SuperStar Showdown: Isildur1 vs. Mastermixus

It’s nice to see that at least some of the online poker pros haven’t gone AWOL in the aftermath of the online poker shutdown in the United States. Isildur1 looked like the little lighted candle in the dark when he appeared once again for the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown and took on the online qualifier, Mastermixus from Poland. Apparently unfazed by all the turmoil in the online poker industry, Blom went on to win the showdown, winning himself a paltry – for him, anyway $1,279.

Since Mastermixus was an online qualifier, the rules of the SuperStar Showdown were a bit bent to accommodate him. Instead of the usual $50/$100 stakes, they lowered it, but otherwise, everything else was the same. The two of them played for 2,500 hands in all across four heads-up tables. Things actually started out pretty well for Mastermixus. He won the very first all-in pot, his two pair getting the better of Blom’s King high. A flurry of hands gave Mastermixus a lead of $1,140, but that was only the beginning. Soon enough, Blom got the handle of his opponent, effectively securing a very stable lead by the time they got to a fourth of the entire challenge. Mastermixus was eliminated at one of the tables when his bluff failed to gain any momentum, the river handing Blom a nice flush.

He wasn’t doing too well at the other tables either and was losing quite a bit of money. He asked for a five minute break then, likely to try to pull himself back together. He returned with an ultra-tight strategy and played only when his hands were really that good. It was a pretty good strategy, all things considered. Blom had a very high win rate but then Mastermixus was winning the pots that mattered. In fact, he managed to overtake Blom at one point. The lead started seesawing after that. But in the end, Mastermixus could not keep up, Blom won $1,279 while Mastermixus got to keep the remaining $13,721 in his bankroll.

So far, Blom has won 7 SuperStar Showdowns and lost 2 of them. That’s a pretty good record, all things considered. In fact, Blom is proving to be quite one of the best players in the field indeed. However, it’s going to be a bit lonely not seeing the online poker pros from the US play. I bet I’m not the only one wishing that they’d migrate to a country more amenable to online poker instead just to avoid this terrible standstill between the US Justice Department and the Online poker sites.

Casino Research