Isildur1: Action Junkie

July 28, 2011, Posted by Pokerfarm

Young Swedish poker star and full-time aggro-machine Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom has continued to dominate the world of online high-stakes poker. His bankroll may fluctuate more wildly than Mike Matusow's mood, but he’s been taking on all comers with fearless, even reckless, abandon. Blom has consistently played at the highest limits available on Stars and never fails to find action when he wants it.

Last Thursday, Isildur1 took on American Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky in a multi-hour heads-up PLO match that saw a pulse-quickening number of huge pots change hands. Bloom took down the first pot that topped $100k when he 5-bet a broadway wrap and called Sulsky’s flop shove with top pair and a straight draw. Blom hit runner-runner full house to Sulsky’s busted flush draw. The Swede took down a second monster pot to the tune of $95k when Sulsky’s flopped top set was no good against Blom’s flopped straight. However, despite additional wins at NLHE, Blom only managed to finish the day up around $80k. He was quick to blame his misfortune on Norwegian pro Andreas "skjervoy" Torbergsen, who he called “the biggest luckbox ever.” Rich words indeed from someone who went on perhaps the biggest heater in poker history.

On Friday, Blom enjoyed a $400k upswing in HU PLO at the expense of German player Davin Georgi and long-time foe Rui "PepperoniF" Cao. His success was short-lived, however. He soon dropped $160k at 6 max PLO before proceeding to engage in a rematch against Sulsky in the form of an epic three-hour heads-up duel. The encounter was disastrous for Blom, who lost at least $150k at the $50/$100 tables, including a $100k pot in which Sulsky flopped set-over-set and stacked the Swedish player.

Things took a sharp turn when Sulsky and Blom met once more, this time at the HU NLHE tables. Sulsky put up an admirable fight, at one point calling a $24k river bet holding pocket kings with three diamonds, four-to-a-straight and an ace showing on the table. His intuition proved correct when Blom showed a missed straight draw, and Sulsky took down the $100k pot. However, over the course of the marathon late-night match, Blom began to emerge as the clear winner, recouping his previous losses and winning several hundred thousand dollars profit.

Isildur1’s success continued on Saturday, as he won at least another $200k at the PLO tables at the expense of “1-ronnyr3” and Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck.

While such results would be the stuff of dreams for most players, poker tracking sites still have Blom as barely break-even since the beginning of the year and down around half a million dollars since last December. During the same period, Rui Cao, perhaps Isildur1’s most regular opponent, has single-handedly liberated almost that much from the Swede.

Blom’s intermittent results have prompted some to ask whether the hyper-aggressive young Swede should stick to NLHE, where he has booked solid winnings on Stars. Instead, he has increasingly been favouring PLO, but has suffered intimidating losses at the variance-prone game. Whether Blom’s edge is smaller at Omaha, or he’s simply been unlucky, remains to be seen, but with Blom continuing to generate some of the highest action around, the railbirds certainly won’t be complaining.