Continued from Part One...
In the second of our series of articles, we examine Isildur’s strengths and weaknesses and ask the pro’s whether he is talented, or just a lucky spin-up merchant. Today, we are joined by Sida Yuen, a big winner at the $5/10 and $25/50 cash tables and a member of last summer’s Vegas 8.
Snakes & Ladders
It takes a certain type of player to spin up a paltry sum into millions over the space of a couple of weeks. They’re either a degenerate who ran hotter than the sun, or a genuine talent who has the capability to reach the top and stay there. Deciphering which of the two categories a certain player falls into isn’t always easy.
With some players – Chris Moorman, Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, etc – the term ‘degeneracy’ comes accompanied by a common consensus that their time investment is a worthy one, that they are a rare breed of poker addicts who possess the appropriate level of control to stay at the top once they get there. On the flipside, the sudden rise of players like theASHMAN103, BlueScouse and even the recent case of XBLINK are often considered a fluke, a flash in the pan who hover so close to the line between talent and degeneracy that they will always topple over the same side and go broke.
With Isildur, the distinction is slightly more difficult to make. Although his diehard fans will point to cooler hands, bad beats and the now infamous Townsend/Hastings hand-sharing debacle in justifying his recent demise, Isildur’s vices undoubtedly contributed to his mammoth downswing. Whatever you think of his talent, you can’t deny his lack of bankroll management, and if you’re constantly playing above your ‘roll and forever increasing the stakes, it’s always going to catch up with you eventually.
Ben Grundy says…
He doesn't seem to have any bankroll management. How anyone can carry on after losing twenty buy-ins in a day amazes me. After losing five buy-ins I'm normally playing terribly. For me, it just seems insane to win four or five million dollars then lose it back. Even withdrawing three million would set you up for life.
Only time will tell if Isildur has longevity at the top level, or whether he’ll become engulfed in a familiar game of Snakes and Ladders, but in order to prevent himself from slipping back down a familiar slope, he’ll have to confront his other vices. Poor bankroll management is one thing, but Isildur has showcased a vulnerability to tilt and a dogged stubbornness towards quitting when he’s not playing his best. For example, he sensed something was amiss against Hastings, but continued to play nonetheless, ultimately losing over $4 million in one session. What makes tilt such a destructive force for Isildur is that he’s playing some of the best players in the world across multiple tables, at one point eight-tabling Ivey, Antonius and durrrr at stakes of $500/1,000 in possibly the most epic session in online history. If he tilts against these players across so many tables, he's going to be punished.
Luke Schwartz says…
His only weakness might be that he can tilt now and then, which is bad at Omaha. No Limit is definitely his best game, but Omaha might be a problem for him… If he should stay away from anyone though, he should watch out for Ivey, and probably Patrik too. They're good players and could get him eventually if he's not careful.
Despite these shortcomings, the general consensus seems to have elevated Isildur above your average degenerate and labeled him a surefire genius, one who, although is hindered by the aforementioned weaknesses, boasts a raw talent like none who have come before him. Those who have played him and studied his hands consider him to be not only a dangerous player, but a highly skilled one who could well be one of the best No Limit Hold’em players in the world. Coming from the likes of Patrik Antonius, who finished the year as Full Tilt’s biggest winner, this is quite the compliment.
Jesse May says…
I really do believe that Isildur might be the best heads-up No Limit Hold’em player in the world today. Every dollar he made was absolutely untainted. There were no Guy Lalibertes in his rise to the top, no free bonuses, no gimmes, no extra lives. Just a sequence of FullFlush, Qureshi, Durrrr, Ziigmund, Ivey, Antonius, and Townsend. A zero to seven million point total that can only be topped by the ones who come after, others who take on the challenge for the challenge itself. The money is not secondary; there is no money. And there can be nothing for Isildur except to beat his score before it’s game over again. But like a video game, new levels will keep on coming until he runs out of lives.
Luke Schwartz says…
Isildur’s definitely one of the best players I’ve seen, there’s so much to his game, he’s got pretty much everything. He’s super aggressive and always putting pressure on his opponents, but can play the streets well too. He’s good at figuring out opponents the more he plays them. People think it’s the other way around, but if people adapt to the way he’s playing, he can change his own game just as quickly.
Sida Yuen says…
There are a few players like him that I have seen at the $25/50 limits and most of them are genuinely the smartest and most skillful players I’ve come across. Isildur definitely fits into this category, but I feel he needs to control his volatility.
I'm pretty sure he's in the middle of rebuilding his ‘roll right now, on other Euro sites or in smaller stakes, trying to break back through to the nosebleeds. He knows he's talented, and if he can control his temperament, he could possibly be the next durrrr.
What is perhaps most interesting about Isildur and players of his ilk is that his strength tends to be his weakness. What brought him to the dance is ultimately what sent him home early without a girl on his arm. It’s a paradox of sorts, where if you change one, it will negatively affect the other. We could take away his degeneracy, his lack of value for money, but would this potentially affect his game and ability to climb the stakes at such a rapid pace? Would installing hesitance make him a sitting duck for the top players? If he were to be more aware of bankroll management, table and game selection, and tilt, would we be taking away his greatest asset?
Nik Persaud says…
Isildur is obviously a great talent, for that there is no doubt. His strengths are in some ways his weaknesses. He is too fearless, willing to play anyone, anytime at any stakes.
The biggest single reason I think that most people never really have a chance at going to the top of the game is fear: the fear of losing, the fear of variance, the fear of looking stupid. Players like durrrr and Isildur really keep pushing and have, when they play at least, almost a total disregard for money. It's this fearlessness that allows them to keep trying new things, taking their game to new heights and subsequently moving up the levels so quickly.
It’s a debate that could go on forever and one, perhaps, that only Isildur himself could answer. There is one question, however, that time could possibly shed some light on: I’ve no doubt that Isildur will be back, playing the nosebleed stakes at some point in the near future, but now that we’ve established that Isildur isn’t just a flash in the pan, that’s he’s a genuine talent as well as a bonafide degenerate, will he be able to form the rare balance between those two attributes. According to Nik Persaud, the two aren’t mutually exclusive, but if modified to the appropriate level, could help produce one of, if not the most successful players the online world has witnessed. If not, then maybe we’ll have another Stu Ungar on our hands, an undeniable prodigy, stuck on a never-ending roller coaster where the end result is always the same.
Jesse May says…
The simplest way to sum up Isildur is that he is the closest thing to the living incarnation of Stu Ungar that we have ever witnessed. Talent is for sponsorship deals, as was inevitably borne out by his finish in flames. His main character flaw is an inherent love for the game and a disregard for money so blatant as to be positively stomach churning. Several times I felt nearly physically ill for the destruction that he was wreaking on himself in his tilted moments, where he was always not going to quit until he went broke. The destructive gene resides in all of us, moments of tilt have to be faced up to as part and parcel of success in this arena, but Isildur made us all feel bad about our calling. Going from four million to broke in one day is not cool. It makes history, but what of it?
His talent is unquestionable. Someone told me that on a scale of one to ten, Townsend rates Isildur a ten at No Limit Hold’em and a seven at Pot Limit Omaha. But what of it? It all pales in comparison to the number someone is when they are on tilt, and on tilt, Isildur might be no higher than a four. He might be nothing at all. He went from owning the world to just shoveling it in. He was doing no more than playing a video game while sitting there online, an arcade game that only ends in game over.
Read Part Three...
Isildur: A Pro's Perspective - Part One: A Hero Arrives