Viktor Blom: Player Profile

Towards the end of 2009, a mysterious Isildur1 played the online Full Tilt tables and sent shockwaves through the poker community. Within a few days, he was playing against some of the biggest names in the poker world, and playing at the highest stakes available.

Soon, the world found out the man behind Isildur1 – Viktor Blom. This young Swedish poker player has definitely made it to the poker elites, dominating opponents at both live and online poker tables.

Viktor Blom’s Beginnings in Poker

Viktor Blom was born in Sweden in 1990. He discovered the game of poker when he was 14-years-old through his brother. Blom’s brother taught him the basic rules of poker and how to play Texas No Limit when Blom was in junior high school.

After learning how to play poker, Blom decided to teach some of his friends. Eventually, he and his friends would play against each other in friendly games for small stakes. At school, Blom would participate at poker games with buy-ins ranging from US$3 to US$7 that were held during breaks. Blom recalls that games during lunchtime would attract as much as 25 players.

When he was 15 years old, Blom and his brother decided to deposit money at an online poker site. The first online poker game that they entered was a multi-table tournament, where they managed to finish in 5th place for US$300. Blom considered this to be a huge win back then. After a few games, Blom’s brother decided to set up a separate account so that he and Blom could play individually. This was when Blom90 was born.

Professional Poker Career

Before he became the infamous Isildur1, Blom started out as Blom90 on the iPoker Network. He started with US$2,000 – which was his only money at that time. He decided that if he would lose that amount, he would leave poker and do something else. He chose multi-tabling Heads Up No Limit Hold’em and played just about every single game that offered multi-tabling action.

After several weeks, he conquered every level and ended up with a bankroll of US$2 million. At the time, he was playing US$100 to US$200 buy-ins daily, and could take as much as 15 hours doing nothing else but playing. In only a few short months, Blom became the biggest winner at four different European online poker sites.

The Rise and Fall of Isildur1

Isildur1 first appeared at the online tables of Full Tilt Poker on September 2009. For two months he was largely unnoticed, but then he started to get into tables that featured Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Brian Townsend, and Cole South. Isildur1 was playing at stakes as high as US$500 and US$1000.

Isildur1 began the largest run in the history of online poker, by winning approximately US$4 million from Dwan. After losing, Dwan challenged Isildur1 to play live at the Full Tilt Poker Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge.

Isildur1 reached a career peak in November when his total winnings amounted to US$5.98 million. But after a few days, he ended up dropping millions of dollars when he lost US$1,356,946.50 to Patrick Antonius.

After that loss, Isildur1 quickly fell apart and lost a US$4.2 million more to Brian Hastings. Later on, it came to light that Brian Townsend, Cole South, and Brian Hastings had been discussing about the best poker hands, tactics, and strategies that might work against the mysterious Isildur1. Brian Townsend went as far as purchasing a large set of hands involving “Isildur1” from an online tracking site, which was against Full Tilt terms and conditions. As a result, Townsend lost some of his privileges as a sponsored Full Tilt Poker player for 30 days.

At the end of 2009, Isildur1 finished with US$2.2 million on Full Tilt Poker.

Viktor Blom in Live Poker

Many poker fans waited around for the return of Isildur1 at the best online poker sites, but there were only a few “Isildur1” sightings on the online community in early 2010. At this point, there were so many rumours about who he could be, and other aliases he could be using.

In late 2010, PokerStars sent shockwaves in the poker world when it announced that Isildur1 had become the newest member of PokerStars Pro. For a few months, Isildur1 was seen playing at PokerStar’s Superstar Showdown. Many pros like Isaac Haxton and Tony G went online to try to battle Isildur1. Haxton won, but Tony G lost.

PokerStars then announced that the identity of Isildur1 would be revealed at the 2011 Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure. True enough, Isildur1 showed up and the world got to see Viktor Blom in live poker action.

Since signing with PokerStars in 2011, Blom has been seen in many prestigious live poker tournaments. His biggest live poker win came only a year later in January 2012 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. It was there that he won the first live tournament of his career for US$1,254,400.

Several months after his huge win, Blom announced that he would no longer be part of Team PokerStars. He was quickly signed by Full Tilt Poker on October 2012 and has since represented the brand alongside rival high-stakes player Tom Durrrr Dwan.

