Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 26 March 2010 / Leave a Comment

I'm sure you've heard -- Isildur1 is back.

To be honest, up until a few days ago I hadn't really followed the sequel to the Isildur1 saga all that closely. I was aware he'd started showing up again over on Full Tilt Poker in early February, and that the monstrous swings we'd heard about from before were once again occurring. I decided to take a look back through the various reports online and compile what I could find regarding his activities.

As is the case with all of the high stakes online players, many people have been watching Isildur1's every move during his return. There are various sites out there closely tracking the high stakes, reporting on the amounts being passed back and forth as well as sharing hand histories and commentaries.

Nicole Gordon regularly provides "Online Railbird Reports" over at PokerNews, Jessica Wellman is doing the same at Bluff Magazine, and other poker news sites likewise regularly pass along summaries of the action. In addition, one can also find ongoing updates on the exploits of Isildur1 and his opponents on forums like Two Plus Two.

That said, the following summary is no way to be taken as comprehensive or even 100% accurate, as there are often occasional discrepancies among the various reports. With that disclaimer in mind, then, the following roughly summarizes what Isildur1 has been up to over the last couple of months.

February

He first resurfaced on Full Tilt around February 5 at the lower stakes tables, dropping about $30,000 during those first sessions. A few days later Isildur1 was seen playing $50/$100 no-limit hold'em with high-stakes regular URnotINdanger2, losing around $100,000. He'd then move over to the $200/$400 capped pot pot-limit Omaha tables where he'd get back nearly $90,000.

All of that was apparently just a rehearsal of sorts for the action-loving Swede, as a reprise of the head-spinning swings from late last year was imminent.

February 16 was an especially big day for Isildur1. According to Gordon's "Online Railbird Report" over at PokerNews, he began the day booking a nearly quarter-million dollar win playing $200/$400 short-handed CAP PLO, then eight-tabled some $100/$200 NLH versus Isaac "luvtheWNBA" Haxton to whom he lost $90,000. Then he sat down with Justin Bonomo for six tables of $200/$400 NLH and ultimately won more than half a million from "ZeeJustin."

Matthew Pitt recounted further details of that wild day here. Bonomo noted on Twitter it had been his "biggest poker loss ever," although he was still up for February. In a 30-hour period, Gordon reports, Isildur1 had earned more than $1.18 million.

The surge continued over the next day or so, with big wins versus Brian Hastings ($300/$600 PLO) as well as successful encounters against Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies. Reports estimated Isildur1 was up around $1.8 million overall during the two short weeks since he'd returned.

As many have noted about Isildur1, though, he is not one to stop after scoring big wins. Indeed, as was demonstrated last December, it generally takes a big loss to force him to step away. And so he continued to play. And the loss came.

Isildur1 would drop nearly a million dollars in a five-hour stretch, mostly to Hastings and Bonomo. Hastings claimed about two-thirds of that at the $300/$600 PLO tables, while Bonomo got about a quarter million of his previous loss back. Jessica Wellman reported over at Bluff on February 18 that Isidur1 had played over 11,000 hands since Valentine's Day. So it wasn't too surprising after the big loss to see him take a breather.

He'd come back a few days later, this time taking on the formidable Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond at PLO. You might recall that Galfond was the one person Tom "durrrr" Dwan said could not participate in his "Durrrr Challenge" (announced in early 2009). Isildur1 obviously has no such reservations when it comes to his opponents, and here he'd drop nearly $100K to Galfond as part of a $300K losing session. By day's end, Isildur1 was buying in short at multiple tables, suggesting to many his bankroll was in danger of disappearing altogether.

Even so, the High Stakes Database reported Isildur1 was up nearly $200,000 overall for February. Then, as March began, Isildur1 came in like... well, like a lion.

March

On March 4, Isildur1 would win more than $110K playing $100/$200 CAP short-handed PLO, then take another $300K from Dwan at NLH. He then had another crazy weekend, dropping half a million, then swinging back up to win nearly $500,000, some of which from Sahamies. He and Sahamies would next play another huge session of $300/$600 and $500/$1,000 PLO, during which Sahamies lost about a million to the Swede.

When signing off, Sahamies typed "give my money for Hastings, gg" -- and that's essentially what Isildur1 did, next losing over $543K to Hastings (again at $300/$600 and $500/$1,000 PLO). He'd bounce back, though, versus Cole South and Hastings, and was said to be about $525,000 up overall since early February when he encountered another huge setback.

Over a less-than-24-hour period on March 11, Isildur1 would play something like 10,000 hands against the likes of Bonomo, South, Dwan, and Galfond. He won versus Bonomo (at NLH) and South (at PLO), but lost big to Dwan -- about $1 million at $300/$600 PLO. He lost even more to Galfond, around $1.87 million playing both $300/$600 and $500/$1,000 PLO. If you're curious, check out Galfond's blog post about that session in which he shares a few hands as well as a couple of fascinating 7-8 minute videos of the action with commentary.

On March 16, Isildur1 would drop another $1.6-plus million to Hastings ($500/$1,000 PLO). He'd lay low a while, then came back earlier this week to book (relatively) smaller wins versus South and Bonomo. Apparently after all of that Isildur1 is up a bit overall since his return, though as we know there's little chance that will remain the case for long.

As far as Isildur1's identity goes, it is still somewhat uncertain, although many continue to suggest that he is indeed the young Swede, Viktor Blom. All of that speculation could possibly end soon, though, as Poker News Daily is reporting that he has been invited to participate in PartyPoker's Big Game IV, scheduled to take place in London from April 11-13.

Will Isildur1 finally come out of hiding next month? Will March end with him going out like a lamb? Whatever the mystery man decides to do, you can be assured many will be watching.

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