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Viktor “isildur1” Blom’s current opponent in the PokerStars Superstar Showdown is a player he is very familiar with at the online poker tables, Scot “urnotindangr2” Palmer, as the two have squared off many times over the past months. The two began their 5,000 hand match with a 2,500 hand session on Sunday night that saw a number of lead changes, and eventually ended with Palmer ahead by a mere $5,425.

Blom has an incredible 5-1 record in the Superstar Showdown matches, including his most recent win over Daniel Negreanu. The only player to best Blom thus far was his very first opponent, Isaac Haxton; with Tony G, Daniel Cates, Eugene Katchalov, Negreanu, and an online qualifier named DodgyFish72 all unable to conquer Blom.

During their first session both Palmer and Blom found themselves in $40,000 deficits –the largest deficit of the match was a $50,150 lead by Blom with about 1,000 hands left to play– but for the most part the skill level, as well as the luck factor, seemed to balance out, which is why the two players are basically all-square after Session 1. Palmer and Blom will continue their match this coming Sunday with another 2,500 hand session; after which we will see which player manages to come out on top.

The PokerStars Superstar Showdown is a heads-up match played across four separate tables of $50/$100 NLHE (or PLO if the participants so choose) where each player puts up $150,000 in stake-money.