Year at Nosebleeds – Dan Cates Big Winner, Hansen Drops Almost $6 Million

9 years ago
Year at Nosebleeds – Dan Cates Big Winner, Hansen Drops Almost $6 Million
15:18
04 Jan

For the past several months, we’ve been bringing you regular reports from the highest stakes cash games played on the virtual felt. With 2014 now behind us, it is time to put things into perspective and take a look at the final numbers for the past twelve months.

Dan ‘jungleman12’ Cates the biggest winner

Dan Cates aka ‘jungleman12’ has been one of the most consistent online high stakes players, steadily growing his profit and besting the fierce competition. The year just passed was no different, as Jungleman finished 2014 on top of the winners’ list with a profit of $2.8 million on Full Tilt. Adding to that, he also won $631,000 on PokerStars while playing under the alias ‘w00ki3z.’ That brings his overall yearly winnings to more than $3.4 million.

According to HighStakesDB, Cates played a total of 157,952 hands across 1,218 different sessions on PokerStars and Full Tilt combined. His lifetime winnings across the two sites now stand at $11.4 million, which is truly an amazing achievement considering the caliber of players he faces at the tables.

Earlier this year, Cates also broke a record by surpassing $10 million in winnings on Full Tilt Poker.

Mikael ‘punting-peddler’ Thuritz

If you follow the high stakes action, the alias ‘punting-peddler’ must ring a bell. The man behind the nickname, Mikale Thuritz, finished second on the Hendon Mob winners’ list with a profit of nearly $2.6 million from 59k hands played.

In case you are not familiar with Thuritz, he is a professional player from Sweden who honed his poker skills over the years to become one of the best all-around cash game players. One interesting fact about his play is that he refuses to use a HUD (Heads Up Display), as he believes that it distracts from his overall game plan.

Thuritz’s lifetime winnings currently stand at $937k, as he had a rough time during 2013 and the first half of 2014, but he turned things around in September and never looked back.

Patrik ‘FinddaGrind’ Antonius

A man who needs no introduction, Antonius finished third after amassing winnings of $1,683,000 in 2014. The Fin made his money from 41,850 hands spread over 373 sessions. It was a good year for Patrik, as he further increased his lifetime earnings, which now stand at $5.8 million.

Antonius has certainly had some interesting matches over the past year, but some of the most memorable ones were those played against an unknown who goes by the alias ‘Patriktortonius.’

Ike ‘luvtheWNBA’ Haxton

Sitting in the fourth spot is Ike ‘luvtheWNBA’ Haxton, with $1.5 million in winnings for the past year. Although we didn't see Ike at the tables as much as the other regulars, the time he did spend on the felt was well-invested.

Haxton played a total of 20,798 hands spread across just 201 sessions, which actually gives him the best profit per hand by far. While he may ‘luvtheWNBA,’ Haxton probably ‘luvs’ poker just a bit more because he became $74 richer with every hand he played in 2014.

Isaac Haxton’s lifetime winnings now stand at $1,966,000 on Full Tilt.

Doug ‘WCGRider’ Polk

Rounding out the top five is the young online phenom who goes by the alias ‘WCGRider.’ Doug Polk is also the last tracked player who made a seven-figure profit in 2014.

Polk did not play too many sessions during the past twelve months, but when he sat down to play he was in for the long haul. Polk put in the volume of 33,496 hands across just 108 sessions, so there were some truly marathon runs in there.

For his efforts, he was rewarded with a yearly profit of $1,077,969. Doug Polk’s lifetime online earnings have surpassed $1.5 million.


For some players to win, others have to lose; such is poker, and for the most part, life itself. Here are the top five nosebleeds losers for the year 2014.

Gus Hansen

It is hardly a surprise to see Hansen’s name topping the list of the biggest losers at the online high stakes tables. For quite a while now, the Great Dane has really been struggling to find his upswing, but for whatever reason, he keeps getting crushed.

2014 was really bad to Gus, as he left another $5,864,263 at the tables. For the first time ever, his lifetime losses went beyond the $20 million mark. If there is one thing the Dane is not missing, that is passion and commitment. He played a total of 200,904 hands across 1,604 sessions, but things have not been working out for him on the poker tables.

We are certain that Gus will be back in 2015 and perhaps he can finally start to turn his fortunes around.

Phil ‘Polarizing’ Ivey

We may have become accustomed to seeing Hansen leave money behind, but the exact opposite can be said about Phil Ivey. The man who dominates poker in its every form and, according to many, is the best player alive, struggled online in 2014.

‘Polarizing,’ as Ivey is called at the Full Tilt tables, finished as the second biggest loser of the year, dropping nearly $2.4 million in the 102k hands he played. That brought his total losses on Full Tilt to $5 million since he started playing under his new alias.

However, his lifetime winnings are still well in positive territory, as his profits from his playing days as ‘Phil Ivey’ amount to $19.2 million.

Ivey will definitely be one to keep an eye on in 2015, as it could be the year for an upswing.

Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom

If there was an award for the highest volume player of 2014, Viktor Blom would easily take it home. While other players take breaks and bemoan their losses, the Swede is nearly always ready for some action.

During the last year, he played 320k hands across 2,803 separate sessions and, if things went his way, he could have been a huge winner with that kind of volume. Unfortunately for him, it all went south and he finished the year stuck $1.7 million.

Blom's career losses on Full Tilt reached $3.4 million and, combined with the $1.4 million he leaked on PokerStars, the Swede’s overall negative numbers are getting dangerously close to $5 million. Despite the downswing and being dropped as a Full Tilt sponsored pro, Blom continues to visit the tables regularly and give action to pretty much anyone who is up for it.

Elior ‘Crazy Elior’ Sion

Elior Sion has been a high stakes regular on both the live and virtual felt for quite some time, yet very little is known about him. Sion hails from England, was born in 1990, and he likes to play the nosebleeds – that’s about all we know.

2014 was not the year of ‘Crazy Elior’ for sure, as he left $1.2 million behind. Although Sion wasn’t very active during the last few weeks of the year, he was still able to put in 60k hands spread across 521 sessions.

Phil ‘OMGClayAiken’ Galfond

This yearly report ends with another well-known name, that of Phil Galfond. Known as one of the best in the game and a PLO specialist, Galfond did not fare too well in 2014. After playing 55,932 hands, he finished stuck just shy of $1.1 million.

Of course, swings are part of poker, so ‘OMGClayAiken’ is probably not sweating it too much as his lifetime graph still shows a healthy $7 million profit. Considering his skills and dedication to learning and improving, we are expecting at least a couple more million added to the bottom line before he retires.


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Ivan Potocki is the editor in chief and one of the lead news writers for PokerTube. His natural flair and enthusiasm for journalism combined with a deep poker knowledge make him an exciting contributor for PokerTube.The experience garnered playing poker professionally for several years and the knowl...Read more

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