The action at the high-stakes tables picked up a little during the midweek after a relatively quiet weekend. Gus Hansen, still down for the year, continued to thrive and became the midweek’s biggest winner, essentially erasing his disastrous start to October. Meanwhile, Daniel "jungleman12" Cates saw some action, though not in the "durrrr Challenge". Instead he went head-to-head with David Benefield at the pot-limit Omaha tables. On the losing end of things, "Luukie21" dropped the most between Tuesday and Thursday while Rami “Arbianight” Boukai, who was a big winner last week, lost back some of his hard-earned profit.

Sahamies Versus Palmer

On Tuesday, Scott “UrnotINdanger2” Palmer squared off against Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies at the $200/$400 PLO tables. In one of their more notable hands, Palmer ($68,192.50) raised to $1,200, Sahamies ($38,388) reraised to $3,200, Palmer made it $10,800, and Sahamies called. The flop came and Sahamies checked to Palmer who promptly bet $21,600. Sahamies moved all-in for just about $6,000 more and Palmer called.

Palmer:
Sahamies:

Palmer was ahead with his aces but agreed to run it twice. On the first run, it came , giving Palmer the first half of the pot. The and on the second run gave Palmer the other half and allowed him to scoop the entire pot of $76,775. Both players went on to finish the midweek in the black, although Sahamies edged out Palmer by nearly 2-1 in profits.

PLO Action for “jungleman12”

Daniel "jungleman12" Cates, known primarily as a no-limit hold'em specialist, ventured into the PLO realm on Wednesday. Cates has admitted that his PLO game isn’t by any means refined, and his results seem to be evidence of that. Over the course of 1,478 hands against David Benefield in $100/$200 PLO, Cates managed to drop $132,000. From there it was a, $83,000 loss to “harrington25” at the $200/$400 tables.

In one influential hand, Cates ($46,282) raised to $600 and Benefield ($50,681.50) called from the button. The flop came down and Benefield checked to Cates, who bet $1,000. After a call, the turn came and again Benefield checked. Cates bet $3,200, Benefield check-raised to $10,600, Cates made it $35,000, and Benefield moved all-in. Cates called off his stack and the two hands were revealed:

Cates:
Benefield:

It was set over set and both players agreed to run the river twice. The was the first, giving Benefield the first half of the pot, and the was put out on the second run. Benefield took down the entire pot worth $93,000.

Hansen on a Heater

Gus Hansen has been on a sick heater over the past two weeks, winning close to $1.2 million on Full Tilt Poker. On Thursday, Hansen had his largest profits on Omaha PL CAP $500/1000 tables against "Luukie21."

In one particularly sick hand, Luukie21 ($40,000) raised to $2,000 from the button, and Hansen ($96,382) popped it to $5,000. Luukie21 responded by making it $18,000 and Hansen called. The flop came down and Hansen bet $22,000, enough to put Luukie21 all-in if he made the call. Sure enough, he made the call and the two turned over their cards:

Hansen:
Luukie21:

The two agreed to run it twice. The turn and river came on the first run and and on the second. Hansen took down both halves and scooped the $80,000 pot.

All in all, Hansen ended up almost $600k ahead and became the midweek’s biggest winner while Luukie21 ended with the most money lost. Hansen, who had a terrible start to the month, has essentially rectified that start and now looks to continue his rush through the rest of the year.

Who’s Up? Who’s Down?

This week’s biggest winners (10/19-10/22): Gus Hansen (+$625,519.60), Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies (+$151,996.30), David Benefield (+$132,153.30), rumprammer (+$132,133.50), Scott “UrnotINdanger2” Palmer (+$86,527.50)

In the Red: Luukie21 (-$450,914.80), Rami “Arbianight” Boukai (-$382,947.40), Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (-$215,353), DrugsOrMe (-$154,933), Di “Urindanger” Dang (-$112,018)

Year-to-Date Winners: Tom “durrrr” Dwan (+$4.01 million), Daniel “jungleman12” Cates (+$3.91 million), Phil Ivey (+$3.08 million)

Year-to-Date Losers: Brian Townsend (-$2.53 million), Gus Hansen (-$2.48 million)

source: I am the hot Gloria Balding for http://www.pokernews.com