Behind the Swings: The Legend of Isildur1
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ค. 2024
- The legend of Viktor Blom / Isildur1 is highlighted by fellow high stakes poker player Phil Galfond, who competed with the Force of Nature, in this mini-documentary and personal high stakes highlight.
❗️Confused by GTO? Gain access to over 8,000 training videos and learn from poker's best: ➡️ galfond.link/BecomeElite
In 2009, Viktor Blom aggressively launched himself from relative obscurity to high stakes poker stardom when he challenged the world’s best online heads-up poker players at the highest stakes online.
The most surprising fact, nobody knew who he was.
Isildur1 had allegedly been crushing the untracked Euro sites after a meteoric rise, destroying the best heads up poker players that Europe had to offer before suddenly appearing at the ultra high stakes online HU $200/$400 tables.
At first he was playing anybody who would sit him, and then he was playing 6 tables heads up against Poker Superstars Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Tom Dwan.
At the same time, at the highest stakes online.
And WINNING.
Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Ivey are anything but easy customers (even today!) So who was Isildur1 and how was he able to compete with these legendary high stakes poker players (and other high stakes online pros?)
He appeared with a new aggressive strategy that all the ultra high stakes pros could agree was high variance and created huge poker pots, but nobody could agree on if it was good or bad.
At first.
Eventually Isildur1 was revealed as being Viktor Blom, and with that reveal came the opportunity for Phil Galfond to personally meet one of his greatest online poker rivals.
Phil and Isildur1 have battled at the online high stakes HU poker tables for years, with Phil legendarily losing $1,100,000 in one session against him in Vancouver of 2014.
Phil eventually returned the favor and had his most memorable poker session, his biggest winning session ever against Viktor Blom, winning over $1,600,000 in one poker session.
The legendary stories of these high stakes poker sessions, the story of getting Isildur1 to record videos for Runitonce training, and a look into Isildur1’s legendary upswing and downswing can be found in today’s high stakes poker story.
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Producer: Matti Harju
Writer/co-producer: Miikka Anttonen
Brand Design: Dan Deming-Henes
Creative Specialists: Quentin Cardinal-Juneau, Miikka Anttonen
Twitter: / philgalfond
Instagram: / phil.galfond
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:18 Getting Destroyed by Isildur1
02:17 From Euro Sites to Nosebleeds
04:13 Isildur1 vs. Everyone: How Did He Do It?
05:54 My First Time Playing Isildur1
08:17 My Most Memorable Session
09:44 Getting to Know Viktor Blom
10:58 Isildur Story #1: Triple Draw
12:35 Isildur Story #2: Training Videos
14:17 Isildur Story #3: Romcoms
15:09 Isildur Story #4: Love for the Game
16:50 What Happened to Isildur1? - เกม
![What Makes Phil Ivey The GOAT? [Untold Stories]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/K50K98NMPQE/mqdefault.jpg)
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Thanks for watching, all! ICYMI -- I'm sharing weekly poker deep dives and giving away my Poker Mindset Strategy ebook at: philgalfond.com/mindset-yt
You can get it all FREE. Enjoy!
Outstanding little doc! Bravo!
Great production quality
Been loving these videos, great stories, top notch production quality and insight you couldn’t get from many people in poker!
Phil, are you sure you were not already playing 200/400 and above when Isi came onto the scene? This was after the big Railheaven games I think…
Those were really nice words from you Phil. I watch your videos on TH-cam constantly, after this documentary and the nice words from you. My respect for you, not just as a poker player but as a human being grew up 10 fold. 👏👏👏
The Editing. The Storytelling. The Reveals. The Nostalgia of the Pokertableratings Isildur1 era. Your best video yet Phil!
Agreed, was gonna comment the same thing. Excellent video and entertainment.
Except the ending? It kind of just cut off. We needed some sort of ending, someone knows what isuldur is up to!
💯
@@drewstand5055get a life
@@drewstand5055
I remember Ziigmund saying “he is playing against Phil Ivey, Durrrr, Patrick Antonius, Phil Galfond across 6 tables at 500/1000. He clearly has a few screws loose.” lol
Ilari been drunk for 10 years
He actually said, "he must be missing a chromosome" but close enough
Interviewer: Maybe the sickest online player ever Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies good morning
Ilari: Good morning.
