He played fearlessly against the world's best and moved up stakes from $25/$50 to $500/$1000 quickly. Everyone marveled at his multi tabling, long sessions, and big swings, losing or winning millions regularly. He played major matches with Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Jungleman12, Ziigmund, Phil Ivey, Brian Townsend, Phil Galfond, David Benyamine, Cole South, and Brian Hastings. Isildur1's biggest losing opponent was Tom Dwan who could never get a handle on the player and ended up losing over $5 million. Isildur1 reached a peak of profit of nearly $6 million by mid November but by mid December it was all gone and more. He disappeared from the ultra high stakes world and has been seen sporadically in 2010 on Full Tilt or PokerStars, never gaining any particular momentum and generally losing in his short periods of play.
Things you might not know:
- Viktor Blom was nominated for the Scandinavian Poker Award's Rookie of the Year in 2008.
- Viktor Blom played in his first WSOP Europe event in 2009.
- Isildur1 had a bankroll of approximately $2000 in January 2009.
- By September of 2009, he had run that $2k into a $1.4 million bankroll when he emerged on Full Tilt.
- Isildur1 had taken part in all ten of the largest pots in online poker history.
- Isildur1 lost the biggest single pot in online history, $1.357 million, to Patrik Antonius.
- On December 8th, 2009, Isildur1 lost $4.2 million playing Brian Hastings heads up PLO for five hours.
- Isildur1 considers Phil Ivey his toughest opponent to date, having lost $3.2 million three tabling Ivey over a week.
- Viktor has an older brother Sebastian who won the 2010 Skandinavian online poker championship on Svenska Spel.
- Isildur1 is a big net winner in NLHE, while also being a big net loser in PLO, with overall loses on Full Tilt of $2.5 million.
- Viktor Blom made a deep run in the WSOPE 2010 Main Event, busting out in 16th for £33k when his pocket 8s lost a flip with KQ.
The true identity of Isildur1 has consumed many poker forums and media. Either for tax or privacy reasons, he has continued to keep his verified identity hidden. That seems to be changing now. Viktor "Isildur1" Blom has just announced his partnering with PokerStars to be one of their featured pros. His official identity will be confirmed soon. He is launching a four-table heads up cash game No Limit Hold'Em and Pot Limit Omaha "Super Showdown" challenge to anyone who is willing to play at stakes no lower than $50/$100 for 2,500 hands in one session.
It was recently reported that Viktor Blom is moving to London from his present home of Goteburg, Sweden. He was selling his penthouse apartment in order to be nearer the action in the poker world and receive favorable tax treatment for his winnings.
Viktor Blom, who is presumed to be Isildur1, has built a cult following on the poker forums for his courageous play against the worlds best. He single handedly invigorated the high stakes poker world at a time that it was particularly stagnant. While he has suffered from tilt issues, Blom's single best quality seems to be his aggressive plays (e.g. over-betting the river) that put some of the world's toughest poker players to tough choices at the table. Viktor is excited to focus more on his live game for upcoming tournaments and promotions through his PokerStars Team Pro role.
A few videos demonstrating Viktor Blom's penchant for big bluffs:
Other famous poker player profiles:
Phil Ivey
Gus Hansen
Daniel Negreanu
Doyle Brunson
Phil Hellmuth
Scotty Nguyen
Johnny Chan
Barry Greenstein
Jennifer Harman-Traniello
Eric Seidel
Patrik Antonius
Viktor Blom
Chris Ferguson
Chris Moneymaker
Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier
Tom Dwan
Greg Raymer
Ashton "theASHMAN103" Griffin
John Juanda
Chau Giang
Kathy Liebert
Dan Harrington
Dario Minieri
Allen Cunningham
Phil Galfond
Carlos Mortensen
Annie Duke
Erick Lindgren
Mike Matusow
Michael Mizrachi
Howard Lederer
Antonio Esfandiari
J.C. Tran
David Pham
Annette Obrestad
Vanessa Selbst
Huck Seed
Men Nguyen
David Benyamine
Jason Mercier
Phil Laak
Layne Flack
Lex Veldhuis
Ted Forrest
Joe Hachem
Dan “jungleman12” Cates
