Isildur1 Inspires Young Swedes to Make Music

Beneath that ninja mask, Isildur1 is singing a sad song.

In just a short time on the online poker scene, the mystery Swede known as Isildur1 has inspired a lot of things: awe in those who can’t imagine losing $6 million, envy in those who wish they could play every day against the world’s best, and a blog written by someone with some deep insights into the Swede’s mindset. Now you can add music to that list, thanks to the new song “I Am Isildur.”

Written in a quiet, acoustic emo style that seems less fitting to Isildur1 than perhaps some sort of doom metal might be, the song recounts most of the mystery man’s exploits: his battles with Brian Hastings, taking on Phil Ivey, going busto and coming back, and not learning his lesson to not play pot-limit Omaha.

“I play heads-up for rolls 15 hours a day,” sings 23-year-old Swede Joacim Gustavsson, who made the song and video with his friends Sohello Shah and Fredrik Thomson. “Don’t care if you’re Phil Ivey, I just wanna add another table, I am stuck so let’s play higher, I’m steaming worse than Phil Hellmuth now.”

The Isildur1 of the song calls Brian Hastings “Burger Guy,” refers to Brian Townsend and Cole South as Hastings’ “cheating friends,” and tells his listeners not to dare min-bet him. The words have a bit of the rage we might expect from Isildur1, but they’re delivered so softly that they lose some of their punch. 

Maybe with a little double bass drum and some shredding electric guitar we could get a little closer to the dark abyss that lies within Isildur1’s soul. For now, though, this video is what we’ve got – at least until the real Isildur1 takes a breather from online poker for a moment, straps on an axe, and shows us the dark stuff he’s really made of.