Try to absorb the raw numbers.

It took 5,030 hands for Viktor "Isildur1" Blom to win half a million dollars cash from Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton. In total, they played for just about 12 hours over three days. Blom earned more than $40,000 an hour for his work. Blom is 21 years old.

It's a ridiculous conceit by almost any normal person's standard. Forty thousand dollars an hour is the kind of pay CEOs make. It takes well-educated people with great jobs years upon years to earn that much, let alone save enough of it to see $500,000 in the bank.

Viktor Blom picked that much money up over a long weekend.

If you're just tuning in, this did not happen in a vacuum. Blom's quick path to half a million bucks came by way of the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown promotion, a series of heads-up poker matches in which anyone with the cash can challenge Blom to a four-table game. Most of the SuperStar Showdowns last only 2,500 hands and had a $150,000 stop loss.

This match, however, was different. Haxton was Blom's SuperStar Showdown nemesis. They had played two matches before, and Haxton had profited both times. The grudge was growing deeper with each meeting. So, last week, the two players negotiated special rules. The game would be played over four tables of $200/$400 No-Limit Hold'em. Both players would put up $500,000. They would play every day for four hours a day until one of the two heads-up titans had a million bucks and the other one had nothing.

On the first day, Blom was up $198,438.

On the second day, Blom was up $281,365

On the third day, Blom won it all.

"It feels good. It was a tough game," Blom said afterward. "Haxton played good as usual. Maybe he played a bit too passive."

No layman--and maybe nobody else in the world--could analyze this game without making a fool of himself. To do so would be like picking up a river rock and using it to explain the cosmos. Only Blom and Haxton know what really happened inside those five thousand hands, and only they know the true significance of the match. We can only look at what happened at the end and try to make our heads understand it.

THIRD VERSE, SAME AS THE FIRST

Viktor Blom opened Day 3 of the $1 million match with a $281,365 lead. He was more than halfway to his goal of $500,000. On the very first hand, he cut another $40,000 from Haxton's stack. The video below shows it happen.

Thirty minutes later, Blom tore another $40,000 from Haxton's grasp. Blom raised the blinds to $1,200, Haxton three-bet to 4,200, and Blom called. On a [2h][7c][Kd] flop, Haxton check-called a $4,800 bet. The turn brought the [Ks]. Again, Haxton check-called the bet, this time $9,600. The river, [4d], was another check-call, now for $22,200. Haxton held a pair of nines, but Blom actually had it. He tabled [Kh][Jc] for the $81,600 win.

That was the story of the hour. After 60 minutes of play, Blom had stretched his lead out to $370,720.

THE DEFINING HANDS

There will be countless analyses of this match. The railbirds and other experts will try to define what happened to the exceptionally-talented Haxton. There will be defenses and counter-defenses. There will be a thousand different explanations for how today turned out as it did. Many of those experts will point to two hands as the ones that undid the man they call Ike.

The first was an exceptionally chilly cooler. Haxton min-raised the button, Blom made it $3,200, and Haxton called. On a flop of [2s][Qs][Kd], Blom check-called $3,000. The turn brought the [9d]. Blom checked, Haxton bet $6,000, and Blom simply shoved in enough to cover the rest of Haxton's chips. Haxton snap-called with [9h][Ks] and got the chill of his life when he saw Blom's [9s][9c]. Haxton couldn't find a two-outer on the river and dropped the $48,768 pot to Blom. It wasn't the biggest pot of the day, but it might have been the most demoralizing at the time, as it meant one of the four tables had to be closed down. Why? Because Haxton didn't have enough money to continue on all four.

Haxton, however, did not give up. He made several big hands and managed to build his stack back over $120,000. Queens full versus a flush. Flush over flush. A well-timed trap with two pair. It seemed for half an hour that Haxton was on his way to mounting a massive comeback.

And then came the big one.

Haxton had aces. That much you should know as you watch the video below play out.

