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What was perhaps the worst kept secret in the history of poker was confirmed on Saturday, when Viktor Blom was revealed as the man behind the Isildur1 moniker. The Swede rolled into the Atlantis Hotel and Casino on Saturday shortly after 7:00pm ET for his big reveal, which included a live $10,000 buy-in, 100-hand showdown against fellow PokerStars pro Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Earlier in the weekend, Blom had updated his Facebook page to say that PokerStars had employed him since December, the same month that the world’s largest online poker site welcomed Isildur1 into its ranks. Seemingly, the secret was already out. However, there were still many of us in the poker media on Saturday night who were expecting someone else besides Blom to be introduced as the man behind the curtain. Alternately, PokerStars had thrown out the possibility that the big reveal wouldn’t happen until Sunday.

Text found on the PokerStars Blog details that Blom did not accept the sponsorship offer from the USA-friendly room with a clear head: “There aren't many people who would turn down a spot in poker's most elite stable, but taking on the role of a Team Pro came with a price. Blom would have to stand up publicly and admit that he is, indeed, Isildur1. Finally, in a sort of ‘Lebron-goes-to-Miami’ moment, Blom stood tonight before the assembled media and embraced his fame.”

According to Poker Table Ratings, Blom has been involved in the top 10 largest pots in online poker history under the Isildur1 banner, all of which occurred on Full Tilt Poker. He’s won four of them, which combined for over $3 million, but dropped the largest pot in online poker history, worth $1.3 million, to Full Tilt pro Patrik Antonius. Isildur1 burst onto the Full Tilt Poker scene in late 2009 as a transplant from the iPoker Network and quickly faced off in nosebleed-stakes cash games against the likes of Phil Ivey, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Antonius.

Blom was also set to play heads-up on Saturday against PokerStars qualifier "OU THE NICK," who won a 424-player satellite to earn his shot against the Swedish prodigy. However, the German poker player was still alive and well in the Main Event and so the match was postponed. On TwoPlusTwo, posters had created a 30-page thread about Saturday’s reveal, which took place at the annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).

A press release distributed by PokerStars on Saturday night included a Q&A with Blom. One of the questions focused on whether it was a relief to reveal himself to the world after over a year of buildup. The youngster responded, “I think a lot of people have known for a long time who I really am, so it doesn't make a big difference to me. But when I signed with PokerStars, I felt like it was the right time to reveal my identity.” Other players rumored to be Isildur1 included former UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth and even hockey great Mats Sundin.

In the match against Grospellier, Blom ended up profiting over $20,000 after Grospellier was forced to rebuy twice. Despite the fact that Grospellier faced the man many in the industry suspected from the start, posters on sites like TwoPlusTwo were content that one of the major mysteries in poker had finally come to an end: “What a letdown. All that hype and it’s actually who we pegged from the start. Would have been so much better if it was Hellmuth or even an unknown. Oh well, good for him.”

You can catch Viktor “Isildur1” Blom playing alongside fellow sponsored pros like Daniel Negreanu, Joe Cada, Chris Moneymaker, and reigning World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel only at PokerStars. Remember, USA players are welcome, so sign up for PokerStars today.