The rules going in were simple. 2500 hands of NLHE Heads Up, $50-$100 blinds, with a $150,000 bankroll brought to the match. Whoever was up at the end of the 2500 hand would be deemed the winner.
The match was close, as usual for these heads up challenges. A lot of big hands were played, including high level hands that left a lot of spectators scratching their heads in a mixture of awe and confusion. The biggest hand of the session:
Poker Stars $50/$100 No Limit Hold’em – 2 players
Isildur1 (BTN/SB): $27200.00
w00ki3z. (BB): $44550.00
Pre Flop: ($150.00)
Isildur1 raises to $300, w00ki3z. raises to $1300, Isildur1 calls $1000
Flop: ($2600.00) 5h 3s 4s (2 players)
w00ki3z. bets $1500, Isildur1 raises to $3850, w00ki3z. raises to $7200, Isildur1 raises to $10550, w00ki3z. calls $3350
Turn: ($23700.00) 7d (2 players)
w00ki3z. checks, Isildur1 bets $15350 all in, w00ki3z. calls $15350
River: ($54400.00) 8d (2 players – 1 is all in)
Final Pot: $54400.00
Isildur1 shows 4c 5c (two pair, Fives and Fours)
w00ki3z. shows 7h 8s (two pair, Eights and Sevens)
w00ki3z. wins $54400.00
Crazy hand here folks! Do not try this at home! You will go busto! You have Cates 3 bet preflop out of position with 78 offsuit 270 big blinds deep. Then a half pot continuation flop bet of $1500 with 8 high, Isildur raises to $3850 and Cates reraises to $7200 with 8 high plus gutter! Cates sucks out on the river to win the $54,400 pot. Sick leveling by two guys on the short list of the world’s best Heads Up No-Limit players. Hands like this ensure that “heads up for rollz!” ego matches will always be some of the most exciting poker to watch.
That pot almost determined the match, but Isildur was not to be denied. He made some huge value bets and spot on hero calls to rally back and win the match finishing in the positive for $58,000.
SuperStar Showdowns are 2500 hands, short term variance for sure, but this win for Isildur came at a good time. He’s one of the few poker players in the world who has his own personal challenge. Isildur lost the first challenge to Ike Haxton. The second SuperStar Showdown challenge he won, but it was against Tony G who took the challenge for fun. 4 tabling heads-up online is not his specialty. Going into the match Isildur was seen as a slight underdog, but he’s proved here that he is more than able to beat any poker player in the world at Heads Up No-Limit.
Who is next to challenge Isildur heads up? No rumors yet on who the next top pro to take the SuperStar Showdown will be. The always game Daniel Negreanu has been practicing 4-tabling heads up this month on PokerStars with solid results considering that Kid Poker is not a heads up online specialist. From Negreanu’s Twitter, “Longest session yet 1546 hands with no break and felt pretty good. Also crushed winning close to 11k at 5-10 vs a big online winner. On my way.” If Negreanu decides to challenge Isildur, it will be down the line sometime. We don’t know who’s next yet, but if Isildur versus Daniel Negreanu happens in the future, that would certainly be a match that a lot of people would want to see.