Interviewer: There has been a fuss for some time about this new kid on the internet who might be even sicker than u r, isildur1 is his nick and he just jumped out of nowhere to play u and some other guys. What kind of player is he?
Ilari: Really tough, one of the best in the world for sure in NLHE but has some weaknesses in omaha. Well he didn't actually come out of nowhere if he is that 19 year old swede who has been owning in other networks.
Interviewer: He has claimed not to be isildur. Vitor Blom has told he's not him.
Ilari: I still think he's the guy, it might be someone else but in anycase really tough guy anyways since he was battling it out HU with PA, Ivey and Durrrr in 9 tables simultaniously. He must be missing some chromosome.
@@user-vg5ie5hm1u Meh, maybe, he just got a second kid last fall.
Ziigmund was my favourite player, but it turns out hes gay, i mean theres nothing wrong with it as long as you not spreading your gayness on live TV kissing another man, and he was accusing other players like gus that they are gay on chat.
I love these mini-documentaries about players you do. Personally, Isildur1 is my fav high-stakes player, with his insane aggressiveness and natural talent. His degeneracy/bankroll management is what got him.
but he's still playing? maybe not on the same level tho as I suspect you mean
Bankroll management is the #1 skill in poker & game selection #2. There are so many people in this world. Who if they simply had a 100 IQ handler would become almost Gods.
I will say Isildur1 gave more joy to more people than all the current highroller grinders put together. So if we don't care about only selfish pleasure of a great career and finances. The dude is the most successful guy in poker in modern times. He gave so much joy for free to all the railbirds of which there were many. We will always have those memories. He was one of us, took flight and did what we all had day dreamed of doing since the poker boom. That session bossing Ivey, Durrrr and Patrik collectively will go down in history.
This comment tells me you were really there. He beat all the best so we didn’t have to. He’s this generations Stu Unger. He will be back for another legendary run I’m sure
Agreed
15 years ago I played poker on a daily basis. I was following all the TV shows and played so much live and online. I can remember the time when the young "loose-aggressive internet players" took over the game. Everyone was asking "Who is Tom Dwan? Who is this Phil Galfond? Who the fuck is Isildur1?" Watching you play the first time on Poker After Dark was awesome. I really liked your playstyle and thinking patterns. Now, 15 years later I don't play poker any more, just a guy with a normal job and a family. Finding you on TH-cam a couple of days ago (the Ivey video - the algorithm probably suggested it to me because I've watched so many videos of Ivey back then, he is my favorite player of all time since day 1 :D) was like time traveling to me. Thank you very much for reminding me of all these wonderful memories.
why did you stop playing poker?
@@gonzalonicolasmartinez4165 I was in school / at university and had a lot of time and friends with the same interest in poker. Than you finish school, finish university and everyone is going into another direction. You get a job, a family with kids and you just don't have the social environment and time any more. No chance to grind and focus on your game. It's sad in some way but that's just how life goes.
how in the world are there 3 hidden comments....what is happening with youtube, this is an outrage.
Get back on the felt, even just for fun.
Thanks for your life story bud
I remember him saying at one of the tables he was playing against Tom Dwan when the session was over, when he was crushing him, and Tom Dwan was considered the best Heads Up player in the world: "I will play you every night"
balls. of. steel.
And now there are 5000 players crush them HU
@sofaking2846what do you mean from the stats, everyone would track the high stake games and Tom results wise was definitely considered the best online, who would you have said was better in 2009
@@Auktioneronline obviously with solvers , duh
These morons r too young and or dumb to know tom was one of the goats of rail heaven
Great documentary. As a swede i remember the time when swedish newspapers started to speculate the identity behind this crazy person. Good times!
Phil, this documentary was incredible. From the production quality to the editing to your own personal insight and stories i absolutely loved every moment and i think it's the best TH-cam video you have ever produced!
I second that!
3rd
What about missing the part out, where all the top pros cheated him?