That pot was worth $106,000. Blom was up nearly $425,000. Haxton's $500,000 had been reduced to $75,000. It wasn't only demoralizing. It also meant another table had to close down. Fifteen minutes later, Blom took out Haxton's third table. It looked as if everything was going to be over just two hours into the day. With just one table remaining, Haxton's stack seemed to evaporate. Within a few minutes, he was down to $16,000.

It was over.

Except, it wasn't.

RESILIENCE

No one will ever call Isaac Haxton a quitter. Even when he had less than 2% of the money in the match, he didn't give up. He took his last $22,352 and put it in the middle with king-jack versus Blom's pocket queens. A king spiked, and Haxton went on a tear that made more than a few Blom fans scream "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" on the rail.

He trapped Blom with two pair. He got big value with the nut straight versus Blom's second nuts. By the beginning of the fourth hour, Haxton had turned his $16,000 stack into $160,000. It was a comeback that drew cheers and jeers across the rails. The closed tables were opening back up, and Haxton was back in business.

Indeed, Isaac Haxton was back.

Briefly.

The problem with playing against the over-betting, hyper-aggressive King of Swing Viktor Blom is that sometimes he has a real hand. A real big hand.

And so it was that, after his big comeback, Isaac Haxton slipped, flipped, and flopped.

THE SLIP, THE FLIP, AND THE FLOP

The slip began with a min-raise from Haxton, a three-bet by Blom, and call from Haxton. On a flop of [5d][6c][4h], Blom bet $4,000, and Haxton shoved for more than $22,072. Blom snapped him off with pocket aces. Haxton had [8d][Ah], missed his four-outer, and lost the $50,544 pot.

Minutes later, Haxton flipped. He put $37,056 in the middle pre-flop with [Qh][Ac] and found himself flipping against Blom's pocket fours. A pair of tens on the flop helped Haxton's case, but he whiffed. The comeback was over.

All that was left was the long, painful death rattle to the end. Haxton managed to hold on for a while, and even double up a couple of times, but he never had a workable stack again. Finally, just a few minutes before the day was scheduled to end, Blom put Haxton down.

There will be those who say this proves Blom is the best heads-up player in the world. There will be others who say that it's just another step down the long road of Blom's career. It's impossible to say who is right.

Haxton didn't respond immediately to a request for comment, but Blom said even he doesn't know what the match signifies about his talent versus Haxton.

"I just try play my best game," Blom said.

Today that was worth half a million bucks.

When Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton returned to the felt this afternoon to resume his $1 million match with Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, he seemed determined to reign in the frenetic pace that defined yesterday's session. Haxton didn't mind taking a small-ball approach; even as Blom expanded his lead by another $127,000 within the first hour. Haxton stuck to his guns and clawed his way back, pulling nearly even with Blom before the Swedish sensation turned the match around again by doing what he does best. Attacking quickly and relentlessly, Blom whittled Haxton's $500,000 challenge bankroll down to only $118,000 before ending their second four-hour session with a $281,365 lead.

HOUR ONE: BLOM'S LEAD BLOOMS TO $325K

Haxton did his best to keep the pace steady and the pots small in the early going, but Blom clearly had other ideas. The third hand on Showdown 2 resulted in a $57,600 pot, Blom bluffing the flop with nothing, catching third pair on the turn and backing into a ten-high straight on the river. It took another half-hour before an all-in pot materialized, Blom flopping top two with [Ad][Kh] on an [Ac][Ks][2h] board against Haxton's [Ah][Tc]. Haxton check-called $2,000 on the flop and another $5,600 when the [4h] hit the turn. The [Td] on the river was a disaster for Ike and he check-called Blom's shove only to watch another buy-in disappear. With that $80,800 pot, Blom's lead was up to $299,786.

