News

Monday, 07 February 2011 01:55

The price of fame and recognition could turn out to be astronomical for top poker player Viktor Blom if Swedish tax authorities take an interest in him.

Poker professional Blom, who finally revealed his true identity to the world after hiding behind the Isildur1 handle for two years when he signed up as a representative of PokerStars, could face a bill as high as $149 million for unpaid taxes in his native Sweden. At the ripe old age of 20, Blom stunned the poker world just over a year ago when he burst onto the scene amidst a string of million dollar plus games where he won and lost more money than most poker players will ever see in their lifetimes.

The huge figure has been calculated by the Swedish finance newspaper, Dagens Nyheter and is probably based on the big session wins racked up by Blom over his two years in the limelight as Isildur1. In that time he had days where he won and lost several millions of dollars. The Tax Agency in Sweden are keen to investigate several online poker firms that are active in the country, although at this point they have not admitted to specifically targeting poker playing individuals.

In a rollercoaster professional playing ride that saw Blom's alter ego Isildur1 become one of the most popular and well known online players throughout the world, the mystery man managed to win and lose some of the highest pots in the history of the online game. His appearance out of nowhere happened very fast indeed as he explained that he deposited $2,000 one day and within just three weeks had turned it into $2 million. His aggressive style of play meant huge risk taking, where he appeared to be unfazed by head to head confrontations where huge pots were at stake.

Blom's decision to join the PokerStars team meant that as part of the sponsorship deal he was obliged to reveal his true identity. When it came, most poker players were not unduly surprised as there had been a lot of intense speculation that Blom was indeed Isildur1. Rumours had been rife in poker circles that the mystery player was most likely to be Blom as a lot of evidence seemed to link the two names.

On his decision to unmask Isildur1 and why he had kept himself reasonably well hidden for the entirety of his career, Blom said that he had no desire to converse with the media. When asked about advice he would give to new players, he began by telling them to start slowly, but realizing this sounded contrived, he added that he "didn't do that."