Those who played on fulltilt, we knew all the nosebleed players nicknames, we all loved the software and we all loved the game. When it was all brought to an end, we all feel this was such a big part of our life taken away, that no one will ever understand unless they were there. To all those out there who played on fulltilt, I salute you, thank you for being a part of maybe the best times of poker there will ever be...
Same here! The best software ever. I was a pretty active rail bird when I wasn't playing. My screen name was 7Gargamel7.
i told my wife about blackfriday 2011 and how crushed i was. She just laughed at me.
GOAT software. I played 90% FT and 10% PS. I knew I was actively losing EV bc of it too, I was an HU reg and should’ve been sitting on both sites. I sat 2/4-10/20. But I thought PS was so ugly, I despised the side to side HU table format on PS too. So I only sat 3/6 and 5/10 on there, bc I wasn’t gonna play my lowest stakes, and I wasn’t gonna play my highest stakes either lmao. It was just too tilting. It’s unfortunate sometimes terrible ppl create amazing things, p sure Ferguson made it right? I also remember when PS paid the remaining $ to the DOJ and they took over FT…there was a time where it was a skin of PS and I loved it. I moved after BF for like 3y and I remember being so sad when they stopped doing that. RIP FT.
@@mmfb88 that sounds like a terrible wife😂 Was one of the worst days ever
Maaaan! I fuckin miss Full Tilt so much. I used to hunt those red names like a maniac. Losing my roll over and over again. So much fun. Totally agree it was the best site ever. And black Friday was one of the saddest moments in poker history. One day I sat at a .10/.25 game a player sat down next to me with the name of Durrrr. So surreal! I played a total of 5 hands with Tom Dwan before he left the table. Oh the memories this video and comments brought back. Thank you all ❤
I saw Viktor at the WSOP this last summer 2023. Made me very happy to see him there. I was playing a smaller event while he was playing one of the big boy events. Viktor has shown the world how difficult it can be to be truly special and talented. Uniqueness in the animal kingdom, is rare.
Awesome you got to see him thought he retired
If his retired then what's he doing as a job to earn more money?
@@master4eva he’s on a -7 million swing they say
Where’s he playing nowadays tho? I just don’t understand how someone who loved the game so much can just disappear..unless truely had enough of it? maybe the brutal down swings were just harder to take than people realised
Viktor has never enjoyed playing live I think anywhere near as much as online. Viktor likes to be alone, the man goes to movies alone and ignored sponsorship dollars for year being anynom. even in his "prime" he didn't always go to the Wsop. He rarely has. We will see Viktor back one day, when he wishes. @@DavidL1986
You're my favourite youtuber atm Phil. Always been a big fan of your poker, but I think your calling is leveraging your knowledge to make this high quality content. Super excited to watch this one!
It was a pleasure to rail most of these session. This popped off 2 months after I joined FT to begin my Poker journey. Very well done Phil, excellent editing and emotion out this entire thing was captivating to put it simply. Good times.
and here you are still playing 5NL lol!!
@@JT-wu2if as you sit there playing 2NL looking up to the balls this guy has to sit at your unachievable 5NL
...what?@@cameronandrew1853
@@JT-wu2ifsuch a weird unnecessary comment.
why? they play 5NL and offer coaching and spam random videos@@mrgainz7252
Man, this switch to higher quality content is great. Keep it up!
That late 00s time was online poker at its best and isildur's battles were the peak of what online poker had to offer to a rail bird. The best of times, really, superbly exciting and entertaining. The FullTilt software (loved to play there above all other sites) and those nosebleed in general as well, so cool to reminisce.
A top notch documentary, Phil, I would've watched quintuple the length. The personal stories of meeting him were new and cool to hear, too. Thanks for making this!
Having played poker myself full time for about 10 years, I know a lot of these guys. Some better than others, but there are very few regs that I do not have at least on night out, or shared dinner convo with. Viktor is by far the strangest of them all. But also the nicest guy and best NATURAL BORN poker player of them all. From what I've heard he got in the hole pretty deep with backers and took years to work his way out of those deals. I believe he still plays online to this day, but on way lower limits just quietly crushing the opponents. Very likely now out of the hole and maybe even back to financial independence. I wish nothing but the best for the dude. If you are reading this Viktor, you're a GANGSTA! You are a living legend of the game!
