Viktor Blom – or isildur1 as he was known then – was an online phenom, but an air of mystery surrounded him despite his rising reputation. Who was this young player who kept winning at the nosebleed stakes? Viktor blom in full bloom at wsop europe championship Mysterious Poker Icon is the Chip Leader in London, with 66 Players Remaining. Saturday, September 25, 2010 7:31:21 AM EST. Viktor Blom (born 26 September 1990) is a Swedish high-stakes online poker player, best known by the online poker name Isildur1. His rise to fame drew considerable attention around the poker world in late 2009, when he took part in all ten of the largest pots in online poker history. Viktor Blom popularly known as 'Isildur1' is one of the greatest online high stakes poker players of all time.He is know to play some of the most epic high s.
Viktor Blom, better known as Isildur1 to the poker community,
has made millions of dollars using very aggressive tactics in
online poker. His favorite version of poker to play is No-Limit
Texas Hold’em, as he has found much success playing this game.
His identity remained a secret until January of 2011 when he
joined PokerStars pro team.
Blom’s story involves many crushing lows and exhilarating
highs. It’s not uncommon to hear that he gained or lost millions
of dollars overnight. However, at only twenty-four years of age,
great things are expected from Blom in the future as he’s
suspected to be a poker legend in the making.
Early Life
Viktor Blom entered the world in September of 1990 near
Gothenburg, Sweden. He was the youngest of three siblings,
having two older sisters and one older brother named Sebastian.
Viktor Blom learned how to play No-limit Texas Hold’em from his
older brother when he was just 14 years old, leaving his brother
impressed by how quickly he picked up on the game.
Blom enjoyed playing poker so much that he gathered a group
of friends to play for a $5 buy-in during their lunch breaks at
school. At one point, over twenty-five students were regularly
with him.
Around the time of his next birthday, Blom and his brother
decided to set up an account at an online poker site. Early on
they placed fifth at a multi-table tournament, winning them $300
which was a lot of money for them at the time.
Eventually Blom’s brother set him up with his own account at
PartyPoker.com under the username Blom90. Blom wasn’t afraid to
take risks, constantly entering $500 sit-and-go tournaments.
Within a few months he had won over $275,000 playing online
poker. Blom kept taking risks, playing at higher and higher
stakes each time. He eventually depleted his entire bankroll,
devastating him and causing him to take a long break from poker.
Online Poker Career
After taking about a year off, Blom came back full force
reactivating his account at PartyPoker.com. It only took him two
days to multiply his deposit of $2500 into over $200,000, and at
the two week mark he had reached $1.7 million in total profit.
After those initial two weeks though, he didn’t have a lot of
success so he left to find a new site.
This is when Blom found Full-tilt Poker and truly started to
draw other player’s attention. His username was Isildur1,
and he quickly started playing against well-known poker
professionals like Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius, meanwhile
leaving his true identity a secret.
Re-raises and large bluffs were a huge part of his very
aggressive strategy. In 2008, Blom under the screen name
Isildur1 was nominated in the Scandinavian Poker Awards for the
rookie of the year award. Blom refused to show up though in fear
that his identity might leak to the United States.
Blom would often win and lose millions of dollars in just a
matter of days, always taking high risks along the way. Blom
even challenged Phil Ivey, a renowned poker player, to a
No-Limit Hold’em match where he incurred a lot of over
$3,000,000. Despite his feat, Blom was honored to know that Ivey
stated in an interview that Isildur1 was the most challenging
opponent he has ever had.
Blom went face to face with Tom Dwan, one of the top online
Heads-Up Hold’em players, in a week long tournament that was
played across six consecutive tables. By the end of the week,
Blom had gone on the largest run in the history of online poker,
winning approximately $4 million and leaving Dwan speechless.
