19 AprMassive Pots: The Biggest Hands of 2012

It’s been a great year for big pots in poker, both online and off.  In this article we’re going to explore some of the biggest hands of the year so far, so put on your best railbird clothes and try to not think too hard about how you’ll likely never make as much in your life as these pots are worth.

When you’re talking about big hands online in 2012, you cannot have a conversation without mentioning Ilari Sahamies, aka Ilari FIN.  Pots worth nearly a quarter of a million dollars have become somewhat commonplace for the nosebleed regular from Finland; he’s notched about half a dozen such pots in 2012 and still holds the record for the largest pot in PokerStars history $421,821.  That hand came in a six-max PLO game, while most of Sahamies’ other monster pots have been in heads up Omaha games.

Another name you can’t escape in the world of monster pots: Viktor Blom, better known to many by his PokerStars handle Isildur1.  If you’re looking to find the largest pot at PokerStars in 2012, Isildur1 will be the man you find listed as the winner of that hand (at least to date). 

With $120k in the pot preflop 3 ways, it was easy for Blom to call off another $100k on the flop with his nut flush draw and over pair.  His opponent, Canadian unknown 1Il|1Il|1il|, held a higher overpair but no real draw, and Blom binked the river to scoop the pot.  You can view a replay of the hand here.

For really massive pots, however, we have to return to the real world –  or as close to the real world as live poker in Macau represents.  While online poker hands are available for all to see, very few details are available about the hand Sam Trickett won playing cash games in Macau, but we do know this: Trickett has won a hand worth over $2.5 million dollars before and Trickett tweeted that his Macau hand was his “biggest pot ever,” so you can do the math on the minimum size of the pot.

With several months still ahead, it’s anyone’s guess whether or not these pots will represent a high point or just another notch on an upward climb of ridiculously sized pots contested by players at the highest of high stakes.