After a tremendous start to 2013, winning over $4 million in the first 10 days of the year at the Full Tilt online poker tables, the poker world is wondering: Is this the year Viktor Blom establishes himself as one of the game’s best players? If Blom can put it all together, and avoid the terrible downswings that have plagued his short career, he could very well find himself in the same group as Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, and Patrik Antonius when people debate the best players in the game. 
Since emerging as a high-stakes player to be reckoned with back in late 2009 Viktor Blom –then known only as Isildur1—has been one of the most talked about players, as well as one of the streakiest, winning and losing millions of dollars in days, sometimes hours. In that time Blom has also been one of the most enigmatic players, capable of disappearing for months at a time, and making strange decisions, such as not defending his PCA Super-High-Roller title this year. But through it all, the poker world has always questioned Blom’s ability to pull it all together, and develop the mindset to rival his remarkable skills.
What makes Blom’s accomplishments so impressive –even though many players question if he is even a winning player at the high-stakes tables—is his willingness to play virtually anyone, at any stakes, and in any game; often times playing three or four of the best players in the game at the same time spread across multiple tables!
Blom started to put it all together in 2011, after joining Team PokerStars. During his stint at PokerStars –Blom is now a member of Team Full Tilt Poker, which is now owned by PokerStars—Blom took part in the Superstar Showdown Challenge matches, and racked-up an impressive record, only losing to Isaac Haxton. These matches, along with a willingness to play a bit smaller during his time at PokerStars seems to have helped Isildur1 become a better all-around player –something we are now seeing at Full Tilt Poker where he has been playing everything from PLO and No Limit Holdem to 2-7 Triple Draw and limit Omaha 8 or better.
Isildur1’s Superstar Showdown record:
- (LOSS) Dec. 19, 2010: Isaac “philivey2694″ Haxton — Result -$41,701
- (WIN) Jan. 2, 2011: Antanas “Tony G” Guoga – Result +$44,280
- (WIN) Jan. 30, 2011: Daniel “w00ki3z” Cates – Result +$51,196
- (WIN) Feb. 13, 2011: Eugene “MyRabbiFoo” Katchalov – Result +$111,750
- (WIN) Feb. 27, 2011: Attila “DodgyFish72” Gulcsik — Result +$10
- (WIN) March 20, 2011: Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu (part 1) – Result +$150,000 (Part 2) March 27, 2011: Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu (Part 2) – Result -$26,500
- (WIN) April 3, 2011: Scott “urnotindangr” Palmer (Part 1) — -Result $5,425 (Part 2) April 10, 2011: Scott “urnotindangr” Palmer (Part 2) – Result +$66,607
- (WIN) April 24, 2011: “Mastermixus” — Result +$1,279
- (WIN) June 19, 2011: Rui “PepperoniF” Cao — Result +$150,000
- (LOSS) March 11, 2012 (completed March 13, 2012): Isaac “philivey2694″ Haxton — Result -$5,093
- (WIN) March 18, 2012: Andrew “Kanu7” Millar – Result +$37,687
Blom got his revenge on Haxton (who handed him his only two losses in the Superstar Showdown series) by defeating him in a special $1 million Challenge match, where each player put up $500,000 and played until someone was felted.
If Blom can grind out a winning year, most importantly proving he can be a consistent winner, avoiding the wild swings, 2013 could very well be the Year of Isildur1.
***Late Edit*** Of course Isildur1 dropped just over $1 million the night I wrote this article! But, the good news is he is still in the black by just over $4 million for 2013.
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