Yorky Pud

In what will probably go down as one of the biggest anti-climaxes in poker, “Isildur1” was officially unveiled at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which is currently taking place on Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Three guesses who Isildur1 is...of course it is Viktor Blom.

Just as nobody was shocked when Elton John said he was gay, or when our beloved government increased VAT, nobody batted an eyelid as Blom's sponsors announced that the floppy haired Swede was the mystery nose-bleed stakes regular who's true identity was shrouded in mystery until this weekend. Most people had pointed the finger at Blom but the camera shy Swede always refused to give any interviews or simply denied he was Isildur1.

The 20-year old is a man of few words and you could probably have fit his first official interview replies on a single Post-It note. When asked if he was Isildur he simply replied, “Yes,” and when quizzed on why he never interacted with the press he told the crowd, “There was no reason for me to talk to the media.” Some will say Blom is cocky and arrogant for the way he goes about his business but I believe he is just a private person who has only come forward due tot he terms of his recent sponsorship package

So what do we know about Isildur/Blom then? Well although our American cousins would have you believe he suddenly appeared on Full Tilt Poker back in September, he actually built his bankroll on European sites. He has played poker since he was 14 but only deposited online when he turned 18-years old, putting $2,000 online and playing $0.50/$1 heads-up cash games under the moniker “Blom90” and other variations of the name. His hyper-aggressive style, one that leads fellow pros to label him as a maniac, saw him turn this $2,000 into $2,000,000 in just three weeks!

After beating up European foes he decided to take the fight to American players and switched to sites that allowed him to take on some of the biggest names in poker (American citizens have a limited number of poker sites they can play on.) He arrived on this particular scene in September 2009 and immediately caused a stir as he took on anyone at $500/$1,000 heads-up cash games, including destroying Tom “durrrr” Dwan for around $4,500,000! Whilst he was literally printing money at the No Limit Hold'em tables, he was bleeding cash at the Pot Limit Omaha tables like a severed pig.

He became the first player to ever lose a $1,000,000 pot when he tussled with Patrik Antonius, a pot that is still the largest-ever in online poker history. In the hand Isildur raised on the button to $3,000, Antonius made it $9,000 to play, only to see Isildur come over the top with a raise to $27,000! Not to be outdone, Antonius put in a further raise to $81,000, a raise that Isildur1 simply called. If you though the preflop action was crazy wait until you see what happened on a flop reading 4s-5c-2h! Antonius got the ball rolling with a $91,000 bet into the $162,000 pot and Isildur quickly raised the action to a colossal $435,000! Antonius then shoved for $779,000 and Isildur called off the rest of his stack, creating a monster-potten of $1,356,947! Both players revealed their hands, Isildur held 6d-9s-7d-8h for an open ended straight draw whilst his Finnish opponent had flop a wheel holding Ah-3s-Ks-Kh. Amazingly, Antonius was only a 55% favourite on the flop but the 5h on the turn put him way in front and when the 9c fell on the river the pot was passed to Mr Antonius!

Just a week later he won a $1,127,955 pot from Phil Ivey when he flopped a full house and slowplayed to the river where he began betting and raising. By the river there was a straight, flush and lower full house out there but Ivey mucked so we may never know what he held. The action Isildur created was immense, in fact if you look at the top 10 pots ever in online poker, he is involved in every single one of them!

Sir Isaac Newton stated that “what goes up must come down” and that was certainly true for our Swedish hero as his world came tumbling down on December 8 of 2009. The day started well with him winning $471,000 from Daniel “jungleman12” Cates and $722,000 from Brian Townsend but when he took on Brian “Stinger88” Hastings later on that day it all went horribly wrong.

The pair played a total of 2,858 hands and when the last hand was completed, Idildur's bankroll was no more as he lost a staggering $4,191,573.70 to his opponents! Almost $4.2m in a single day! The defeat obviously hit the headlines and many were unhappy by the fact Hastings admitted he and two fellow CardRunners pros, Cole South and Townsend had compiled a database on Isildur1 and it was used to get reads on the hyper-aggressive youngster. How would you feel if you lost $4.2m in a single poker session? Blom played it down saying, “I had some rough days,” rough days for sure my friend!

As you would expect Isildur disappeared from the spotlight but he did return at various points during 2010, though playing much lower than previously. He then vanished again until it was announced he was the latest addition to the PokerStars online pro roster, where he has been up to his old tricks at the $100/$200 and $200/$400 stakes, having mixed results as fans have come to expect!

So the poker world's worst kept secret is out of the bag. Other revelations that are rumoured to come out are that pot limit Omaha is a high variance game and the World Series of Poker Main Event attracts a lot of players.