots in online poker history during the summer WSOP Online Bracelet Series. The up-and-coming poker network hosted the largest No-Limit Hold’em pot the internet has ever seen in August.
Ali Imsirovic, one of the top young pros in the game, was the beneficiary of a fortunate river card to scoop a $974,631 pot. The limits were insanely high — $500/$1,000 with a $200 ante. Imsirovic three-bet pre-flop with A-K and Xhuan made the call with a suited 9-7. The flop came out 5-5-9. When Xuan went for the check-raise to $53,700 from the $15,425 continuation-bet, Imsirovic still wouldn’t fold his ace-high.
The jack of spades on the turn gave Imsirovic a flush draw along with two over-cards, so he called off another $101,046. He smashed that flush on the river (8♠) and got max value when Xuan shipped all-in for $309,719.
4. Patrik Antonius vs. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom ($878,959)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
You’re going to start noticing a theme here. Patrick Antonius and Viktor Blom loved to play ridiculously large PLO pots on Full Tilt Poker back in the day. This $878,959 hand was no exception and, once again, Isildur shipped the Finnish pro a bunch of money.
At $500/$1,000 stakes, Isildur opened to $3,000, as usual, on the button. They saw a flop of 5♥ 7♥ Q♠, and Isildur continued for $5,000 only to see his opponent raise to $21,000. Isildur made the call. The turn was the A♦ and the action really heated up. Antonius bet out $48,000, which Isildur raised to $192,000 before Antonius shipped all in for approximately $416,000 total.
Both players had top two-pair (A-Q), but Antonius also had a gut-shot straight (6-9) and nut flush draw. Isildur could only chop the hand, but that didn’t happen for him as the off-suit 8 fell on the river, giving Antonius a straight.
5. Wiktor Malinowski vs. Michael Addamo ($842,438)
- 2020
- $500/$1,000 + $200 Ante NLH
- Natural8
Michael Addamo and Wiktor “limitless” Malinowski set the NLH online poker record for the largest hand in August. That record was then topped a week later by the pot we’ve already mentioned between Imsirovic and Xuan.
In this Natural8 hand, the pot exceeded $842,000. To put things in perspective, that’s enough money to buy a nice home in Southern California — with cash. Addamo ran into the ultimate pre-flop cooler — pocket kings against aces. He didn’t get help from the board either by hitting a king or a wet board that would help him get away from the hand post-flop. The board ran out 5-7-2-9-5 with no flush possibility, and Addamo couldn’t lay down to the river all-in bet of $140,547.
6. Phil Ivey vs. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom ($832,940)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
Phil Ivey’s Full Tilt Poker account was the winningest online poker account ever. The poker GOAT raked in more than $20 million in profits, and this hand — dated 11/21/2009 — was his biggest pot. Like many huge PLO hands, this one was won on the river.
Isildur flopped middle set and got it all-in on the flop. Despite his monster hand and his lead at the time, he was up against a massive draw. Ivey had top-pair (aces), a gut-shot straight draw, and a queen-high flush draw. He ended up rivering the nuts when the king of clubs landed on the river. Another brutal river card for the Swedish pro who remained anonymous back in 2009.
7. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom vs. Phil Ivey ($827,960)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
Poker is a game of bad beats. We all suffer them, but most of us don’t lose more than $400,000 on one. Phil Ivey, however, did just that in this brutal $500/$1,000 hand of PLO on Full Tilt Poker. The poker legend lost the pot thanks to a cruel river card that benefited Isildur.
Ivey turned a 10-high straight and also had a flush draw. His opponent was drawing thin with nothing but an open-ended straight draw. Both players put all the money in the pot on the turn after Blom check-raised for nearly $390,000. Isildur needed a non-spade Q, J, 10, or 7 to win the hand (eight outs), and spiked the 7 of clubs on the river to win the massive pot.
8. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom vs. Patrik Antonius ($815,975)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
Finally, Isildur won a massive hand against Antonius. This one, of course in PLO at the $500/$1,000 stakes on Full Tilt Poker, took place in Nov. 2009, back when the nosebleed FTP games were exciting to watch. In this hand, much like in hand #6, Isildur got lucky. But this time his luck wasn’t due to spiking a river card. The river was fortunate for him in a different way.
Antonius called Isildur’s check-raise to $339,000 on the turn with gut-shot straight and flush draws, and an over-pair (10s). Isildur had top-two pair and needed to avoid a 5, 10, or club that wasn’t a 7. He did just that when the 3♥ landed on the river, giving Isildur the third-largest pot of his career.
9. Patrik Antonius vs. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom ($810,984)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
Antonius and Isildur went at it hundreds of times a decade ago on the now-defunct FTP poker site. One of the largest pots they played against each other — good for more than $810,000 — perhaps got larger than you’d expect from such hands in PLO.
When all was said and done, Isildur lost the hand with nothing but a pair of kings on a paired board, which isn’t as strong in PLO as it is in No-Limit Hold’em. All the money went in on the flop with Antonius needing a 5, 7, 8, or 10 to make a winning straight, or to hit two-pair or trip-nines. The 6 on the turn was a bad card for Antonius, who now could only hit a 9 on the river or any of his straight cards, which he spiked on the river (8).
10. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blong vs. Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies ($787,999)
- 2009
- $500/$1,000 PLO
- Full Tilt Poker
Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies was another regular in the FTP nosebleed games back in the day. He won and lost many massive pots during online poker’s heyday, but none bigger than this one, which he dumped to, go figure, Isildur.
The PLO hand took place in 2009 (are you noticing a pattern?), and was a bit of a cooler, if that’s such a thing in PLO. “Ziggy” had kings in the hole, while Isildur picked up the pocket rockets and went for a five-bet to $81,000 pre-flop. All the money went in the middle on the flop — nearly $788,000 — with both players chasing a gut-shot to go along with their over-pairs. The turn and river were clean for Isildur, who took down yet another monster pot.
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