Up and Down: Isildur1 wins 1st WCOOP; Steffen Sontheimer dons the purple jacket

Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom wins first WCOOP title

Normally renowned for his online cash game prowess, it is rare to see step into the online tournament arena. When he does though, he normally plays the big buy in events in major festivals, and has previously made a serious impact too. His most notable success in tournaments in the SCOOP High Main Event win in 2011, which netted him just under 1.1 million dollars, and a similar number of headlines in the poker world. Now, he has added a WCOOP title to this accolade.

In typical Isildur1 style, he beat some of the biggest names around to win a large prestigious event. The $2,100 HORSE event was the one claimed by Isildur1 this time, giving him his first coveted online world title and $60,760 after he overcame a field of 94 players. Remarkably, his win here follows his runner-up finish in the same event last year, in which he lost heads up to Daniel Negreanu. The Swedish star now adds a WCOOP win to his three SCOOP titles.

WCOOP-58-H: $2,100 HORSE results
Entries:124 (94 entries, 30 re-entries)
Prize pool:$248,000
Places paid:16

1. Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (Sweden) $60,760
2. GlassOfBeer (Finland) $42,160
3. 7PRS (Canada) $32,240
4. aDrENalin710 (Russia) $22,320
5. aramesko (Russia) $16,120
6. Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna (Finland) $12,400
7. Laszlo “omaha4rollz” Bujtas (Hungary) $9,920
8. Dario “Secret_M0d3” Sammartino (Slovakia) $7,440

Steffen Sontheimer dons the purple jacket after winning his second event at the Poker Masters

Steffen Sontheimer has defeated all challengers to take the first ever Poker Masters title, claiming the purple jacket that goes with the title. The German pro put on a commanding display to claim victory, final tabling four of the five events, and bubbling the fifth. His two 1st places ensured that no other player could catch him, securing his position as champion of the series.

Sontheimer may not be as widely known as some of his fellow countrymen, with third place finisher in the final event, Fedor Holz being a prime example. Sontheimer does have previous high roller experience however, with his biggest cash being a $1.2 million win at Aria’s $100K Super High Roller 19.

Poker Masters Event #5: $100,000 NLHE Results

1st – Steffen Sontheimer:$1,512,000
2nd – Christian Christner: $864,000
3rd – Fedor Holz:$504,000
4th – Seth Davies: $324,000
5th –Justin Bonomo: $216,000
6th –Stefan Schillhabel:$180,000

Negreanu and Hellmuth engage in a tweet-war over Hellmuth’s standing in the game

As we all know, Phil has a very clear opinion of who in the poker world has more ability than himself. That would of course, be nobody. Daniel Negreanu has this week dared to offer a very different opinion however, much to the irritation of the 14-time bracelet winner.

After Negreanu described Phil as delusional for thinking he is the best poker player in the world, Hellmuth was quick to point out that he has the best ROI in live tournament history, before Negreanu retorted with

I don’t think you are being realistic Phil but I’m not surprised. Your disrespect for this generation only hurts your own growth.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 20, 2017

He went on to add in another tweet:

You are a good guy Phil but your ego is blinding you from the truth. The players of today are world class and you just don’t see it.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 20, 2017

Hellmuth reminded his long-time friend that he berated everyone, not just the young stars of the game and that everyone enjoys it when he goes off on one, but a few tweets later, and a challenge was issued. Hellmuth said: “Give us the list of these players that will “crush me badly”, to which Negreanu responded with a list of 40 names and the words “You want to act like a big shot then bet on it”.

Steffen
Fedor
Schindler
Brynn
Rainer
D Smith
Vogelsang
Kaverman
Marchese
Koon
Haxton
Bonomo
Christner
Schillhabel
Tollerene
Want more?

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 20, 2017

It seemed like the possible bet didn’t materialise though, and in between Justin Bonomo and Shaun Deeb fanning the flames with a couple of tweets and Doug Polk having some fun, Hellmuth eventually seemed to cool his interest in the wager.

Article by Craig Bradshaw