The LLinusLLove Mystery is Over!

(Photo: Pokerstarslive.com)

It has been a long time since we had an unveiling of one of poker’s mystery online crushers –January of 2011 seeing the biggest story of the new year when Viktor Blom was finally revealed as the online beast ‘Isildur1’ – but this week has seen a new star making his first public appearance in his ‘real identity’, Linus Loeliger, aka ‘LLinusLLove’.

It was the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure all those years ago that saw Blom come out of the closet so to speak, and this week it was another PokerStars event, the Barcelona Championship €50,000 Super High Roller, at which Loeliger emerged as a real person - having been spoken about for months as a new big name in the online nosebleeds.

So who is the mysterious LLinusLlove/Loeliger character and why has he kept himself in obscurity until now?

(Photo: Pokerstarslive.com)

Linus Loeliger is a 22-year old Swiss pro with a few Hendon Mob results recorded, but no sign that he would be the same person who has worked his way up through the ranks of the online grinders, HSDB.com featuring his 2+2 post which saw him ‘attempting to run his $150 bankroll from NL10 up to NL100 by the end of the year.’

And it was the very same HSDB.com which eventually outed Loeliger, his online ‘challenge’ having been more than completed, although he quickly stopped updating his thread with results and hand histories after a heavy losing session ($200!) back in 2013.

According to Pokernews.com, ‘the mechanics of the transfer system (on 2+2 between high-stakes regs) require the use of his full name, and eventually, he said, someone leaked the info to HighstakesDB.com.’

"I mean, it has to happen at some point," said Linus of his real identity’s revelation to the wider poker world. "There's nothing I can do about it."

In April of this year he gave an anonymous interview to Brad Willis for the PokerStars blog, Willis writing: ‘We know that he is now 22 years old, has moved from Malta to Vienna, and plays the occasional live event. Other than that, he doesn't have much to say about his personal life.’

"I prefer to stay out of the spotlight, because usually there's nothing good coming from it, especially in the poker scene," said LlinusLLove, who we now know to be Loeliger. No longer able to hide himself from the perils of the public poker world, Loeliger decided that the $50K Super High Roller in Barcelona would be as good a time as any to make an appearance, despite his mainly cash game background.

"I've actually done quite a lot of work in MTTs as well," he told Mo Nuwarrah of PokerNews, adding: "I used to play the occasional Sunday. My roommate plays tournaments for a living. I'm feeling very, very comfortable in my tournaments. It's not a big transition.”

Despite being well within his comfort zone, he missed out on the money in Barcelona, but we can certainly expect some big scores in the future now that his virtual existence has a human dimension, although his live appearances may well mirror his online play – big buy-ins and big name opposition.

Despite his amazing run to the top of the poker pile, it may not change people’s opinion of what he does for a living though, as a recent tweet reveals…