After many months of speculation about the real identity of the high-stakes online poker player, Isildur1, PokerStars confirmed that he was indeed Viktor Blom at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) event on Jan 8, 2011. Many had speculated that the person behind the screen name that captivated poker fans with his heads-up matches against the best players in the world was Blom but he wasn’t ready to reveal his true identity until his hand was forced by his sponsorship deal with PokerStars.

Isildur1, the Swedish player known for is super-aggressive style of play and brushes with with variance that left him up or down hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single playing session, seemingly came out of nowhere and quickly became the talk of the online poker world. People wondered who this extremely talented player was and how he was able to handle bankroll swings in the millions of dollars.

According to Patrik Antonius, Blom started with a $2000 bankroll in 2008 that he quickly built to $1.4 million before really jumping into the spotlight playing nose-bleed stakes against well-known pros like Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, Brian Townsend, Cole South, and Haseeb Qureshi.

His bankroll swings are legendary in the poker community. In a single session against Brian Hastings, Blom lost $4.2 million in five hours. His positive swings were just as mind boggling. In a week-long match against Tom Dwan, Blom beat Dwan for $4 million.

Following the announcement of his true identity in 2011 he and PokerStars parted ways in 2012. He was signed as a representative for Full Tilt Poker (which was then owned by PokerStars) alongside Tom Dwan two months after leaving PokerStars.