Viktor Blom Trivia

Here are some fun facts about Viktor Blom that you may not know about:

1) Blom played soccer in school and still loves the game.

2) Blom once played massive sessions with Tom Durrrr Dwan where Blom won US$3 million. Blom described that they could be playing up to 18 hours straight, sleep, and then continue.

3) The “Rise and Fall of Isildur1” was on nearly every poker top stories of 2009 list, including those of PokerNewsDaily.com, pokerlistings.com, PokerNews.com, and Cardplayer.

4) Isildur1 was supposed to reveal his identity in April 2012 at the PartyPoker’s Big Game IV, but he backed out just a few days before the event.

5) When Blom started learning poker, he claims he never read poker books, forums, or discussions. He said, “I always felt I was good and have always wanted to improve, so I just held on to that all the time.”

6) When asked why he stayed anonymous for so long, Blom replied: “My life was good. I had a million-dollar flat that was amazing and I could hang out with my childhood friends and girlfriend. Life was just good at that time and I couldn’t ask for anything more.” He added that he decided to turn to live poker because he needed a new challenge and that he wanted to improve his game, because “things had changed and people weren’t willing to play Heads Up No Limit Hold’em on the internet as much as before.”

7) When asked if he was amused by the speculations about his identity as Isildur1, Blom answered: “No, I wasn’t. I was young, and I felt I didn’t need it, and I hated media.”

8) When asked about how he felt when he lost around US$5 million in 2009, Blom answered: “Not good the way it went down, but I still felt OK and could do some other things in life that I enjoyed, and after a little while, I didn’t think about it much.”

Viktor Blom Style of Play

Blom’s style of play can be described as unrelenting and super aggressive. He is known for barrelling and over-betting at the poker table, with a good balance of bluffs and value bets.

But Blom’s greatest strengths can also become his great weaknesses. His aggression led him to play nine tables at once against some very talented pros like professional player Phil Ivey, Brian Hastings, Patrik Antonius, and Tom Durrrr Dwan. As mentioned earlier, Blom lost US$4.2 million to Brian Hastings in a single session – which is the largest amount lost in a single day in the entire history of online poker.

Viktor Blom Winnings and Rankings

According to the latest figures in The Hendon Mob Poker Database, Viktor Blom winnings from live poker is estimated at US$1,721,834. This places him in 12th place at Sweden’s All Time Money List, and 740th for the All Time Money List. His best rank for the All Time Money List was 517th.

He is also in 47th place for Popularity Ranking.

Viktor Blom Net Worth

Blom has won numerous live and online tournaments in his professional poker career. He also has a Full Tilt Poker sponsorship deal which likely sees him paid in the high six figures every year. Given all of his steady profits and sponsorship deals, Poker-King.com estimates Viktor Blom worth at approximately US$5 million.

Major Live Tournament Winnings of Viktor Blom

Although much of his winnings come from online poker tournaments, Viktor Blom also has participated in prestigious live tournaments.

World Series of Poker

Blom boasts three World Series of Poker cashes. His first event was the WSOP Europe Main Event which was held in London in 2010. Blom finished in 16th place and received £33,582 in prize money. He also did well in 2012, where he participated in two Vegas events. He placed at the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed event for US$2,706. Shortly after, Blom participated at the $50,000 Poker Players Championship where he finished in 14th place for US$105,235.

Here are his WSOP cash prizes in review:

European Poker Tour

As a poker player living in London, Blom regularly played at many of the big European tournaments. At the 2012 European Poker Tour PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Blom participated in the US$100,000 Super High Roller event and defeated Dan Shack for the first prize win. He collected a total of more than US$1 million in winnings.

That same year, Blom scored three more cashes at various EPT events. He won a total of €13,400 when he finished in second place at the €5,000 Heads-Up event in EPT Deauville. He also won €29,700 when he finished in seventh place at the €10,000 8 Max Re-Entry event in EPT Berlin.

Blom wrapped up 2012 with another win at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. He finished in seventh place at the €10,000 6 Max Turbo High Roller event for €28,700.

Here are his EPT cash prizes in review:

Viktor Blom Notable Career Highlights

Here is a list of Viktor Blom’s most notable career highlights. His biggest wins so far were in 2012. On January 2012, he won US$1,254,400. A couple of months later in May 2012, he won US$247,200.

This information was taken from cardplayer.com.