We're less than two months into the year, and already there have been a couple game-changing developments in the world of online poker. The first came a couple weeks ago when the announcement was made that Full Tilt will merge with PokerStars this spring. Then, yesterday, PokerStars revealed they will finally launch in New Jersey on March 21, which you can read about here.

As for the high-stakes cash-game action, which is what the Online Railbird Report is all about, no one did better in the past week than "Chilax Chuck," who won $167,353 in 342 hands over 10 sessions. Likewise, both Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz (+$152,832 in 13 sessions/2,556 hands) and "omaha4rollz" (+$140,889 in 20 sessions/583 hands) both booked winning weeks.

That said, the big story this week was the return of Andres "Educa-p0ker" Artinano, who cleaned up in the month of January but was missing in action for most of February. Artinano won $84,824 in 1,360 hands over five sessions, which helped pad his lead on the 2016 yearly leaderboard.

On the other end of the spectrum, "TheFish77" was the week's biggest loser after dropping $178,349 in 2,557 hands over a dozen sessions. Others who finished in the red were "St1ckman" (-$158,267 in 20 sessions/1,233 hands), "pplo777" (-$117,433 in 7 sessions/1,254 hands), and "cumicon" (-$102,369 in 5 sessions/302 hands).

Thuritz Takes "TheFish77" for $158,100 at PLO Tables

On Thursday, Feb. 18, Sweden's Thuritz finished as the biggest winner of the day after taking $158,100 from "TheFish77" after eight and a half hours of $50/$100 pot-limit Omaha. According to HighStakesDB, the two played 2,343 hands, and the biggest of those went to Thuritz.

It happened when Thuritz ($21,700.60) raised to $300 on the button and "TheFish77" called to see the flop. "TheFish77" checked, Thuritz bet $450, and "TheFish77" check-raised to $1,988. A call was made, the peeled off on the turn, and "TheFish77" checked to Thuritz, who bet $4,150.

"TheFish77" check-raised to $17,064 and then called the little bit extra after Thuritz three-bet all in for $19,412.60 total.

"TheFish77":
Thuritz:

Both players had turned a straight, but unfortunately for "TheFish77" his opponent held a bigger one. The river failed to help "TheFish77," and he watched the $43,381.20 pot pushed to Thuritz.

"SHARMOOTA" and Sulsky Clean Up in Friday Action

On Friday, Feb. 19, "SHARMOOTA" finished as the day's biggest winner when he banked $108,600 at the $400/$800 8-game tables. Most of it came in the early morning hours when he won $76,500 off "Empire2000" and Elior "Crazy Elior" Sion. He then padded it with a $27,000 win against a group of players that included Alexander "joiso" Kostritsyn, Mike "gordo16" Gorodinsky, and Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky.

Speaking of Sulsky, he finished second on the daily leaderboard with $82,800 in profit, most of which came late in the day from the $50/$100 PLO tables. It was there the days biggest pot took place.

It happened with six players at the table when Sulsky ($44,525.23) opened for $470 under the gun. "amar11111" ($17,995.10) called from the hijack, "omaha4rollz" ($41,440.34) three-bet to $5,780, and Sami "LrsLzk" Kelopuro ($10,681.25) called from the button. Both blinds folded, the other two players called, and four players took a flop of .

Sulsky led out for $23,385, "amar11111" called off for $12,215.10, and "omaha4rollz" folded. Kelopuro called off his remaining $4,901.25 and the cards were turned up.

Sulsky:
"amar11111":
Kelopuro:

"amar11111" was technically ahead with kings, but both his opponents held big straight draws. The turn changed nothing, but the river did as it gave Sulsky a queen-high straight and the $52,841.45 pot.

Kuznetsov Cleans Up at 8-Game Tables

On Saturday, Feb. 20, HighStakesDB reports that Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov finished as the day's biggest winner after profiting $158,000, nearly all of which came from more than 1,000 hands at the 8-Game tables, most of which was played at the $1,000/$2,000 stakes.

