In 2009, a phenomenal online poker player suddenly appeared, making a name for himself across PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and other major poker sites with massive winning streaks and torturous downswings alike. We all knew him by the moniker “Isildur1”, a fierce player who had no trepidations about taking on the most competent nosebleed stakes pros like Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius.
Instantly, the quest to discover the elusive identity of this enigmatic, highly skilled poker player was on. Speculations quickly pointed to Swedish poker player Viktor Blom, but it was quite some time before he finally admitted to owning the Isildur1 alias, and even then, the only reason he fessed up was because he had decided to sign a sponsorship contract with PokerStars; at that time the world’s largest and most successful online poker room.
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom became one of the most respected and rightly feared poker players in the world, and has remained thus ever since. But a few days ago, rumors started to circulate as to why his name was no longer listed on the roster of PokerStars Pros.
As of Tuesday, August 15, 2012, it has been confirmed that Viktor Blom is no longer a member of the illustrious Team PokerStars Pros. What we don’t know at this time is what caused Blom and PokerStars to part ways.
Blom did release a tenuous statement regarding his departure, saying “I’ve enjoyed my time as a Team Pro and I wish everyone at PokerStars the best. Now I just want to concentrate on playing poker.” PokerStars’ Head of Corporate Communications, Eric Hollreiser, confirmed that it was a mutual agreement between the two, but had nothing more to say on the matter.
Blom’s explanation does allude to one conclusive factor that may have motivated the split. As a member of the PokerStars Pros, Viktor was restricted to playing online poker at a single gaming site. Now that he has broken free from his sponsorship deal, the Swedish poker pro is free to roam the internet and compete wherever, and against whomever, he wishes.
Word around the forum-based water cooler says that Viktor Blom chose to leave PokerStars so that he would be able to sign on with one of his old favorite haunts, Full Tilt Poker, but as of right now that isn’t even an option. Full Tilt Poker is currently out of business due to its settlement in US court that required the operator to cease all operations. PokerStars agreed to pay off all debts owed to Full Tilt Poker’s ex-members, thereby purchasing the Full Tilt brand, which they plan to re-open in November of this year.
Speculations conclude that the heads of PokerStars will rehire Viktor Blom as a Full Tilt Pro if and when that occurs. However, rumors are just rumors, and no one can say for certain what will happen. What we do know is that the Swedish poker phenom, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, has not lost his edge. This year alone he has already won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100k Super High Roller event, took down two of the first three PokerStars SCOOP events and finished in 15th position at the WSOP $50k Poker Players Championships.
