Viktor Blom: The Man, The Myth, The Legend If you play or follow online poker, just seeing the name “Isildur1” evokes a strong emotional response. He first became known for having (far and away) the most epic rise and fall in online poker history. Viktor Blom found the game of poker when he was just 14 years old. He and his closest friends would play against each other in friendly home games, just as millions of other players would do at the height of the Chris Moneymaker 'poker boom'. Blom quickly discovered that he had a knack for the game. Pavel Plesuv and Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom have been heads-up in the PartyPoker Millions Main Event at the Kings Casino in Rozvadov. 2 years ago 8,561 BDJB, Published 2 years ago PartyPoker The Big Game - Part 2. Viktor Blom (born 26 September 1990) is a Swedish high-stakes online poker player, best known by the online poker name Isildur1. His rise to fame drew considerable attention around the poker world in late 2009, when he took part in all ten of the largest pots in online poker history. The mysterious and mystical Viktor Blom returned to the spotlight this week, putting on a dominant performance ahead of the Unibet Open Dublin.
Viktor Blom’s latest career achievement comes at an interesting time in his career. The former online cash game nosebleed end boss put on an incredible display to win the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. In only his 13th career tournament cash, Blom withdrew over $1 million from the prize pool, a figure that matches the pots he played every day for years on Full Tilt Poker.
A life gone by
The masses lined up by the thousands to rail Blom’s games starting in 2009. Those games featured heavyweights of their time in Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, and Tom Dwan. A full decade later, the thousands turned up again to watch Blom play the final table that formally introduced him to a new age of poker fans.
Blom has remained an enigma for his entire career. Not much is known about the 27-year-old outside of his obvious poker talent. The stories of legend encompassing peers like Daniel Cates and Dwan do not exist for Blom. That mystery led to Blom’s increased popularity when he started playing more live poker and in 2012 when made his first trip to the World Series of Poker.
The live-streamed era of poker was in its infancy when Blom started to click away from his laptop. Live streams are inescapable now and Blom can officially change the narrative on his career by embracing poker’s new age.
Blom won the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS by making a courageous hero call on the final hand.
A man without country
Black Friday changed a lot for the high stakes community; Blom is one of the players whose career took a direct hit. The availability of sponsorships and subsequent money to play in games ranging as high as $500/$1,000 turned Blom into a shell of his former self.
Blom’s decreased marketability came as a result of his reduced live presence. Dwan played in the same online games as Blom but channeled his time into playing High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. His overall profile grew immediately. Blom stayed in the virtual world to play the highest stakes available. That decision resulted in years of losses and wins, according to HighStakesDB.
Whatever side income Blom brought in from his Full Tilt and PokerStars deals soon evaporated. The legend we knew was gone.
Inspiration from a rival
The return of Tom Dwan to Poker After Dark last summer remains a moment stuck in the mind of poker fans. A spark can start a fire, and maybe Blom’s win is just that.
An estimated 10,000 viewers tuned into Twitch to observe Sunday’s final table and watch Blom complete his comeback to earn his second career seven-figure score. The rekindling of celebrity for Blom starts with becoming a constant presence in the mind of viewers.
Without knowing what Blom’s motivations are since, clearly, very few do, wouldn’t he want the chance to play in the best cash games in the world? Tournaments are out of the question due to the high tax rate that Swedes pay.
The opportunities are there for Blom. During his time at King’s Casino, he participated in live Pot Limit Omaha games that were broadcast to the world. His chair surely awaits in Las Vegas, Nevada should the ARIA and Poker After Dark call.
The passion to see the Swede play remains among viewers and he has new fans who got to see Blom perform his latest trick.
The potential of a patch
King’s Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik leaned in on Blom’s winner’s photo. The businessman has expanded his enterprise to putting King’s Casino patches on German superstars Fedor Holz, Rainer Kempe, and Steffen Sontheimer.
Could a patch be in the cards for Blom? That’s a decision that would alter how much we see from Blom on live streams in the coming months. Only Blom knows what he wants to leverage off of his major title.
If Blom is to attempt becoming the global phenomenon he once was and open himself up to the spotlight, the masses will be there waiting with open arms.
Lead image courtesy of the partypoker Blog
Who is Viktor Blom? If the name Viktor Blom doesn’t ring a bell, then maybe you would know him better by his screen name: Isildur1. Viktor spent years playing poker at a variety of different online poker sites, competing against some of the top players in the world without them knowing who he was. Everything changed when he signed a one-year contract with PokerStars; not only did everyone now know who he was, but he started competing in live tournaments for the first time as well. He has made millions of dollars over the course of his career, and we don’t see that changing anytime soon.
Viktor was born on September 26th, 1990 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was the youngest of four children, having two older sisters and an older brother named Sebastian. Viktor and Sebastian started playing poker together when he was only fourteen years old; their game of choice was No Limit Texas Hold’em. Viktor longed for more competition, so he taught his friends how to play. Soon, his love of poker spread throughout his school; many of his classmates were eager to play on school grounds in order to get their hands on a little extra cash.