On December 8th, 2009 Blom took his biggest blow yet when he
lost against Brian Hastings during a round of No-limit Omaha,
costing him a total of 4.2 million dollars which was the largest
loss in all of online poker history. It was later discovered
that Hastings along with several other players had shared
information leaking Blom’s most used strategies and techniques
which is probably how Hastings won the game.
PokerStars offered Blom a sponsorship in exchange for him to
help them launch a four-table tournament game of No Limit
Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha named, “Superstar Showdown,” which
was open to anyone at the stakes of $50/$100 for 2,500 hands.
After Blom and PokerStars reached an agreement, Blom’s
identity was released, and the world now knew that Viktor Blom
was the face of Isildur1. Blom couldn’t hide anymore, so he
actually started attending live tournaments. Early in
2012, at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, he won the first live
tournament of his career at just over 1.25 million dollars.
Personal Life
Viktor Blom Twitter
Viktor Blom is a very private person, so not much information
has been leaked about his personal life. So, all we know is that
his opponents say that contrary to his aggressive play style, he
has a vibrant personality and a true love for the game. They
also say that Blom has a great sense of humor, making playing
against him a very exciting experience.
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom‘s new deal with PokerStars could land him with a colossal tax bill from the Swedish government, according to the newspaper Dagens Industri. Blom, who revealed his online identity as “Isildur1” during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure last weekend, could be investigated by the Swedish Tax Authority known as Skatteverket and owe around $150 million in taxes despite his move to London last year.
Viktor Blom 2020
The story developed after newspaper reports this week suggested that government authorities in Sweden are preparing to crack down on online gambling sites operating outside of the country. Under Swedish law, the country’s residents have to pay tax on gambling winnings unless they play on sites based in the European Union or on the state-run Svenska Spel. Dagens Industri claimed Skatteverket was planning to investigate online poker companies such as Ireland-based Full Tilt Poker, where Blom did most of his damage before signing a sponsorship deal with PokerStars.
Professional poker players in Sweden who play outside of the European Union are subject to a 30% tax rate on each winning pot. According to Dagens Industri, Blom played for around $4.5 billion as “Isildur1” on Full Tilt Poker and could end up owing the Swedish government around $150 million if they decide to follow through with the case.
Dag Hardyson from the Swedish Tax Authority told Dagens Industri that he believed Full Tilt Poker was considered to be outside of the European Union; therefore, Blom would have to pay taxes on his gambling. Another tax agency spokesperson, Erik Boman, said, “Internet poker is something we’re looking into and I know this poker player, but I can’t comment on whether we’ve opened a case.”
Blom, 20, famously ran a $2,000 bankroll into $2 million in a matter of weeks at the end of 2009 and had classic high-stakes battles with the likes of Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Phil Ivey, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Brian Townsend, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and many others. However, on one fateful night in December of 2009, Blom lost more than $4 million to CardRunners instructor Brian Hastings, all but draining his Full Tilt Poker account and causing “Isildur1” to vanish just as rapidly as he had arrived.
Now, despite losing more than $2.5 million overall on Full Tilt Poker, Blom could potentially owe nine-figures to the Swedish government. The mere idea of it has caused outrage in the poker community. One member of the TwoPlusTwo forum inquired, “How is it that these tax people can assumedly be competent and well educated when it comes to numbers and money yet fail miserably at learning/grasping elementary gambling concepts? For an actual educated official to suggest that he owes $150 million is just such outrageous infantile buffoonery on stilts on parade, it is ridiculous.”
Blom, who originally hailed from Ed, Sweden, has recently moved to London, where gambling income is not taxable. But, he could still face the bill of one billion Kroner ($149 million). It was speculated for a long time that Blom masked his identity to avoid facing the harsh tax laws in Sweden. That logic is understandable now that hundred-million dollar amounts are being discussed.
Other Swedish poker pros in the past who were saddled with unexpected tax bills from Skatteverket, as mentioned in the Expressen newspaper, include former World Poker Tour champion Martin de Knijff for $1,476,015 and Daniel Larsson for $147,601.