Another Isildur Challenge is in the book with the Swedish poker professional once again coming out on top. Widely considered one of the world’s best heads-up NL Hold’em Players, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom took on a online qualifier in “Mastermixus” over 2,500 hands a $5/$10 NL Sunday afternoon. The match was a swingy one with both players assuming the lead on multiple occasions. With less than 200 hands remaining Mastermixus actually held a lead of more than $2,000 but luck was not on his side over the final 10 minutes as Blom took control of the match winning multiple big pots on his way to a $1,279 victory.
Blom exploded onto the online poker scene a few years ago by taking on any and all comers up to $500/$1000 stakes on FullTilt Poker. He saw great success against the likes of Tom Dwan who he won more than $4,000,000 against in a short span. However, his success was short lived as he soon dropped a large sum against a group of players including Brian Hasting, Cole South, and Brian Townsend. The three professionals who had created CardRunners were soon the target of online attacks as they foolishly bragged about studying hands together from their various matches with Blom. Quite the ethical debate ensued but in the end it left them with the money and Blom scratching his head. The high-stakes Swede disappeared for a short while before reappearing online again as a Team PokerStars Member. Since then he has been challenging players to $50/$100 heads-up matches on the world’s largest poker site often times getting the best of his opponents. He played Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu heads-up over 5,000 hands winning more than $120,000 in the process. He has also played Isaac Haxton, Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, Scott “URNotindangr” Palmer, and Eugene Katchalov splitting those matches.
This match against the online qualifier ended up being much more difficult than Blom might have imagined. Here are a few of the more interesting hands as the challenge wound down:
In this hand Blom gets some good fortune hitting three-of-a-kind on the river and is called by Pocket Jacks for a nice $3,390 pot:
Isildur1: raises $20 to $30
Mastermixus: raises $70 to $100
Isildur1: raises $120 to $220
Mastermixus: calls $120
*** FLOP *** [Kh 3d 8h]
Mastermixus: checks
Isildur1: bets $220
Mastermixus: calls $220
*** TURN *** [Kh 3d 8h] [5s]
Mastermixus: checks
Isildur1: checks
*** RIVER *** [Kh 3d 8h 5s] [8s]
Mastermixus: checks
Isildur1: bets $1255 and is all-in
Mastermixus: calls $1255
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Isildur1: shows [8d Qc] (three of a kind, Eights)
Mastermixus: shows [Jh Jc] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
Isildur1 collected $3390 from pot
Throughout the match both players were three and four-betting a lot leading to quite a standard stack-off here with Pocket Kings vs. Ace-Queen offsuit:
Table ‘Showdown 6’ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Isildur1 ($1215 in chips)
Seat 2: Mastermixus ($2360 in chips)
Mastermixus: posts small blind $5
Isildur1: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Mastermixus: raises $10 to $20
Isildur1: raises $60 to $80
Mastermixus: raises $160 to $240
Isildur1: raises $975 to $1215 and is all-in
Mastermixus: calls $975
*** FLOP *** [Th 8s 9c]
*** TURN *** [Th 8s 9c] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [Th 8s 9c Td] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Isildur1: shows [Qs Ah] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
Mastermixus: shows [Kc Ks] (two pair, Kings and Tens)
Mastermixus collected $2430 from pot
Finally, in this spot Blom flops a flush draw and gets in two streets of big value when he hits on the turn.
Seat 1: Isildur1 ($7220 in chips)
Seat 2: Mastermixus ($3355 in chips)
Isildur1: posts small blind $5
Mastermixus: posts big blind $10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Isildur1: raises $20 to $30
Mastermixus: calls $20
*** FLOP *** [4c 2d Ad]
Mastermixus: checks
Isildur1: bets $50
Mastermixus: calls $50
*** TURN *** [4c 2d Ad] [Kd]
Mastermixus: checks
Isildur1: bets $140
Mastermixus: calls $140
*** RIVER *** [4c 2d Ad Kd] [Ah]
Mastermixus: checks
Isildur1: bets $1000
Mastermixus: calls $1000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Isildur1: shows [4d 7d] (a flush, Ace high)
Mastermixus: mucks hand
Isildur1 collected $2440 from pot
Overall the online qualifier did quite well for himself but was just unable to hold off an overly aggressive opponent. While the experience might be termed “invaluable” there is no doubt “Mastermixus” would have rather taken home more than just a lesson from this challenge. Blom will continue to play these heads-up challenges from time to time on Sundays, be sure to keep up with the FlopTurnRiver News Section for any and all updates on the big pots, big names, and big score in the Isildur1 Challenge.