Full Tilt Loses Out As Isildur1 Joins Team PokerStars Pro

Despite setting Full Tilt Poker a buzz in late 2009 and early 2010, the celebrated poker maniac known as Isildur1 has now joined rival poker site PokerStars as one of their sponsored pros.
The remarkable news was first released via a PokerStars blog, with writer Simon Young posting;
“Wow! I’m used to PokerStars making big announcements, but this one really made my eyes pop out on stalks… Isildur1, the most infamous name in online poker, has today signed up to Team PokerStars Pro.”
Isildur1 originally gained notoriety as a player after appearing on Full Tilt almost from nowhere before then relieving Tom Dwan and other pros there of around $3 million of their bankrolls.
However, Isildur1 then proceeded to lose back his winnings and then some, helped least by a five hour session of heads-up Pot Limit Omaha action, which saw Brian Hastings walk away with $4.2 million of the mystery Swede’s money. Isildur1 complained that something felt odd at the time, which later led to data mining allegations and a Full Tilt suspension of Hasting’s fellow Cardrunners friend Brian Townsend.
Whether the decision to join PokerStars is linked to Isildur1’s experience at Full Tilt is unclear, but the player widely believed to be Viktor Blom says he is delighted to join the world’s biggest poker room, and stated:
“I chose to join PokerStars because it’s the biggest site and it will be an exciting challenge. It means a great deal to be playing in a team alongside players such as Daniel Negreanu, Dario Minieri and Johnny Lodden…My goals now are to improve my live game for some upcoming events, continue to focus on no-limit heads-up Hold’em, but also try to develop my Pot Limit Omaha game.”
As part of their promotion, PokerStars have arranged a once a week challenge for Isildur1 called the SuperStar Showdown which, as PokerStars explains:
“Is a head-up cash game match that takes place over a single session of 2,500 hands. The hands will be split evenly across four tables of No Limit Hold’Em and Pot Limit Omaha, at stakes no lower than $50/$100. The winner of the match will be the player that shows a profit after all 2,500 hands have been played.”
“In addition to money won during the 2,500 hands, the players will be competing for a prize purse of at least 300 big blinds ($30,000). The purse will be funded from the players’ bankrolls and will be held by PokerStars in escrow (to be transferred to the winner after the match).
Isildur1’s progress at PokerStars can now be followed by fans via a Twitter account from @RealIsildur1.