One lunch period, in particular, twenty-five students gathered around to play. Although some of the students were older than Viktor, he was easily able to defeat all of them before the period ended. Viktor decided to deposit some of the money he had won over the past year into an online poker site. Since he was only fifteen years old at the time, Sebastian had to help him open the account. He first played under the screen name, Blom90.
Viktor’s career would have a series of high and low moments. At the beginning, he only played low limit games for up to fifteen hours a day. Over time he moved on to $500 sit-n-go tournaments that allowed him to build his bankroll up to $275,000. After making too many risky moves, however, he would find himself completely broke. He was greatly discouraged, but he still managed to press on and build his bankroll back up to $50,000, which he would again proceed to lose. Viktor decided that it would be in his best interest to take a break from playing poker for awhile so that he could re-evaluate his strategies and see what areas he needed to improve.
When asked in an interview with Bluff Magazine, Viktor admits that he was concerned with how he dealt with bankroll management
When Viktor came back, he was more determined than ever to make a living from playing poker. He moved from Sweden to London, to avoid the high Swedish taxes that were associated with gambling. He opened new accounts at all the major online poker sites, now playing exclusively under the username Isildur1. He later admits that his username is based off a character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s book, Lord of the Rings.
Viktor wasn’t there to mess around this time but instead started taking on some of the best players in the world including Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Brian Townsend to name a few. His encounter with Tom Dwan was especially eventful as he went up against him for a series of $500/$1000 No Limit Hold’em games at the Full Tilt Poker website which resulted in Viktor being able to add $5 million to his bankroll. He also was able to win $500,000 after defeating Isaac Haxton in a $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em heads up challenge.
Viktor wasn’t always on the winning side of things, however, as he once lost over $4 million dollars in less than five hours after playing against Brian Hastings. Shortly after his defeat, it was released that Brian had acquired private hand history information that illegitimately gave him an upper hand against Viktor. The person who gave him this information, Brian Townsend, was given a one-month suspension from his Red Pro status as punishment for breeching his contract.
Finding Out Who Isildur1 Really Is (Thanks to PokerStars)
Viktor Blom Poker
Ever since the report came out that Isildur1 had been cheated, players were more eager than ever to find out who this player was. Some people thought it was Robert Flink, while others thought it may be the very talented Phil Hellmuth. Clearly, these people were wrong. Viktor wasn’t planning on revealing his identity until PokerStars called him up and offered him a spot on their team.
On January 8th, 2011, PokerStars announced that they would be adding a new member to their team: Viktor Blom, also known as Isildur1. Viktor was certainly not the person everyone was expecting him to be. For someone that plays over-aggressively, they didn’t think he would look so harmless. He was skinny, he had no facial hair, and his un-washed blonde hair swooped gently over his eyes. On top of that, he was hardly twenty-one at the time of the big revealing.
Despite his looks, he was still was able to earn the respect of his fellow teammates; they enjoyed playing against him and watching his aggressive moves in person. His partnership with Team PokerStars only lasted about a year, but he’s thankful for the time he got to spend with them. It forced him to come out from behind his computer screen and enter some live tournament events that he otherwise wouldn’t have tried.
Coming to the realization that everyone would know who he was at these tournaments was certainly an adjustment for him. He wasn’t in this for the fame, and talking to strangers was never something he was very fond of. Still, he continues to compete in tournaments across Europe and the United States even to this day.
Viktor Blom has landed three World Series of Poker cash finishes over the course of his career. He took 16th place at the 2010 World Series of Poker Championship event, 151st place in the 2012 No Limit Hold’em Six-Hand event, and 14th place in the 2012 Poker Players Championship. Viktor Blom has also dedicated a good amount of his time to compete at the European Poker Tour. He placed second in two No Limit Texas Hold’em events and is hoping to acquire an EPT title soon.
Although his performances at the WSOP and the European Poker Tour were decent, his greatest live tournament accomplishment occurred at PokerStars’ 2012 Caribbean Adventure that took place in Paradise Island that year. During this competition, he was able to play face to face against other well-known professionals such as Jonathan Duhamel and Daniel Negreanu. Despite the odds being against him, Viktor managed to walk away from the competition with the first place prize of over $1.25 million.
Viktor Blom Perfume
In 2013, Victor Blom entered PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker, better known as SCOOP. The main event required a $10,300 buy in and there were over 500 competitors. Viktor constantly thrives at these types of competitions and this time was no different. He placed first and went home with the grand prize of $1.1 million. He was the previous year’s SCOOP champion as well, making this feat even more impressive.
One thing we really appreciate about Viktor Bloom is that he’s constantly trying to improve his poker skills. More recently he has been learning how to play Omaha Hi-Lo and 2-7 Triple Draw Fixed; he’s always open to expanding his knowledge when it comes to poker. He believes the best way to learn about poker is by playing against people who are better than him.
Isildur1
The Online Railbird Report shows that 2015 was Viktor Blom’s most profitable year so far when it comes to online performances. While playing at Full Tilt Poker, he won $1 million dollars in a single day during the month of April. 2015 came with lots of ups and downs for Viktor. One day he would win hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the next day he would give it all back. He loves the thrill that playing poker gives him, which makes us eager to see where this passion takes him.