Isildur1 is the screen name of an anonymous Swedish high stakes online poker player at Full Tilt Poker. He drew the attention of the poker world in late 2009 when he was involved in the largest pots in online poker history.
Isildur1 Vs Phil Ivey
What you’re about to read is a purely speculative assumption of what a day in Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom’s life looks like. Of course, nobody but the real legend and a few close friends of his know the truth, but we've made some creative guesses using facts found on the web and mixing them together with an enjoyable and easy-to-read story. Viktor “Isildur1” Blom is a Swedish high stakes pro and by far the most popular online highstakes pro of all time. Isildur1 first came to the publics attention in last 2009 when he appeared out of.
Isildur1 first appeared on the poker world's radar screen while playing at Full Tilt Poker in late 2009. He began playing professionals players such as Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Patrik Antonius in high-stakes games - up to $500/$1000. He reached a peak on November 15 with total winnings of $5 million.
Patrik Antonius, who won the largest online pot ever ($1.4 million) against Isildur1, called him an extremely dangerous player because he constantly makes his opponents make difficult decisions.
By mid-December, however, he was down $2 million net, including an approximate $4 million loss to Brian Hastings on December 8, when the two played heads-up $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for five hours. Isildur1 did not appear much on Full Tilt after his collapse in mid-December until his return in February 2010.
It has since been discovered that Hastings received advice on hands from a database of hand histories collected by Brian Townsend. The collection of such a database is a violation of the Full Tilt Poker Terms of Service.
In an interview with Isildur1 in December 2009, in which he refused to reveal his identity, Isildur1 said he had no clue Hastings had been able to study hand histories from matches you had played with others until friends told him about it and felt that something was just wrong when he was playing him.
He thinks that he is going to file a formal complaint with Full Tilt and that he thinks that he deserves to get portion of his money from the session back. For now though, he plans to just lie low.
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HPG ADMIN on February 27, 2013
Viktor “Isuldur1” Blom is a genius person who is not very talkative. He rarely gives any interviews and when he does it looks like he makes that unwillingly. When this happens, the least we can do is make a post in PokerDiscover blog about it. Blom “revealed his soul” at Unibet Poker Open which took place in London recently here he was invited as a super poker mega star. He also made a good PR for Unibet, as he does.
We won’t stop at what happened at the event as it is not very interesting for wide audience. The personality of the Swede, however is the topic to discuss.
Firstly, we have to notice that Blom came back to his motherland - Sweden. He lived for several years in London before that, which is the home for many famous poker players. His move is actually a rather strange decision from the financial point of view.
For instance, another ARIA Super High Roller Bowl will take place this year with the buy-in of $300,000. Viktor certainly looks like a person who could allow himself that.
But:
“The problem is I live in Sweden now and taxes here are huge. Should I participate in WSOP Main Event – that’s fine, but the tournament of this level (Super High Roller Bowl) is not relevant to me anymore.”
The taxes will eliminate the major amount of profit as the buy-in for this even is immensely high, the risk is too high. Rather the reward is minimal at best. The state will charge with 30 to 50 percent of the player’s profit.
Isildur1 2020
Where does Viktor Blom live?
Is is quite possible that the major goal of Viktor was to drastically change the location. It is known for a long time that Isildur like to party and London is not a good place to stop this activity. According to Viktor himself, not once nor twice partying too much last night made an impact during the important poker session.
Now Isildur1 landed to a small town where one can’t party:
“I play better after the move. It is easier to focus and I have more time for other projects”.
“It is nice here. Not so many distractions. The town is really small: no any clubs, nor bars, nothing like that. I spend a lot of time with my friends and family, don’t stay overnight at any places. It used to be much worse in that respect”.
How does Isildur1 improve his game?
Viktor Blom is a prodigy. He is a self-made pro who used his own technology. Rumors are he has never read any poker books, nor seen VODs nor used software.
And it seems to be truth. At least for the most part. Here is what Swedish phenomena tells of his way of educating himself:
Isildur1 Pictures
“Nope. I’ve never done this (analysis of the hands played in tracking software –note). Studying for me is in playing at high stakes and following it with the analysis of the big hands. Should I lose a big pot, I try to find mistakes I’ve made”.
“If I’m on the road, in train, for instance, I tank and think of different hands but I’ve never studied in the conventional meaning of it – no videos, books, software, nothing. I play a lot, practice is way more important in my opinion.”
Viktor also told about transition to a healthier lifestyle. Less alcohol, more discipline and gym. According to him, when you’re in a good shape, it helps in long poker sessions.
Online or live?
Lately online keeps winding down. Absolute numbers of Blom are far from being perfect either. Last year he lost almost $500,000 and became one of the most losing players of 2016.
The fresh 365 days had a diversified beginning for the Swede. He won almost $400,000 before January, 10 and soon lost almost the entire amount keeping the profit low at the level of several thousands of dollars.
“Yes, online is different now but I don’t have any plans”.
As for live tournaments, Blom has one goal:
“I’d like to participate in World Series Main Event this summer as I wasn’t participating for several years. This is at least one of the tournaments of the list for this year”.
Viktor is a successful MTT player (despite cash games being his major focus). His portfolio has three SCOOP titles, for instance, and that’s huge.
Victor Bloom
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Isildur1 Broke
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