Martonas Loses $1.4 Million on Full Tilt Poker

This weekend, the high-stakes action at the Full Tilt nosebleed tables was relatively calm compared to the Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) frenzy that transpired last weekend.  The slow action of Friday and Saturday brought an anticlimactic end to a week that saw the return of Durrrr Challenge play, a big winning week for Ashton “THEASHMAN103” Griffin, and a substantial loss for the player known as “martonas.”

The bulk of martonas‘ $1.4 million downswing came at the hands of Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond last Friday at the $300/$600 PLO tables.  Martonas clashed with durrrr in two massive hands, one worth over $280,000 and another that sent $460,000 durrrr’s way.  In the latter hand, the two got it all-in on the flop with martonas holding a massive combination flush and straight draw to durrrr’s nut flush draw.  The river brought the third diamond to complete the flush and give durrrr the best hand.

It was a big night for durrrr, who picked up $1 million in profit.  Galfond also found success in last Friday’s session, bringing his end-of-day winnings to over $800,000.  Like durrrr, he also picked up a chunk of his bankroll off of martonas.  Meanwhile, martonas ended the day down nearly $1 million and that was not the end of his misfortune.  He dropped an additional $600,000 on Monday and, despite winning sessions on Sunday and Tuesday, ended the week as the big loser on Full Tilt with a $1.4 million loss from Friday, August 21st to Saturday, August 29th.

Other players who ended up in the losing column during that time include both Di “Urindanger” Dang and his brother Hac “trex313” Dang, who each dropped in the vicinity of $300,000.  Several Full Tilt Red Pros didn’t fare too well this week, either.  David Benyamine, Haseeb Qureshi, David Oppenheim, and Gus Hansen all came out of the week in the red with six-figure losses.

While those sponsored pros had a rough week, several other names in red came out in the black, most notably Patrik Antonius.  He picked up much of his $500,000 in profit from two epic Durrrr Challenge sessions in which he was able to completely erase durrrr’s $726,000 overall lead in their infamous bet.  Now, Antonius is sitting with a slight lead of $76,104 and half-million dollars more in his Full Tilt account.  Richard Ashby and Phil Ivey also booked respectable weeks with profits of $190,000 and $163,000, respectively.

The big success story of the week is THEASHMAN103, who found himself up nearly $900,000 at week’s end.  His $1 million winning session on the tables on Tuesday resulted in the majority of that profit.  THEASHMAN103 continues to be one of the big winners of 2009 on Full Tilt Poker along with Antonius, CardRunners instructor Cole “cts” South, and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies.  Ziigmund had an impressive week himself, with $725,000 in winnings.

If this weekend is any indication, the fast and furious action on Full Tilt Poker may be hitting a lull.  With the live tournament schedule picking up and continuing high-stakes action in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, perhaps the attention of many players is diverted.  In his latest blog post, Doyle Brunson spoke of “insane” action at the Bellagio, so that could explain part of the dip in action at the online nosebleed tables.  Only time will tell if action will pick back up shortly, when Durrrr Challenge play will resume, and if martonas can rebound from his rough week at the tables.