After that unlucky run, Haxton successfully picked off a bluff to take down a $41,000 pot. Holding [3c][6c] on a [Jh][7h][4h][6d] board. Blom check-raised Haxton's turn bet to $4,768 and Haxton smooth-called with [6h][7c] for two pair and a flush draw. Blom fired another $15,000 at the [Kh] river and Haxton called, taking it down with his flush. Although that pot trimmed Blom's lead to $259,728, he quickly bounced back when Haxton's combination draw missed against his top pair-no kicker:

By the end of the first hour, Blom led with $331,294 profit after 2,313 hands. His entire challenge bankroll spread across the four tables, Haxton had only a little more than one buy-in per table remaining and a seemingly insurmountable task ahead of him.

HOUR TWO: HAXTON NARROWS THE GAP

An $80,400 coinflip saved Haxton from ruin on Showdown 4, his [Js][Jd] holding up against Blom's [As][Kd]. Blom, however, quickly answered that pot with a river overbet Haxton couldn't call, raking in $49,200 without a showdown. It was a minor setback for Ike, who maintained focus and chipped away, using Blom's signature move against him in several instances. Haxton had shaved $100,000 off Blom's lead when they got it all-in on the turn, Haxton holding [Qh][7h] for a flush and Blom [Kc][Ts] for two pair on a [8d][3h][Th][Kh] board. The [9c] river locked up the $81,600 pot for Haxton and suddenly these two were almost back where they started the day, Blom with a $199,608 lead.

Haxton changed gears again and reverted back to his original plan-- small-pot poker. He ground out plently of them over the course of the next twenty minutes, nabbing a couple of big ones as well. In a textbook case of kicker trouble, Blom and Haxton both rivered top pair on a [4d][5s][7c][4h][Kc] board. Blom called Haxton's $34,200 river shove, but his [Ks][Js] couldn't top Haxton's [Ac][Kh] for the $86,400 pot. Then, a classic suck-resuck saw Haxton make away with a $70,800 pot. Blom's [Qc][8c] hit bottom two pair on a [Kh][Qs][8d] flop and he check-raised Haxton's $928 bet to $3,200. Haxton called with [Ks][7c], only to hit the [7h] on the turn. Blom bet $6,400 and Haxton called. Blom fired a hefty $25,000 at the [6c] river and Haxton called, taking it down with kings up.

Within 372 hands, Haxton had successfully reduced Blom's lead from more than $331,000 to $116,850. Blom quickly went to work and ground back about $30,000 before Haxton detonated this $148,200 daisy-cutter of a pot to reduce Blom's lead to $85,000:

HOUR THREE: HAXTON HOLDS OFF BLOM'S ADVANCE

Within five minutes, Blom roared back to life. In a pot that Haxton three-bet pre, Blom hit top pair when the flop fell [Kd][Qh][8d]. Haxton continued for $4,800, Blom raised to $11,600, and Haxton called. Both players checked the [Jc] on the turn, but when the [2h] came on the river, Haxton shoved for $34,000. Blom sensed something was afoot and called him down despite the dangerous board, Haxton turning up nothing but a busted flush draw with [5d][9d]. Haxton's [Ks][9s] earned him the $99,616 pot and left Haxton with only a $15,000 stack on Showdown 1. Haxton pushed it in a few hands later with [Ad][9s], but could not outrun Blom's [Qc][Qd]. Forced to split the $163,000 he'd worked up on Showdown 2, both stacks were reset to $40,000.

Haxton went back to chopping out medium-sized pots with an unhurried pace until the two went to war on a [9d][8c][2c] flop. After flopping straight and flush draws with [Qc][Jc], Haxton check-raised Blom's $2,000 flop bet to $6,800. Blom wasn't going anywhere with [Td][Th] and fired back, making it $13,600 to go. Haxton shoved and Blom called all-in for $40,274. Although Haxton blanked the turn with the [Ad], the [Tc] on the river completed his flush to take down the $110,148 pot.