Being a swedish poker player for 15 ish years.
Victor owes everyone money and PLAYS 2/5 ON POKIO.
Make more shit up fanboy
Okay
Yeah but basically from what I understand in the end he basically lost all of his money getting somewhat scammed by those online Pros who all shared their information on them and took all his money right
@@user-vg5ie5hm1u Pokio does not exist anymore. its been gone for quite some time.
@@Edward-xd1td Mehh yes they shared hands, but I mean he still clicked his own buttons. They figured out how to beat him and he fell for it. Was bound to happen. Those runs don't last.
I remember that 2+2 thread with everyone reporting on the insane games he was playing and trying to guess who he was. Good times. Amazing video as usual Phil, thanks for sharing your experience and insights
Brilliant video. Might be the best one on Isildur I've ever seen. Great stories, great storytelling, and great production - 10/10.
I love seeing all this nostalgic stuff too because, other than HCL, it's a bunch of damn robots playing now.
Hey Phil..or whoever manages his yt account:
I really want to tell you, that I appreciate the quality of your uploads.
As a "retired" 6max Player it is awesome to see the game of poker getting this much work put into covering the past.
Hope you are doing well. Always looked up to you back in the days
Phil you give me so much nostalgia
Poker was a past life for me, but you give me a type of comfort like Artosis gives me
Hope all the best for you
Oh yes. So many months, years spent with poker in my younger years. 36 now, two kids, no time for poker lol
Credit where credits due he caught ALOT of pros off guard with his unorthodox aggressive playing style. He might not of studied, but his intuition and fearless playing style made him a legend, plus he crushed some pretty big tourneys back in the day like the 10k scoop main event, not an easy feat... LEGEND
Intuition is so important
Great video, Phil. You're clearly putting in way more effort into the script and the video editing. Fantastic watch, keep em coming.
Much appreciated!
These are insanely well put together. Like a sort of A&E series.
Please keep doing these.
Hands down, You are making the best poker videos of anyone out there. Thank you, Phil!
I just wanna note, the quality of your videos is amazing, it feels like a well made documentary
Production quality is off the charts. Thank you.
Fantastic video, everything is so great: the story, the script, the editing... thank you so much, Phil!
One of the best styles/quality and production of a video. Great stuff as always!
Phil, te quedó increíble. Se agradece que compartas más minidocumentales así, te tocan el corazón.
It's been a lot of fun back then to watch you guys! Thanks for this video, Phil!
These in depth videos of legendary players in the game are SO WELL DONE! Thank you, Phil. I think we all appreciate the effort and really enjoy this format and your personal insights added into them. Keep them coming :)
From those of us that were fortunate to be around playing/watching during this era, thank you for giving Viktor this spotlight. His impact on the online game is indelible
This video was so well done. Fun trip down memory lane. Thanks for the upload!
Damn these are some really well done videos Phil. Im shocked you don't have more subs. The quality really shows through the effort you put into these.
It was an amazing time for poker, he was fearless, playing anybody , anytime wich came back to bite him in the end. Even tho he was a raw talent, he was playing against experts who we're studying day and night , while Isildur was playing all games.I still remember playing on pokerstars and whenever he would play I would rail the games and follow him everywhere.Really nice period of time, thanks for bringing back so many memories. Wish Viktor best of luck and a happy life
Your best video ever made Phil. I enjoyed that so much.
Nothing better than finishing work, hoping onto Highstakes DB and seeing the 'Isildur1 is live' thread popping off.
Loved the video and the production!
The level of content you produce compared to your subscriber count is unmatched! You will blow up on TH-cam if you keep this up Phil. Phenomenal editing and story telling. Thanks again for great video
Phil. All of the effort is appreciated. Thank u
Amazing video and really enjoying the personal stories you included. Production quality is through the roof!
Loved this one Phil! I remember watching you guys on weekend nights. Great times.
