It’s the first day of April, which means you can expect a barrage of false news to be released across cyberspace. Even Google has renamed itself Topeka for the day, keeping with the April Fools Day spirit. In the poker world, April Fools Day has featured several articles with the real identity of Isildur1 purportedly being revealed.
The Cake Poker Blog started the holiday off on the right foot by releasing an article stating that Isildur1 was actually Swedish hockey superstar Mats Sundin. A sponsored pro of PokerStars, Sundin hails from Sweden and could theoretically fit the Isildur1 mantra. The USA-friendly online poker site’s blog read, “A pair of media outlets in Stockholm, including Sportradion, are reporting some big news – the mysterious super high-stakes poker player previously known only as Isildur1 is actually retired hockey pro Mats Sundin. According to these reports, Sundin’s agent will be making the official announcement later today.” As you might expect, no news came from Sundin’s agent.
Cake Poker asserted that Sundin would unveil himself to the world at the upcoming PartyPoker Big Game IV in London and play for charity. On Wednesday, Isildur1 accepted an invitation to appear at the PartyPoker cash game staked by Tony G. Whether he will wear a mask to preserve his identity or reveal himself to the world remains to be seen. Joining Isildur1 will be Luke “Full Flush” Schwartz, Phil Laak, Isaac Haxton, Neil Channing, Laurence Grondin, and Jennifer Tilly. More names will be announced.
Boyle Poker then got into the act, claiming that Isildur1 was really 40 year-old Niklas Power, who has cashed in a bevy of live poker tournaments across Ireland. Power moved to Ireland from Sweden 20 years ago. Power allegedly told Boyle Poker officials, “Well, I couldn’t let that Blom fella get all the credit, so I decided to reveal myself to the world.” The stunt appeared to be a ploy to get players to register for this weekend’s Irish Open.
The “Blom” Power refers to is Viktor “Blom30” Blom, widely considered to be the man behind the Isildur1 moniker. On Wednesday’s episode of the UB.com sponsored series “Poker2Nite,” PartyPoker pro Tony G affirmed that Isildur1 is under 21 years of age and Swedish. On whether Blom was the man of the hour, Tony G commented, “First, I guessed it was him. That was a guess. Once I found out who it is, I couldn’t talk about it anymore because I promised that person.” On whether Tony G has been staking Isildur1 in 2010, he remarked, “I’m unable to confirm that rumor.”
Tom “durrrr” Dwan remains Isildur1’s top donator, according to PokerTableRatings.com. All told, the mystery Swede has milked Dwan for $4.5 million over 51,000 tracked hands. Meanwhile, Patrik Antonius has taken $1.6 million off Isildur1 in 23,000 hands.
