Tony G sees a bit of himself in Isildur1...must be the aggression
Brash veteran Tony G looks set to put his money where his notoriously big mouth is, by agreeing to stake disillusioned youngster Isildur1.
The unknown Swede is still the talking point amongst poker circles, despite being absent from the tables over the Christmas period. His nosebleed stakes career came to an abrupt end when he suffered a $4 million losing session at the hands of Brian Hastings. No-one could have anticipated the furore that followed – Hastings admitted to sharing hand histories with fellow Cardrunners member Brian Townsend (a breach of Full Tilt’s terms and conditions, which resulted in a one month suspension of Townsend’s red pro status). The image of Isildur1 8-tabling the world’s most revered pros – including Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius and Tom Dwan, will go down in poker folklore. Isildur1 ravaged durrrr of millions in November, capping a disastrous online 2009 for the new Team Full Tilt acquisition.
Tony G first alluded to Isildur1 in his blog, revealing his identity as iPoker legend Viktor ‘blom90’ Blom. The gobby Australian has now retracted his initial revelation, claiming it is better Isildur1 retains his element of ‘mystery’.
Tony G has been largely absent from the poker tournament calendar of late, also mellowing as a character. His official tournament winnings are unlikely to withstand the volatility of Full Tilt’s high stake games, so it begs the question, how can he afford to stake Isildur1? Tony G must have a lot of undeclared wealth, down to his new business ventures including staking website ChipMeUp. It is also rumoured Tony G won millions from encounters with wealthy Russian business tycoons, in shady underground card clubs. Tony G has never disguised his contempt for them, telling a player to ‘GET OUT, RUSSIAN’, at the Monte Carlo Millions.
Tony G shares nothing but admiration for Isildur1, and as eager railbirds wanting the Swede to return, we can show nothing but admiration for Tony G’s willingness to stake him.
Tony G wrote on his blog, ‘I have had a few conversations over the phone with him and I really love the kid. He is like me 15 years ago. I just wish I had as much talent as he does. He can play the world’s best on eight tables and he only learned PLO about eight months ago. Anyway, it is likely I will stake him in some big cash games in the future, this is what I do after all. I like to give people a chance in life to do well’.
The Lithuanian, who has cashed an impressive 14 times at the WSOP, claims Isildur1 will not be filing a lawsuit against Full Tilt in light of the collusion from Team Cardrunners members. He added, ‘I can see how people attacked Full Tilt Poker on 2+2 – calling for lawsuits, etc., but this is not what Isildur1 really wants. He wants to enjoy his life and move on. This is what he needs to do. He is a brilliant player a with a little bit of hard work, he will build back up to a multimillion roll’. Kudos to Isildur1 for having no sour grapes about his $4 million loss. With such fearlessness, raw talent and aggression, he must have no shortage of potential backers.