big winner...Brian Hastings
All was going well on middle-earth for Isildur1 a couple of days ago. The enigmatic Swede continued his million dollar swings by racking up a $3.1 million profit on Sunday night, mainly by pulverising Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies in heads-up PLO.
After adding a more modest $275k to his roll on Monday night, boosting his overall annual profit to $1.1 million, Isildur1 received the proverbial nail in the coffin in the early hours of this morning. To the shock of the twoplustwo circus, the man widely considered to be Viktor ‘blom90’ Blom suffered a session from hell at the hands of Cardrunners pro Brian Hastings, dropping $4 million. According to the maths boffins on twoplustwo, $2.8 million of this was above expected value (EV) (meaning he should only have lost $1.2 million, but was brutalised by the deck).
The 40 buy-ins lost illustrates the sick variance and volatility associated with high stakes PLO games. Isildur1 was so disillusioned by things he made a small tirade in chat, telling Hastings to ‘just f off’, and to, ‘take his last $$’. Whether this means he is ‘confirmed busto’, we can only speculate, but Team Cardrunners (which includes the likes of Brian Townsend and Cole South) must be revelling in the $4 million profit. The loss of Isildur1’s funds to the unfashionable ‘TC’ has left railbirds wishing the money went to a more flamboyant, popular name. The general consensus is that Isildur1 was naïve to square off against the Cardrunners crew, with crucial information on his game and betting patterns no doubt shared.
Isildur1’s story reeks of the naivety of youth. It seems he has little psychological control, with no idea when to stop. Missing the level head of a Phil Ivey or Patrik Antonius, he seems to be, as one forum member beautifully puts it, ‘playing a video game, and trying to run up the highest score. That the score is denominated in dollars is only of nominal importance’.
Highlights for Hastings included a $270k pot. All the money went in on a 5
10 J
flop, with Isildur1 boasting Q
8
K J for top pair and an open ended straight draw, and Hastings K K 9 5 for an overpair and backdoor flush draw. The 6, 6 on the turn and river didn’t help the Swede, with the kings holding up.
Isildur1 was also stung in a $308k pot when a lethal turn spelt disaster. All the money went in on a 9 5 3 K board, with Hastings tabling 4 10 8 3 for a flopped flush, and Isildur1 K Q K 9 for top set. Needing the board to pair, the 2 on the river offered no help. Both instances indicate Isildur1 may have been tilting. In the first pot, Isildur1 was drawing to the non-nuts, whereas in the second, he could have peeled off a final card to try and make his full house.
Whether this is the end of Isildur1’s Full Tilt Poker high stakes crusade, we’ll have to wait and see.