Blom's lead was down to $72,882 after 2,926 hands and by the 3,000-hand mark, Haxton had reduced it even further to $39,856. Haxton came oh-so-close to closing the gap entirely when Blom four-bet pre only to fold to Haxton's check-raise shove on the [Jh][9c][3c] flop. But just as Haxton raked in that $31,000 pot, Blom threw some spikes on the road and ended his run. In this $82,400 pot, Haxton picked the wrong time to run a three-street bluff as Blom flopped trips and turned deuces full:

Minutes later, the two got their money all-in preflop, Blom's [Ks][Kh] holding up against [Th][Tc] for $81,600. Just like that, Blom was back in the black to the tune of $95,120 with another game-changing pot just around the corner.

HOUR FOUR: BLAST-OFF

Holding off Viktor Blom is like trying to hold off a tornado. You can throw your weight against the door for as long as you can, but there's still going to be some serious damage when it's over. Haxton couldn't have known the severity of the storm awaiting him down the road when he picked up [Kd][6d] and decided to three-bet to $4,800 behind Blom's 3x raise. Blom smooth-called with [Ad][8h] and they saw a [Ac][Jc][Td] flop. Haxton continued for $7,200 with his gutshot straight draw and Blom called with top pair. The [8d] turn hit both players, Blom making aces up and Haxton adding a flush draw. Like he'd been wont to do all day, Haxton pushed his draw hard, making it $19,200 to go. Again, Blom called. The [Kh] on the river made Haxton second pair and it was just enough rope for him to craft a noose. He moved all-in for $94,712 and Blom called. At $169,696, the largest pot of the match thus far went to Blom with aces and eights.

A short time later, Haxton check-raised all-in on a [Jh][9c][2h] flop, holding only [Ks][Qh]. Blom quickly called with [Qs][Js], his top pair holding through the [4h] turn and [2s] river to earn the $82,756 pot. Haxton tried for a quick double-up on Showdown 2, shoving a [2c][3s][7c] flop with [8c][Tc], but Blom looked him up with [As][Ts], his ace-high good for the $45k pot when Haxton's flush draw missed. Nothing was working for Haxton. It seemed like he couldn't catch a hand. And that's when the wheels really came off the proverbial wagon.

Haxton tried to check-raise Blom off the flop with king-high in this $110k pot, but our Swedish friend turned over [As][Ac] and turned top set for good measure:

Then, Haxton shoved the turn with top pair, only to run headlong into Blom's flopped flush:

Haxton recovered a little when he doubled up on Showdown 3, his [Ac][Ah] good against Blom's [Kh][Js]. Blom, however, was relentless and busted Haxton's short stack on Showdown 4. Just as Haxton reloaded another $40,000 on that table, Blom claimed it in a single hand, turning a set of sixes against Haxton's flopped bottom two. With that $80,000 pot, Blom was out to a $382,320 lead and had Haxton firmly on the ropes.

Had this $75,600 coinflip gone the other way, we'd be writing a much different story tonight, but Haxton's [Td][Ts] hung on against [Ac][Qd], staving off near-total ruin. Haxton followed that hand up by taking down a trio of mid-sized pots to reduce Blom's lead to $262,317, but the Swede came back strong in the session's final minutes, winning $44,800 on the penultimate hand when Haxton folded to his river shove.

Blom and Haxton made it through 1,733 hands in their second session, bringing the grand total to 3,634 hands so far. Blom increased his profit by $82,927 to bring his overall match lead to $281,365.

He may be a bit battered from today's bruising, but Haxton still has $218,635 to work with and another session ahead of him tomorrow. We'll be right with you on the rail, starting at 1pm ET Monday as this million-dollar battle continues.

A lot of you thought it was too good to be true and the timing far too suspect. A million-dollar SuperStar Showdown on April Fools' weekend? Isaac Haxton and Viktor Blom playing $200/$400 no-limit hold'em for four hours a day until one felted the other? Surely we'd all tune in and wait with bated breath only to experience the sort of epic RickRoll only PokerStars could dream up. But this was really happening. Isaac Haxton, thus far the only man to come out ahead in the 13 runnings of the SuperStar Showdown, was ready to up the stakes again, but with a few format tweaks. This time, there is no hand cap. The blinds are four times larger than a standard SuperStar Showdown. And the only way this thing can end is when one man has a million dollars in front of him.

