In the first part of this article we introduced the birth of a legend named Isildur1. The mysterious player who appeared out of the blue, like a bolt from the blue, wasn't afraid to play anything with anyone, but this strategy didn't last long. Today we'll talk about whether Isildur managed to get back into the game, we'll remember how his identity was revealed, and we'll talk about what he's been up to lately.

From a mysterious nickname to a worldwide phenomenon - the story of Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (part 1.)

Why was Isildur1 such a tough opponent?

There's no doubt that Blom showed off his game well above +EV during his first sessions on Full Tilt, making him seem impossible to beat. But it wasn't just luck that helped him become one of the biggest legends in the online high stakes world. One of the things he definitely had was complete anonymity - no one knew who he was. To the rest of the community, he was a big mystery (to the point where no one could be sure if Isildur1 was a he or a she). So they had no idea what to expect.

Blom's strategy was often referred to as hyperaggro, which helped it confuse his opponents and put them in difficult situations. Isildur played seemingly with very little regard for the money that was at stake - he had already built his bankroll from scratch once and was confident he could do it again. So it was all about challenge and excitement for him. Why else would he try to beat the best in the world when there were much easier games available?

It took a while for the pros to adjust to his game, and the result of extensive study, was the aforementioned Hastings win. Of course, everyone kind of knew how this episode would end, even without Hastings' data mining. Isildur was speeding along at high speed, wasn't about to take his foot off the gas, and wasn't about to stop until he ran out of money or until there was no one left to challenge him. This plan was so ambitious that it was doomed to fail from the start.

Revealing the Legend

After the severe beating he took, Blom disappeared from the tables, but he wasn't done with poker. His exploits at the online tables brought interest from countless poker fans, as well as from the big poker rooms that wanted to sign up the mysterious hero as one of their brand ambassadors. In the end, it was PokerStars who added the Swede to their professional roster.

The identity of "Isildur1" was finally revealed at the 2011 Poker Caribbean Adventure, and the man behind the rumored alias was introduced as Viktor Blom, a then 21-year-old Swede. It was a huge revelation that poker fans had been eagerly awaiting. For the young Swede, the sponsorship represented an opportunity to continue playing poker at the highest stakes, a much-needed boost after the severe beating he took online.

For the next few years, Blom continued to play under the PokerStars banner and got involved in some live poker tournaments as well. Although tournaments have never been Blom's main area of interest, he has managed to amass just over $3,000,000 in winnings to this point, with his biggest cash coming in 2012 when he cashed for $1.2 million in the $100k PCA High Roller event.

When Full Tilt returned in 2012, the Swede was one of the few pros approached by the cardroom to try and revive the brand. Blom joined Tom Dwan and Gus Hansen and was back in his natural habitat. Over the next few years, "Isildur1" was a regular at the nosebleed tables, once again measuring his strength against the best of the best. Blom had crazy swings during this period and stuck to his insanely aggressive style of play. After Full Tilt closed (for good this time), Blom returned to PokerStars.

What has "Isildur1" been up to lately?

The online world isn't what it used to be, and the good old days of players playing massive six- or seven-figure pots seem to be a distant memory. Whether this will change in the future and whether a poker room like GGPoker, for example, will be able to fill that void remains to be seen. So how has the Swede been spending the last few years? Blom seems to have focused on tournaments and has been quite successful, especially in the online scene. In terms of live results, the only truly notable result in the last couple of years for Blom was winning the partypoker MILLIONS event in Rozvadov, which earned him a €850,000 prize.

Controversial hero

Viktor "Isildur1" Blom is still one of the most controversial figures in the poker world today. Unlike some, however, the Swede created this controversy by simply playing his cards instead of doing questionable things. It's nice to see that the young Swede has held his own despite the hard knocks he's taken throughout his career. Always ready to adapt, adjust and measure his strength against anyone in the world - if nothing else, you can be sure that Blom won't shy away from any action and that chips will be flying in all directions at every table he sits down at.

Should nosebleeds cash games ($500/$1,000+) ever return to the online world, it's safe to say that Isildur will be one of the first players to get involved. Although the games have become much more challenging and there are very few bad players at these stakes, this is not the case for Blom. He's never been afraid of a challenge, which is quite the opposite of what he seeks - it's just part of who he is!

Sources: reddit, YouTube, casino.org, bestpokercoaching, pgt, kingsresort