Isildur1 Slays Eugene Katchalov In Latest SuperStar Showdown

Things are looking up for PokerStars’ young heads-up specialist Viktor Blom, better known by many as Isildur1. The Team PokerStars pro had a rocky start to his new position when relative unknown Isaac Haxton beat him soundly in his first much touted and much anticipated SuperStar Showdown match last year. Blom’s been working hard to redeem himself ever since. While live tournament success still largely continues to elude Blom, his three match winning streak in the SuperStar Showdown proves that he’s still the man to beat when it comes to nosebleed heads-up action.

The latest SuperStar Showdown match-up went down tonight with Isildur1 pitted against Eugene “MyRabbiFoo” Katchalov. Converse to Blom’s reputation, Katchalov is far better known for his live performances. Thus far, 2011 has been a far kinder year for Katchalov whose win in the PCA’s $100,000 Super High Roller event earned him a stunning $1.5 million payout. Katchalov followed that win with a cash in the PCA’s Main Event and then only a week later took second place in another PCA event. Riding on such huge momentum, many of tonight’s spectators expected Katchalov to be something of a juggernaut.

Four NL Hold’em tables were selected with blinds of $50/$100. It took a mere four hours for the two formidable foes to hit the minimum of 2500 hands. One player certainly dominated in the epic battle of Isildur1 vs MyRabbiFoo, but it wasn’t Katchalov. When all was said and done it was another clear victory for Isildur1. In fact, it was Blom’s largest SuperStar Showdown win yet – a decisive $111,750 haul that took his total earnings in the event up to $165,525.

While Blom’s margin of victory was significant, the match rarely seemed lopsided. Katchalov proved to be Blom’s most controlled and calculating opponent yet. The small pots that resulted from his conservative playing style provided surprisingly little excitement for spectators that are used to much more dramatic sessions at the high stakes heads-up tables. Several times over Isildur1 would mount a small lead only to be beaten back by Katchalov’s level-headed skill.

Only a handful of big pots ever emerged at the four tables, and for a while it was very give and take, but ultimately Blom took more – a whole lot more. The tide turned the final time about three-fourths into the match. Blom got a lucky draw to take a $31,500 pot. It was far from the largest of the night, but it set the tone for most of the other important hands the two would play tonight. Unlike some of Blom’s previous matches, when he showed open scorn for competitors like Haxton, the chat box was full of warm and fuzzy congratulations when tonight’s SuperStar Showdown concluded. Rumors abound about which pro will step up to take Isildur1 on next.

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