Two days ago, Phenom Poker's official Twitter posted what looked like a victory lap.
Their Team Pro, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, had deposited $13,000 a week earlier and run it up to over $1.1 million. They called it "Million Dollar Week." They told people not to miss him in action ahead of his summer grind in Vegas. Standard ambassador content with an insane number attached.
Turns out that post was the halftime report.
Blom never logged off. Forum chatter out of the poker community now has him pushing past $1.8 million in total winnings, with another $700K or so added after the Phenom tweet went out. He's been grinding $2,000/$4,000 8-Game Mix in 14-hour sessions, and he's still playing.
The opponents across the felt read like a high-stakes mixed-game reunion. Alexander "Joiso" Kostritsyn. Volker Stuermer. Johannes Becker. Christopher Kruk. Teimurazi Tabagari. George Alexander. Bence Bodis. Several of these guys haven't been active online in months. Some logged back on specifically to take shots at Blom. Nobody comes out of retirement for a random $5/$10 reg.
This is the Isildur we remember. Not the subdued live-tournament version who's been popping up at the WSOP the last few summers. The one from the 2009 Full Tilt nosebleeds, giving action to anyone who asks, playing every format, running sessions long enough that his opponents just tap out one by one.
The Phenom angle
Blom joined Phenom Poker as Team Pro in April 2025, announced via a lengthy post on his X account that broke almost two years of social media silence. Phenom is a player-owned DAO built on Polygon, founded by former poker pro Matt Valeo, registered in Panama and licensed in Anjouan. It launched in October 2024 with a Team Pro roster that includes Brian Rast, Huck Seed, Dan Cates, Phil Laak, and Blom.
The site has had a traffic problem since launch. Interesting tech, strong game variety (30-plus variants including Razz, 2-7 Triple Draw, Badugi, Open Face Chinese), but not enough bodies in the lobby. Peak concurrents have hovered in the low hundreds.
This week changes that conversation, at least temporarily. When Isildur1 sits at $2K/$4K, players who haven't touched the software in months suddenly show up. That's the entire point of signing a Team Pro of this caliber, and it's working.
The number might be moving while you read this
The Phenom tweet dated two days ago pegged the winnings at $1.1 million. Forum reports since have him past $1.8 million and still in the chair. By the time this publishes, that figure may be higher. Or lower. This is Viktor Blom. Both directions are on the table.
The last time he was up big on Full Tilt, back in November 2009, he peaked around $5.98 million in winnings and gave most of it back inside three weeks. That's the deal with hyper-aggressive players at nosebleed stakes. The variance eventually finds everyone.
But while it's happening, it's the most entertaining poker on the internet. Pure Isildur. Maximum risk. Maximum action. Maximum swings.
