Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom Wins PartyPokerMILLIONS Main Event for €850,000

Sweden’s poker legend Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom took down the partypoker MILLIONS title and a cool  €850,000 in a finale which had viewers gripping the edges of their seat – the final hand one for the annals as Blom made ‘the call of the century’ against Pavel Plesuv.

Making a rare appearance at a large live event, online high-stakes wizard Blom had to fend of more than 1000 hopefuls in the €5million guaranteed event at Leon Tsoukernik’s Kings Casino in the Czech Republic, battling his way through 4 days of play against some of the best players from Europe and beyond, including many of partypoker’s own pro team.

Among those who made it deep into the final day was fellow ambassador Joao Simao, the Brazilian having already reached two final tables in the €25,000 Super High Rollers, taking a second and fourth, and when he reached the Main Event final table last night he was gunning for a title.

Another of those hoping to keep superstar Blom away from the silverware was England’s Rickie Silcock, the qualifier’s biggest live cash being a relatively small $11,216 and he was guaranteed to smash that simply by turning up for what turned out to be a gripping finale.

As it transpired, the young Englishman would fall in third, a €400k payday taking his lifetime earnings tenfold in one fell swoop, outlasting the likes of Simao (4th for €280,000) and local Czech hero Ondrej Drozd (6th for €140,000)

With Silcock gone, the heads-up between Blom and Moldovan pro Plesuv would turn out to be an amazing game of coolers mixed with cat and mouse play, Blom facing 3 all-ins for his life and escaping unscathed each time, although Plesuv too couldn’t complain about the cards, one hand which almost wrecked Blom’s title dreams seeing the Swede flop a set of queens but Plesuv being dealt a straight. Blom and Plesuv cut a deal to secure €750,000 each and play for the trophy, bragging rights, and additional €100,000 to the winner.

The Swede, however, battled back as best he could with his short stack, a 10-1 chip dog at one point but unwilling to go down without a fight. When he turned a saving eight to survive his 3rd all-in, the fight was back on almost level terms – and when the end came it was worth the wait.

♦ ♠ ♥ ♣

Blom: K♥ 6♦

Plesuv: Q♦ 7♦

Board: K♦ 9♥ Q♥ A♦ 5♥

When Plesuv shoved the river, it was an agonised Blom who faced a call basically for his life – going into the tank as he tried to work out how Plesuv could have a hand which beat his own top pair.

Lesser mortals would have folded, and as the commentary team of James Dempsey and Simon Trumper got just as excited as the fans at the prospect of a hero call deciding the event, Blom spent a good 5 minutes – his face and mind obviously desperate to make the call, his hands however hovering his cards as if to fold.

When he finally snapped out of his genius-mode thinking, his hands obeyed and the chips went in, Blom taking the title as the rest of the poker fans and players in Kings were in shock. A contender for ‘Call of the Century’ if ever there was one.

Final table results

*denotes a deal of the last two players