It seems every poker player you ask lately has an opinion on Isildur1, be it his skill level, his sanity or his real world identity, everybody wants to chime in with a theory on this ultra-high stakes online pro. 

Two players, with perhaps a better understanding of the player than most, Ilari "Zigmund" Sahamies and Patrik Antonius recently discussed their thoughts on the mysterious pro, away from the tables in two interviews currently getting a lot of attention.

Antonius, a Full Tilt Pro and the man who won the biggest pot in online poker history against Isildur1 ($1,356,947), did an interview with Phil Gordon on the site's Full Tilt Poker Academy, where he not only went through that infamous big hand but also talked about his opponent and what it takes in terms of bankroll to play such huge stakes.

Antonius was fairly complimentary of his online rival, however Ziigmund, during a recent interview on a Finnish radio show, was not quite as diplomatic, claiming not only that Isildur1 "must be missing a chromosome" for playing the way he does against so many players at once, but also that his PLO game (Pot-Limit Omaha) "has some weaknesses," according to coinflip.com, the online site nice enough to interpret the interview for us in a recent article

Both interviews were substantially different in tone and substance, as one was aimed towards mainstream audiences and the other towards knowledgeable poker players hoping to learn, however they did have one major thing in common; both showed just how happy these two guys seem, to be playing this crazy, unknown, Swede.


Story by Mark Anderson