Viktor Blom AKA Isildur1

The circumstances surrounding Viktor Blom’s emergence onto the professional poker scene read like a ‘dream-come-true’ movie script, but a genuinely good one. Though the idea had been circulating around the poker world for the better part of a year, it was formally announced on 8th January, 2011 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that the infamous internet sensation Isildur1 is, in fact, 20-year-old Viktor Blom.

Not a lot is known about this newcomer, but what is known is this: Blom currently resides in Uddevalla, Sweden, and was born in 1990. Blom began playing online poker at the age of 18 using the screen name blom90 on iPoker.

During this time, he took a $2,000 bankroll and turned it into $1,500,000 in a matter of two weeks, and is rumoured to have singlehandedly cleaned them out. In addition, he was nominated for the Rookie of the Year award in the Scandinavian Poker Awards in 2008.

Blom began playing at Full Tilt Poker in November 2009, and accumulated $5,000,000 in less than a month’s time, all while taking on some of the game’s top players such as Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey. His online career peaked in November 2009 with $5,000,000 in total winnings.

Sure to go down in history, he has taken part in all 10 of the largest online pots. His strength appears to be playing No Limit Hold’em heads-up, where he is currently up over $2,500,000. His weakness appears to be playing Pot Limit Omaha, where he is currently down about $5,000,000, for a total loss of around $2,500,000. In addition, he currently holds the dubious honour of the two largest single day gains and losses in the history of online poker.

He suffered a $3,000,000 loss to Patrik Antonius in June 2009, only to outdo himself six months later with a $4,200,000 total loss to Brian Hastings on 8th December, 2009. Incredibly, he is noted to have played up to nine online tables at once.

Blom signed on with PokerStars in December 2010, prior to revealing his true identity, and it wasn’t long thereafter that he started the Superstar Showdown, which is a direct challenge to any poker professional willing to battle him for 2,500 hands spread amongst four tables. Isaac Haxton and Tony G are the only pros who have stepped up, and Haxton is the only one yet to pull off a win.

Blom’s style of play is best described as aggressive, due to his no holds barred approach to limits, and extremely dangerous, as he is known to force his opponents to confront difficult choices. The future appears bright for this young man, but only time will tell.