Congrats Phil! Another truly amazing video! This is probably the best so far. Keep up the good work
I enjoy this format alot. Like the Ivey video, this a way of documenting and remembering historic moments/people in poker while offering your unique perspective. It's important, Keep it up.
Man, This is one of very few 20 mins vids that I never skip and watch it from the beginning to the end. Great Great Vids! Thx!
If isildur had started couple years earlier he would have been the biggest winner online by far.
Maybe, though his propensity to gamble at the biggest stakes against the very best players suggests that he might never have been able to hold onto a bankroll.
A couple of years earlier and the boy would barely have been a teenager. He was like 18-19 when he destroyed the Swedish poker site Svenska Spel before moving on to Full Tilt
@@jonpaxman very true however the best players weren't that good. And if he was crushing ivey, Patrick, Tom and Phil, all together, in different games, when they were at their best, that means the dude was miles ahead already.
He was playing midstakes on party in 2005 while underaged
Great format! Hoping for more of these!
The production value on this is 10 out of 10!!
Great video. Really appreciate the production value
Love the feeling you put into this Phil and the humility you have to express your appreciation for Viktor's raw talent.
great! brilliant editing and pacing. what a crazy time for poker that was!
Great job on this! Easily my fav video of yours. I used to be a nosebleed rail reg lol. The chat in these games was a community in itself. Nothing like winning $23 pots while watching you guys post my entire br for a bb.
Awesome, thank you! The nosebleed rail was so fun back then!
I loved when the newbs would come in and ask “IS THIS REAL MONEY???!!!”
The rail was hilarious in some of those games. Like most good things though, people ruined it eventually. So much spamming, begging, toxicity, etc. The rail at its peak was so fun though. I don’t remember who, but I do remember a well known pro giving away a decent amount of $ to people. Nothing insane, I mean it was nosebleeds, but I definitely recall someone giving maybe $100 to at least a dozen people.
I saw someone stake a total random railbird for a $200 tourney and he actually got kinda deep in it. Soooo many people were sweating him in that, it was def a Sunday major on FT. He ended up cashing for 1-2K and he actually did send 50% back to the guy. Funny stuff.
Reminds me of another story. I was playing Razz with Ali Nejad (red pro at the time) and like 2 others when I was super young, literally it was before HS in the morning. Idk why I played, I think I was chatting bc I saw a red pro and some guy told me to play so I sat w my whole roll which was maybe $800 at the time. I don’t remember the stakes, but $800 was 100% 2K after starting my morning w 800. He had 39 for A3789 vs my A2568. I went pair paint, he went 4-5 and I got scooped. I remember feeling very sick, I think that hand taught me to not be a degen.
I had like 20m to kill and we kept chatting, I remember Ali kept saying how sick it was which further tilted me lol. Nice guy though. He told me to reload bc he was splashing, and that he usually played way higher (later looked him up and he indeed did) when I said that was my roll he thought I was joking when I’d said it earlier. He asked for my (insert old school messenger here) and onvd we established contact on there I had to go to school 😂
When I got back home I had 1K in my account, and I had a message from him saying he sent something. I was pretty baffled. He was a rly nice guy, I never asked him for a thing. He said to keep it, and that I played well. He ended up staking me for a few high stakes MTTs… (to me at the time for sure) a couple 200s and there was some bigger one with a small field, idr if it was FT or PS…but it was something between 300-600 buyin non big bet game tourney. Maybe HORSE, I truly don’t remember.
Idk why he did this stuff, but he did. I felt ok in the 200s, but was insanely nervous in the bigger one. Idk if I was +EV in the big small field one, but of course after bricking a couple 200s I got 2nd in it for a few k or something. Maybe 4500, something like that, under 5 for sure but not by a lot. He just asked for half, but I sent him half plus 1K to pay him back even tho it was a gift it didn’t feel right. Plus even after that, I had a 2K+ bankroll after having 800, then 0 less than a week prior.
I have so many wild stores but that’s prolly the one that sticks out in my head the most. There’s was no reason for him to do that, and I know it sounds corny, but it had a major impact at how I looked at the world. I was like 16 (Jr year, I remember there was snow on the ground still but I had bball practice, so it was probably Jan or Feb bc I didn’t play SR yr) so it was a formative time.
