Isildur1 – Poker Player Profile
Swedish online poker pro Isildur1 is a relative newcomer to the industry. He took the high-stakes Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em worlds by storm in November of 2009, squaring off heads-up against players like World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius. He has challenged the very best that the Full Tilt Poker stable has to offer, as many of his opponents are sponsored pros of the world’s second largest online poker site.
Isildur1 jumped out to a sizable profit over his opponents. His hyper-aggressiveness was somewhat similar to Dwan’s, constantly putting foes at tough decisions for much of their stack. By the first week of November, Isildur1 was up $1 million according to Poker Table Ratings and crossed the $2 million threshold shortly thereafter. On November 15th, 2009, Isildur1 had raked in more than $5 million from his opponents. Most of his success had come at the expense of Dwan.
On November 21st, Antonius took down a record-setting $1.3 million pot against Isildur1. Two days later, Ivey was the victim of a $1.1 million haul by the Swede. Then, the bottom dropped out. By December 1st, 2009, Isildur1 was $1.7 million in the hole, a nearly $7 million real money swing at the tables on Full Tilt Poker.
Who is Isildur1?
The debate has raged on in the online poker community as to the true identity of Isildur1. The Swede’s true identity may never be known due to complicated tax laws in the Scandinavian nation, but early speculation was that Robert “Gulkines” Flink was the mystery man.
On PocketFives.com, Frank “Frank1The1Tank” Calo sourced CardLovers.com and posted, “Fwiw, I have received intelligence by some very credible sources (who shall be kept completely private) who said pretty confidently who isildur1 is. So I give you the knowledge I have (with like 99% certainy but not quite 100% yet) that it is Robert Flink aka Gulkines. No this is not a level or me having fun or w/e. I can say with like 100% certainty that it isn’t viktor blom either fwiw.”
Others such as poker bad boy Tony G pointed to Viktor “blom30” Blom, a young Swedish pro. However, he has denied being the high-stakes newcomer, telling Bluff Europe, “I am not the one you are looking for. Keep searching.” In a chat that popped up on November 30th, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies addressed Isildur1 by name as “Viktor,” but was not corrected. Other rumors have pointed to Todd Brunson, who is American.
Effects on High-Stakes Poker
Isildur1’s arrival sparked a renaissance of high-stakes poker on Full Tilt, with regulars flocking to the site to watch the matches unfold. With millions of dollars swapping hands daily, sites like Poker Table Ratings and High Stakes DB have seen their traffic explode as poker fans review hands and seek stats on each player. It’s unmatched action and all happening on a USA-friendly site.
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Poker lingo:
- OPEN-ENDED STRAIGHT - Four cards to a straight which can be completed by drawing a card at either end. E.g., 6-7-8-9 is an open-ended straight. Also: BOBTAIL STRAIGHT. Compare: INSIDE STRAIGHT.
- LAY ODDS - To give favorable odds to an opponent.
- WORLD SERIES OF POKER - A series of several different poker games with relatively large buy-ins, culminating in a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Hold'em tournament, the winner of which is crowned the World Poker Champion. Sponsored by Binion's Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas.
- DRAWING DEAD - A draw in which it is impossible to obtain a winning hand for any of a variety of reasons: an opponent's hand is better than whatever you are drawing to, the card(s) that make your hand are out of play, or (in Hold'em) give an opponent a stronger hand even if it makes yours. Frequently used in the past tense, since one rarely knows it at the time.
- COMPUTER HAND - Texas Hold'em hole cards of Q-7 offsuit. More generically, any hand that computer analysis/simulation determines is positive but turns out to be difficult to play in practice.
- SIXTH STREET - The sixth card dealt in 7-card stud.
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