Welcome to the BLUFF Daily Buzz, where we scour the entire internet for all the latest news in and around the world of poker. If it involves chips and cards, or people known to associate with chips and cards, we’re there.

Who is Isildur1? Not Viktor Blom

The poker world has been abuzz about unknown Swede “Isildur1” since he began his wild ride at the nosebleed-stakes tables on Full Tilt, and the more swings he takes against the world’s top pros the more everyone wants to know who this mystery man is. Tony G claimed yesterday that he knew for certain that Isildur1 was none other than Viktor Blom, but now Blom has come forward to say that the G-man is bluffing - because Blom is not, in fact, the masked man.

Bluff Europe caught up to Blom and he gave a flat denial when asked if he was the one driving the high-stakes economy at the moment. “I am not the one you are looking for,” he said. “Keep searching.” Very cryptic! But since nobody knows who Isildur1 really is, and since poker players lie all the time, don’t expect anyone to discount that the unknown player may in fact be Blom. Or Elvis, or Jim Morrison, or Kurt Cobain….

(Viktor Blom denies being Isildur1 - Bluff Europe)

APPT Grand Final, High Rollers underway in Sydney

It’s been another big year for the Asia Pacific Poker Tour and things are wrapping up in style at Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia, where this year’s APPT Grand Final and High Rollers events kicked off today.

Day 1A of the A$6,300 Grand Final saw 81 players take to the felt and only 51 remained at the end of play. Tony “Bond18” Dunst was the chip leader when all was said and done, bagging up 104,300 in chips to return on Day 2. Also surviving the day in the Australian dominated field were Aussie PokerStars pros Eric Assadourian and Lee Nelson, as well as former Absolute Poker sponsored pro Casey Kastle. Day 1B begins at 12:30 p.m. Sydney time tomorrow.

The A$15,300 High Roller event drew a slim field of 26 but among them were heavy hitters like 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro, current Bluff Player of the Year third-place man and Macau High Roller-crushing machine David Steicke, and WCOOP powerhouse Terrence Chan. Five players will cash, with A$156,000 for the winner.

Russian Poker Tour continues - outside Russia

When PokerStars decided to launch the Russian Poker Tour, our favorite game was warmly embraced by the Russian government as an official sport. But since then the big bear has done a complete 180, banning all gambling in the country outside of a handful of special zones that are near exactly nobody. Like an old showbiz pro, though, the RPT has decided that the show must go on - whether the tour’s namesake nation will have it or not.

The tour’s most recent stop finished yesterday in in Kiev, Ukraine, the some city that hosted the EPT event that had originally been scheduled to play out in Moscow before the abrupt government about-face. Vadim Kursevich walked away the big winner after four days of play, taking home $63,123 and the distinction of being a Russian poker player who won a Russian poker tournament that wasn’t actually played in Russia. The RPT’s next stop in two weeks is even further afield from the tour’s one-time home turf, this time in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

(Russian Poker Tour crowns new winner - mirror.co.uk)

Legalize it, don’t criticize it

In honor of the recent delay of UIGEA regulations that should have gone into affect today, here’s a post that you can use to convince all your friends and neighbors who don’t play poker to support legalization and regulation when they get to talking politics after Christmas dinner. Chicago blogger Chasse Rehwinkel has a solid piece up today with eight reasons not to ban online gambling, all of them well-reasoned and convincing. Tops on the list are regulation as protection against cheating and scams, protecting problem gamblers instead of pushing them underground, WTO compliance, and most important of all, the great big pile of tax revenue that the government is missing out on. If you can’t convince somebody using these rational arguments, chances are they’ve already got their mind made up.

(8 Reasons Not To Ban Online Gambling - Chicago Now)

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