Fittingly, he won the biggest pot of the day, which came from a round of $250/$500 PLO. It happened at a six-handed table when action folded to Alex "BiatchPeople" Luneau ($48,534.95) in the small blind and he raised to $1,500. Kuznetsov ($54,884.70) pushed back with a three-bet to $4,500 from the big, Luneau called, and the flop fell .

Luneau checked, Kuznetsov bet $4,497.50, and Luneau check-raised to $22,487.50. The call was made and the appeared on the turn. Luneau shoved all in for $21,457.45, and Kuznetsov called to create a $97,069.90 pot.

Kuznetsov:
Luneau:

Kuznetsov had flopped a straight along with two pair, while Luneau held straight and flush draws. The river was a brick, and Kuznetsov's hand held to win him a near six-figure pot.

HighStakesDB also reports that Gorodinsky won $92,800 on Saturday, enough to make him the day's second-biggest winner, while Kostritsyn won $82,500 in 557 hands at the 8-Game tables.

Speaking of second biggest, "St1ckman" took down the second-biggest pot of the day. It happened at a six-handed $200/$400 PLO 6-Max table when "d2themfi" ($63,281.25) raised to $1,880 under the gun and both "St1ckman" ($39,920) and "cumicon" ($67,710) called from the hijack and cutoff respectively. "SHARMOOTA" ($63,058) came along from the button, "omaha4rollz" ($48,725) called from the big blind and five players took a flop of .

Two checks saw "St1ckman" fire out $10,075, "cumicon" folded, and "SHARMOOTA" raised to $40,300. The other two players folded and "St1ckman" called off his remaining $27,965.

"St1ckman":
"SHARMOOTA":

"SHARMOOTA" had flopped top two pair, but it was no good as "St1ckman" held top set. The turn left "SHARMOOTA" drawing dead, and he watched the $86,240 pot pushed to "St1ckman" after the was run out on the river.

Andres "Educa-p0ker" Artinano Returns with a Bang

According to HighStakesDB, Artinano won $833,000 at the no-limit hold'em tables back in January – enough to put him atop the 2016 yearly leaderboard where he remains – but the Spaniard disappeared from the virtual felt for most of February. That changed on Wednesday when he returned to action and promptly won $84,800 at the $100/$200 no-limit hold'em tables, which was enough to make him the day's biggest winner.

It came off Sulsky, who Artinano faced in a four-and-a-half match. In the biggest pot between the two, Artinano ($34,615.81) raised to $490 from the button and Sulsky ($2,637) three-bet to $2,637 from the big blind. Artinano made the call and then watched Sulsky fire out $3,457.76 on the flop. Artinano raised to $9,551.52, Sulsky called, and then both players checked the turn.

When the completed the board on the river, Sulsky bet $24,975.04 and Artinano called off his remaining $22,427.29. Sulsky showed the for a missed up-and-down straight draw, and then Artinano revealed the for a missed ace-high flush draw. Still, Artinano must have known it was good as he made a great call on the river to claim the $69,231.62 pot.

Biggest Winners/Losers from Feb. 18-24

Winners	Profit		Losers	Loss
"Chilax Chuck"	$167,353		"TheFish77"	$178,349
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz	$152,832		"St1ckman"	$158,267
"omaha4rollz"	$140,889		"pplo777"	$117,433
"hhecklen"	$113,021		"cumicon"	$102,369
David "Deldar" Eldar	$88,190		"M.O.P."	$101,875
Andres "Educa-p0ker" Artinano	$84,824		"amar11111"	$92,708

Biggest Winners/Losers of 2016

Winners	Profit		Losers	Loss
Andres "Educa-p0ker" Artinano	$920,870		Alex "Kanu7" Millar	$564,117
"Cobus83"	$213,377		Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates
Mikael "ChaoRen160" Thuritz	$155,005		"candela2005"	$212,068
"hhecklen"	$111,373		"40and7"	$175,332
"dougiedan678"	$100,398		"I_Mr_U_Bean"	$173,210
"bazzzzzzz"	$87,377		"Aron0621"	$161,152

_{*Lead photo courtesy of globalpokerindex.com.}

_{Data and hands obtained from HighStakesDB.com}

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