@BOnYTB Ali Nejad had a 5/10 HORSE table he used to play at. He had an assigned seat. I'd always sit to his left and raise him a lot, and he got so pissed. Lol I don't know if it was a level but I had fun.
I can't believe this content is free. absolutely fantastic in all aspects including really high quality production values. bravo.
I mean, this would be a pretty strange video to pay for.
It's a great video, but you'd pay money to watch it?
Another fantastic video! Phil's stories, articulation and video quality are amazing. Just wish every video were an hour 😂😂😂
Another great video. Would love to see more of these on the old online legends you have battled
Phil your videos are just getting so fucking good these days, honestly some of the best poker content online.
And you did the amazing chapter of Isildur1! My prayers have been heard
Awesome work Phil!
what a production, what a content. Thanks for bring us these amazing stories, Phil! I'm your fan since I begin to start play poker and I always love to watch you talking about poker. You are the best and keep inspiring poker players like me and other many poker players who share this dream to live, literally, poker! Thank you!
LOVE this format for poker stories. Kudos to the editor ✍️
Lol I love that reverb on the PokerStars "betting chips" sound. Great content, great production
That was great dude. Thanks for the post
Impressive production! Great insights thx for sharing PG
Loving this content brother! Thank you !
Good work Phil and team, really enjoyed the mini doc. Really would be great to hear from the pros you talk about even if they are voice overs. Not sure if that’s possible but would be an awesome addition
great work , i appreciated seeing this.
These player profiles are some of my favorite content you make
Man, well done, the overall tone of this short documentary conveyed so much sadness and melancholy. Hope Blom is doing aight, wherever he is.
Phil you are brilliant at these, and glad you gave Viktor the respect he deserves, hope he comes back
this is made so well nicely done
Great video Phil. Would love to see more of these
Blessed to have seen all of these battles live, there have never been the same level of excitement about online rail after that era and never will be.
Great video, Phil. Most of us have heard Viktor’s story but it’s incredible to get the perspective from someone who battled him at the highest stakes!
Excellent work Phil, to you and anyone who helped you on this project. I always really enjoy your content.
Love this series. Love the stories about these early days of online poker
Would be good to get some other interviews for this kind of video. Thanks for the content Phil.
Incredibly well produced documentary! Kept me wanting to watch more.
Fantastic presentation Phil. Very nostalgic. Felt back there.
Wow great work mate, really enjoyed it
Love these mini docos Phil!
Another master piece, this video! Thanks for sharing your thougts with us Phil! Best greetings from Belgium!
This was great man well done!!!
Great video Phil. Glad I was around for those ftp days. Definitely one of the best times in poker for me. 🍀✌🏽☝🏽
Holy shit this is so well done. That intro is absolutely epic
Love hearing your enthusiasm when speaking about Viktor. Seems like you have a ton of respect for your fellow OG. Amazing content as always Mr. Galfond 🙂
What a great video. Loved the isildur1 era when I played online. Such a great story.
Haven’t played in years since they banned online poker in Australia.
This deserves 1m views. Super well done
This was awesome! Thank you Phil!
Loving this kind of content from you
Good content Phil! I remember watching you all play in the prime time on full tilt.. best years ever!
Loved it. Remembered my younger days. Thank you Phil!
these videos are insanely good!!! Keep it up Phil
Goose bumps, the emotion in this mini doc is just wow!
loved this video phil! great to get an insight to a truly wild period that we were all watching so closely
man the content your putting out is top notch! Thanks Phil.
very well made video mate
sort of coming out of poker but would love to hear more stories with people youve battled against over the years in this media style
This video is a beautiful tribute to a pristine poker legend and one of the biggest talents in the game. Sadly, Victor never really studied the game like his opponents... Thanks for the great content, Phil! 🙏❤️
Well done! Love these kind of videos
Wow, great video, excellent story telling and visual elements, very entertaining as well as emotionally impactful, thanks!!
Wow, what a great video!
Thanks Phil
Great video Phil ! Keep them up
This was incredible, thanks for sharing.