After weeks of speculation and not-so-subtle hints the matchup between Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Daniel Negreanu is set according to the PokerStars blog. The two will take part in the Superstar Showdown on PokerStars beginning on March 20th –but unlike the previous five Superstar Showdown matches the matchup between Negreanu and Isildur1 will take place over two sessions, the second taking place on the 27th.

The two Team PokerStars Pros will battle across four $50/$100 No Limit Holdem tables, and each is putting up $150,000 of their bankroll for the challenge. The biggest loss thus far in the Superstar Showdown was Eugene Katchalov who dropped over $100k to Isildur1 –the closest match was Isildur1 vs. an online qualifier where Isildur1 prevailed by a single big bet.

Negreanu, a relative beginner in online poker, wanted to work out a number of flaws in his game before agreeing to face Isildur1, and has been practicing against a number of poker’s top multi-tablers including Randy ‘nanonoko’ Lew, Justin Bonomo, and the aforementioned Eugene Katchalov. On his blog Negreanu talked about these practice sessions:

“It’s all part of the learning process, and I’m a big believer in going all out against the fastest competition I can find, because then when I play others, the pace will seem comfortable,” he wrote. “It’s no different than a baseball player swinging five bats before he goes up to the plate, or a golfer taking some practice swings with a heavy club.”

Tags: Daniel Negreanu, Isildur1, PokerStars, SuperStar Showdown, Viktor Blom

This entry was posted on Friday, March 11th, 2011 at 4:16 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.