Today's first session went a long way toward Viktor Blom reaching that goal. After a volatile, dramatic four hours that saw them plow through 1,901 hands, Blom laid claim to $198,438 of Haxton' $500,000 challenge bankroll.

HOUR ONE: HAXTON GRINDS OUT A $44,000 LEAD

These two Showdown vets wasted no time getting their money in the middle. The fourth hand dealt on table 2 saw Haxton open for his standard min-raise to $800 with [Ah][Ad], Blom coming along with [6h][7d]. Blom check-called $928 with bottom pair on the [Ts][9s][6d] flop, then hit trips on the turn when the [6c] fell. Blom checked, Haxton fired $2,280 with his overpair and Blom smooth-called. The [As] on the river was the perfect card for Haxton and the worst one possible for Blom, who continued with his slow-play and checked. Haxton bet $12,000, Blom shipped for $35,992 and Haxton snap-called, taking down the $80,000 pot with aces full.

Blom won most of those lost chips back only six hands later on the same table. After check-calling Haxton's flop and turn bets, Blom went for a check-raise to $24,600 on the river with the board reading [3h][6c][3c][8c][Td]. Haxton called and Blom turned over [Kc][Qc] to take down the $58,480 pot with a king-high flush.

After a splashy start, Haxton and Blom settled into a small-ball grind, going 47 minutes without playing a pot over 50BB. Haxton held a $13,000 lead over Blom when he picked up pocket jacks and three-bet to $4,200 preflop behind Blom's 3x raise. Blom called and they saw a [3d][8d][8h] flop. Haxton check-called $4,800, then check-called another $8,400 when the [6c] hit the turn. Blom thought better of firing a third bullet on the [2h] river and checked behind Haxton, his [Jc][Jd] good for the $34,800 pot. With 500 hands in the books, Haxton led by a $44,203 margin.

HOUR TWO: THE DOUBLE DIP

A wild quarter-hour saw Haxton double his lead, Blom erase it entirely and Haxton edge back into the black. Haxton caught extremely lucky after getting $48,200 in the middle preflop with [Jh][Jd] against [Qs][Qc], the board four-flushing in diamonds to snag him the $96,400 pot. With Haxton up by $79,419 after 549 hands, Blom attacked like a wounded animal, winning $108,000 within the next five minutes. First, he pushed Haxton out of a $31,200 pot with a river shove. Then, he went to war on the turn in this $40,400 pot, earning another fold from Haxton.

Moments later, Haxton called Blom's preflop three-bet, then called another $4,000 on the [Qh][Jd][5s] flop. Blom checked when the [8h] hit the turn, leading Haxton to take an $8,000 stab at the pot. Blom came back wtih a $42,496 shove and Haxton gave up his hand, Blom raking in the $30,400 pot without a showdown. In less than a hundred hands, Blom went from nearly $80k in the hole to a $28,509 profit.

Back-to-back monster pots on table 4 saw Blom win $99,232 when his [Kd][Ks] held up against [Ad][Kh], only to lose $80,000 back on the next deal when Haxton flopped quad sevens and Blom turned aces full. A series of mid-size pots saw Haxton make his way back into the black to the tune of $17,000, but Blom quickly put an end to that when he rivered a straight and Haxton called his shove:

With Blom back in the lead by more than $30,000, Haxton six-bet shoved preflop with pocket tens, only to run into Blom's pocket queens. Haxton couldn't pull off another underpair magic trick and Blom moved out to a $71,000 overall lead. Two hands later on the same table, Haxton fired three bullets with ace high on a [Qd][5d][4c][Jc][9d] board. Blom made a river soul-read and called with only a pair of fives, taking down the $25,840 pot.

