Isildur1
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. 16.7k Followers, 217 Following, 14 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Viktor Blom (@viktorb1om).
Poker is one of the most popular casino games for real money, and it first captured Viktor’s attention at the age of 14. He played it for fun with his school friends. Back then, the group of dreamy teenagers was inspired by the stunning success of the Internet poker player Chris MoneyMaker, who crashed into the WSOP tournament back in 2003 and then became the winner.
Blom’s brother helped his sibling to make the first step into the world of online gambling; setting an account on PokerParty.com, where Viktor practiced under the name of Blom90. Taking risks and placing high bets, he managed to get up to $2 million in a fortnight using a deposit of $2000. However, he stopped any activity on this website, so he could search for a better platform to play.
By the age of 18, the young punter introduced himself to the Full Tilt Poker, using the nickname Isildur1. For a long time, his true identity was kept a secret. Blom gained a reputation for being an aggressive and rough player. Spending over 15 hours per day, Viktor has increased his bank significantly enough to bet against such titans of poker as Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Patrik Antonius. Because of that, Isildur1 has appeared in the spotlight of the world poker news, becoming the most googled player of all time.
The history of online poker will never forget the legendary game between Isildur1 and Tom “durrr” Dwan back in 2009. Tricky Swedish high-roller solely drained Dwan’s bankroll during his weekly run in online poker, cashing out up to $6 million in the end.
Nevertheless, luck turned its back on Blom during the No-Limit Omaha, causing him the largest loss in the history of online poker. Isildur1 lost $4.2 million in total during the game against Brian Hastings. However, as it turned out, the latter benefited from the help of other players, who leaked some information about the strategies of his rivals.
In addition to that, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom proved how reckless he can be during his games against Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius, which he led simultaneously. He lost it big, limping into the $1,356,946.50 pot when he waged against Antonius. This is considered to be one of the largest sole cash games in the entire history of online Texas Holdem tournaments.
Phil Ivey was stunned by the ruthless young player and called him one of the most interesting competitors he had ever shared a game with. Even though his reckless betting led Blom to frequent losses, his style became his master signature.
When Blom was about to fold his career, he was offered a sponsorship from PokerStars to participate in No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha in 2010. This real-life venue, called “Superstar Showdown,” disclosed Isildur1’s identity; and since then he has often been offline. This happened in 2010 – the calmest period in Blom’s career, until he was announced to participate in Team Pokerstars Pro of the aforementioned poker tournament. The battlefield placed on four tables was opened to anyone with a minimum of $50/$100 stake games and 2,500 hands.
Later on, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was to win his first offline competition at the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure in 2012, snagging $1.25 million in the $100,000 Super High Roller. The same year Full Tilt Poker decided to reboot its brand by financing Blom, Dwan, and Hansen, but customers were not supportive of the idea in the long run. To cut a long story short, Viktor Blom was left on his own again!
The list of the wins at the real-life tournaments expanded since 2013. Throughout 2013 and 2017 Viktor “Isildur1” Blom won 4 SCOOP titles and one WCOOP title. Blom’s total live tournament cash is estimated at as high as $3 million. This distracted him from the task of active online performances, and he gradually moved up to the real live gambling, visiting tournaments all over Europe and swinging between Sweden and Britain.
So Where Is Isildur1 Right Now?
Nevertheless, it is hardly possible to catch a glimpse of Blom play at live venues, as he has recently gone into hiding. The last known huge appearance happened during the partypoker MILLIONS Germany Main Event in February 2018 at the King’s Casino in Rozvadov.
Facing a 9-1 chip lead of his Moldavian competitor Pavel Plesuv, Viktor hit back, equalizing the stacks before the final hand. Both punters had pretty good chances to win, with Plesuv holding a pair of queens and Blom a pair of kings after the queen-nine-king flop. When the ace of diamonds on the turn came out, Plesuv was left without a flush. The river made it worse with five of hearts. But the Moldavian player didn’t step back, going all in. Bluffing about having a straight or flush, he couldn’t convince Blom and the latter made a historic call with second-pair and no kicker. This resulted in almost a $1 million win.
Nobody really knows about the future plans of the poker star. Facts about his private life are quite mixed up and the whole picture of it consists of various puzzles. At the start of his poker career, Blom was rumored to have bought a $1 million flat somewhere in Sweden.
Isildur1 now resides in a small town somewhere in Sweden that he won’t reveal. This calm place keeps him from partying a lot and helps to concentrate on the game. According to Blom in some interviews, his silence helps him analyze flaws in the game while enabling his brain to generate new strategies and tactics. An interesting fact is that this online poker star doesn’t use any special software for this and mostly fiddles with ideas in his own brain. He quit partying a lot, even though he is always a welcome guest at the majority of summer parties in Sweden and nightclubs in London.
For the last two years, he was spotted in London for a couple of times. He didn’t play big and was enjoying his time at the Open London Main Event. The loose atmosphere of the capital city helped him to relax and just go with the flow. Blom expressed a lack of interest in online poker, stating that it has been rather slow during the past few years. He tried to perform there several times, but the pace was rather sluggish. When giving an interview to the journalists, he confirmed that there were no major tournaments on his list; however, a year later we witnessed his comeback at the partypoker MILLIONS Germany Main Event.
There is no clear answer when and where exactly this legendary player is next going to show up, but his latest actions give us a hint that these might be some of the major venues in Europe. The questions: “What happened to isildur1?”, “Where is Isildur1?” and “What’s up with Viktor Blom today?” are still open for his fans, as he is generally so hard to catch!
Isildur1 2019 is no less successful — his latest achievement is the 2nd place in Rozvadov (WSOPE) where he has managed to win $5,424.
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.
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:
“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”.
Isildur1 Hendon
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.
Isildur1 Broke
More interesting and useful articles from the world of poker you can read in our blog. Also search for poker clubs in the country or city, get to know about upcoming poker tournaments or cash games at PokerDiscover.com portal.
Viktor Blom Poker
If you liked the article, don’t forget to share it with your friends in social networks.