Isildur1 loses in first PokerStars Superstar Showdown

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Isildur1, the latest addition to Team PokerStars Pro, started off the PokerStars Superstar Showdown on a sour note last Sunday. The mystery Swede lost the first match of the challenge – and over $41,000 – to Isaac Haxton.

The Superstar Showdown is a series of high stakes poker challenges designed by PokerStars to capitalize on the interest the online poker community has in Isildur1. Seen by many as an answer to the Durrrr Challenge hosted by Full Tilt Poker, the Superstar Showdown pits Isildur1 against any and all comers, under the following conditions: The players compete in a match of No Limit Holdem or Pot Limit Omaha with 50/100 blinds. The players compete at four tables simultaneously and play until 2,500 hands have been completed.

Whoever is ahead at the end of the 2,500th hand is declared the winner of the match.

PokerStars has designed the challenge with an eye toward capturing the attention of those who rail the high stakes games online. Up until this point, the premiere high-stakes action online has taken place primarily on Full Tilt Poker, but it seems that PokerStars is now making a more aggressive play for the interest – and, presumably, the rake – of those fans.

Issac Haxton praised Isildur1 after the match, saying that the competition presented by Isildur1 was some of the toughest he had ever faced in his heads up poker career. For his part, Isildur1 dismissed Haxton's victory as the result of luck and immediately demanded a rematch.