Yesterday was April 1st, which marks a day of trickery in celebration of April Fools Day. In the poker industry, rumors of the true identity of the mystery Swede Isildur1 spread like wildfire.
On March 31st, one day before April Fools Day, the Cake Poker Blog set the tone for the de-facto holiday by publishing a story revealing that Isildur1 is actually former Swedish hockey star Mats Sundin. However, Sundin is a sponsored pro of PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, leading some players to cry foul almost immediately. The Cake Poker Blog noted that several Swedish news outlets had reported the news and an official announcement was expected from Sundin’s agent later in the day. Needless to say, no announcement came.
Also on Wednesday, Isildur1 agreed to appear in the PartyPoker Big Game IV, news confirmed by representatives from PartyPoker and event organizers Matchroom Sport. The Cake Poker Blog explained Sundin’s presence in the Big Game IV: “According to the reports, Sundin will be playing for the charity The Human Fund and deliberately used the notoriety of his enigmatic online poker handle to help raise the profile of his appearance at the Big Game IV in support of his charitable work.”
On the TwoPlusTwo forums, a 10-page thread reacting to the April Fools Day gag featured many posters scratching their heads. Community member “Ridin2Aces” boasted, “I posted a couple weeks ago that I thought it was Mats Sundin. Do I win a prize? No one I said this to believed me, just seemed to fit. He’s loaded.” Also falling for the ruse was “nuisance,” who rationalized, “If it’s Mats, that would make sense since his bankroll seemed to be huge and from what I know he seemed to have came out of nowhere.”
Twenty-four hours after its original article, the Cake Poker Blog came clean, publishing a story entitled “Isildur1 is (Probably) Not Mats Sundin.” A graph of Sundin’s lackluster performance online courtesy of PokerTableRatings.com was displayed along with text reading, “Yes, as many of you guessed by now, our Isildur1 is Mats Sundin post was a joke. As far as we know, Isildur1 is still maintaining his secret identity.” Meanwhile, PokerListings got in on the action by affirming that Isildur1 is Sundin and even posted a video backing up its claims.
On April Fools Day, BoylePoker asserted that “high-stakes poker degenerate” Niklas Power, a 40 year-old Swedish transplant now living in Ireland, is the man behind the Isildur1 moniker. Power told BoylePoker officials why he allegedly chose to come out of hiding: “Well, I couldn’t let that Blom fella get all the credit, so I decided to reveal myself to the world.” Power was expected to turn out to this weekend’s Irish Poker Open. How did he get his riches, you ask? BoylePoker had this question covered as well, explaining, “Power is alleged to have deposited €2,000 and ran it up to $1.5 million in two weeks with his hyper-aggressive style.”
Making headlines on April Fools Day was a rumored key role by Tom “durrrr” Dwan in the movie “Rounders 2.” The story, which appeared on the Full Tilt Poker Blog, read in part, “The sequel is expected to focus on the world of online poker, so the role would be a natural fit for durrrr. This morning, a TwoPlusTwo poster identifying himself as ‘a Miramax talent coordinator authorized to disclose limited information’ said the screenplay features durrrr in an intense early scene.” Allegedly, Dwan makes a major misclick. Images doctored using Photoshop showed Dwan facing off against actor Matt Damon.
Also popping up on Thursday was a prop bet purportedly forged by two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Jeff Madsen. The youngster Tweeted, “Just accepted a sick prop bet: I have to move to Israel until the World Series, no outside contact with friends no cell phone, etc. 50k bet.” TwoPlusTwo posters were disappointed in Madsen’s chosen destination as an April Fools Day joke, as one respondent contended, “Iraq or Iran would have been more interesting.”
Whether Madsen was really joking or not remains to be seen. On Thursday, he Tweeted, “My Israel prop bet is not with Dave and unfortunately is not a joke.” He allegedly leaves in two weeks.
