Isildur1 Q&A: Downswings, Galfond, Taking durrrr’s Money

It’s hard to forget a player who came out of nowhere to trade blows with the world’s best poker players in the biggest online games ever played.

Since his historic heater (and eventual cataclysmic downswing) in 2009, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom has gone on to dozens of notable accomplishments in poker.

He became a member of Team PokerStars Pro, won the 2011 PCA Super High Roller for $1 million and is now one of just three elite pros for the reborn Full Tilt Poker.

Oh yeah. He’s played a fair amount of online poker too.

Isildur1 Teams Up with Dwan, Gus

Blom’s latest endeavor will see him join up with Gus Hansen and Tom Dwan to take on Daniel Negreanu, Isaac Haxton and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier in the Professionals vs. Team PokerStars on Full Tilt Poker at EPT London.

He isn’t known for doing a ton of interviews but PokerListings recently had the opportunity for a quick email Q&A with the young Swedish pro.

www.pokerlistings.com: What’s it like playing on Full Tilt Poker again? You’ve played on numerous poker clients over the years but it seems like FTP will always be a special one to you.

Viktor “Isildur1” Blom: FTP has the biggest games, and the software that feels best to me. I was really happy that Tilt came back, and I always want to be able to play there. I just hope my downswing goes away soon, so I can keep playing 🙂

PL.com: Who’s the greatest Swedish online player of all-time? TexasLimitKing, Erik123, H@££INGGOL, TerrorOfSweden? None of the above?

Isildur1: I think it’s Erik123.

PL.com: 2-7 Triple Draw seems to be gaining popularity as the high-stakes online game of choice. How do you feel about that development?

Isildur1: The game is a lot of fun, so I am glad people are wanting to play it. It is not a boring game to watch either, which could be good for TV one day.

PL.com: What is your favorite game these days?

Isildur1: It’s always NLHE.

PL.com: What’s it like being on a team with Tom “durrrr” Dwan? You guys had some pretty legendary battles back in 2009…

Isildur1: It’s nice we have our challenge matches on FTP to still play against each other. I don’t mind when I get some of his money either 🙂

PL.com: You’re renowned for your swings. Have you gotten better at stopping when you are in the midst of a downswing?

Isildur1: I am always working on this. I’ve gotten better, but still can be better than I am now.

PL.com: You played a number of EPTs when you were with PokerStars. Do you miss all that live action at all?

Isildur1: I still go to live events when I want to. I will be at EPT London in a week or so to play the main and a fun match against Team Pro on PokerStars.

PL.com: Do you ever miss being anonymous? Must have been good for getting action…

Isildur1: Honestly, I really do sometimes. At first I didn’t want any attention like I get now sometimes. Overall though, the games have gotten tougher since then anyways, so it’s not a huge difference. After some time everyone I played with knew my screen name. Most still call me by my screen name anyways.

PL.com: You’ve been around poker for a few years now. Is there anything you regret or are embarrassed about?

Isildur1: I am used to anything poker throws at me now. I win, I lose it all sometimes. But I know my skill and am confident enough that I don’t have anything to be embarrassed about.

PL.com: Phil Galfond wrote a nice blog about you last summer where he said he was “a legit Viktor Blom” fan. Was it nice to get that kind of validation from such a celebrated high-stakes player?

Isildur1: Of course it was, Phil is the best player nowadays. I wonder sometimes if he wrote that just because he enjoys my action so much, haha.

PL.com: A lot of players have training sites these days. Have you ever thought about coaching?

Isildur1: No.

PL.com: You made the money in the $50k Players Championship at the WSOP and appeared to have a great time playing it. Was it particularly meaningful to make the money?

Isildur1: Yes, I only learned to play some of the games for the first time right before day 1. Daniel Negreanu helped me with some, and I was thankful for that. The tournament was so much fun, and of course being the chip leader for a while is fun in any tournament since you can beat up on people for a while.

PL.com: Who is the toughest poker player you’ve ever played against?

Isildur1: Galfond, hands down. Easy.

PL.com: What do you expect poker to look like in 10 years? Will it still be around? What will it look like?

Isildur1: I have no idea. I know I will be playing it though 🙂