Mar 15 2011

Daniel Negreanu to Face Isildur1 in SuperStar Showdown

written by: Will under News Comments: Comments Off

PokerStars recently unveiled the next contender in its SuperStar Showdown, and it looks like poker legend Daniel Negreanu will face off against Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom in an historic match pitting old against new.

The event is set to take place over the course of two Sundays, including March 20th and March 27th. Each player will start with $150,000, playing NLHE at the $50 / $100 stake level until 2,500 hands have been completed on the 20th. Another 2,500 hands will be played on the 27th, with Negreanu and Blom picking up their chip stacks where they left off the previous Sunday.

Negreanu’s name is often brought up in discussions regarding the single best poker player in existence, even of all time. He has earned well over $14 million in his career through live tournaments alone, making him the second biggest all-time money winner behind Phil Ivey. He’s closely followed by Erik Seidel, who he recently passed on the all-time money leaderboard.

Blom first made a name for himself in fall 2009, when he both won and lost millions of dollars at high stakes online tables. Only two seven-figure poker pots have ever been played online, and both involved Blom. Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius were his opponents for each.

Isildur1, who is notoriously shy, lurked in the shadows as an unidentified player until he joined Team PokerStars as a sponsored player in January of 2011, at which point he was revealed to be Viktor Blom. Blom is currently holding a 3-1 record in the SuperStar Showdown, with his only loss coming at the hands of the methodical Isaac Haxton.

According to PokerStars, Negreanu has been secretly preparing for the match since Blom joined their ranks by focusing more on his online game. Negreanu has also been practicing his multi-tabling skills, a necessity for the 4-table format of the SuperStar Showdown.

The event will begin at 3 PM EST on both March 20th and 27th.

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