Blom's lead inched past the six-figure mark over the next half-hour, topping out at $102,405 after 947 hands. Haxton finally stopped the bleeding when he got Blom to fold the river in two major pots, the largest of them this $57,600 hand where Blom bet $20,000 on the river only to fold for $12,000 more:

Blom's lead now cut in half, Haxton erased it entirely when he won the first six-figure pot of the match. A five-bet shove with pocket fives turned into a $103,616 coinflip when Blom called with [As][Qd]. And as Haxton raked in the pot, a couple of his friends-- Will "molswi47" Molson and Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, couldn't help but pipe in from the rail:

molswi47 (observer): classic ike
molswi47 (observer): lol
molswi47 (observer): 3bet to 5bet baby pair
philivey2694: hi molswi!
philivey2694: lol
molswi47 (observer): :) hello
ZeeJustin (observer): sup yo
philivey2694: hi zj
molswi47 (observer): think i might have learned that one from u

HOUR THREE: BLOM BRINGS THE HEAT

As the clock struck nine in Europe, Haxton held the slimmest of leads at $7,187 with 1,000 hands played. And just as one $100k pot was awarded, another developed, Blom opening for a 3x raise with [Qd][7s] and Haxton calling with [8c][9c]. The [Qs][7c][2c] flop ensured big action, Blom hitting top two pair and Haxton a flush draw. Haxton check-raised to $6,400 and Blom called, the [Jh] on the turn bringing Haxton four more outs with a straight draw. Haxton bet $11,400 and Blom called. Haxton hit his flush with the [Ac] on the river and went for a value-shove, Blom calling off the $31,728 he had behind. However, only seven hands later on the same table, Blom got nearly all of it back when he shoved a [Kh][9c][6s] flop with [Kd][5d] and Haxton called with pocket tens.

One hand after raking in that $80,000 pot, Blom worked his wizardry and took down this $98k monster without a showdown:

Blom's rally continued with an $86,000 coinflip, his pocket eights flopping a set against Haxton's [Ad][Qs]. The hand put Blom out to a $117,000 lead and although Haxton erased nearly half of it, Blom struck back and ended the third hour with $101,983 profit after 1,444 hands.

HOUR FOUR: BLOM HALTS IKE'S COMEBACK

If there's anyone who knows how to climb out of a $100k hole against Blom, it's Haxton. He did just that in their last meeting, finishing up their 2,500 hands with a little over $5,000 profit. At double the stakes it could even take half the time, and Haxton got off to a solid start, check-caling Blom's flop and turn bets on a [Kh][3c][2d][2h] board. The [Ac] on the river froze both players, and Haxton turned over [Js][Jd] to take down the $48,000 pot. Moments later, Haxton turned sevens full and raked in another $17,600, but his surge came to an abrupt halt when he picked the wrong time to bluff.

Holding [7s][Ts], Blom opened for a 3x raise. Haxton called with [As][6c] and they saw a [Qd][6s][5s] flop. Haxton checked middle pair, Blom bet $2,000 with his flush draw and Haxton called. The [3d] turn gave Blom additional outs with a gutshot straight draw and he maintained his aggression, betting another $5,600 when Haxton checked a second time. Again, Haxton called. The [4s] on the river filled Blom's flush, and Haxton left the door open for another bet, checking a third time. Blom bet $20,000 and Haxton came over the top with a $99,720 shove. Blom thought it through for a moment and called, Haxton's second pair up in smoke. Blom dragged the largest pot of the match at $143,128 and expanded his overall lead to $157,939 after 1,495 hands.

Haxton could not catch a break over the next half-hour, Blom's profits reaching a high-water mark of $255,000. Haxton's entire challenge bankroll was spread over the four tables, and after busting off table 2, he was forced to split his table 3 stack. With less than ten minutes left to play, Haxton made two huge calls and was right in both instances. Blom tried to bluff the river with a busted straight draw, firing $15,000 at a [Th][7c][5d][3c][Kh] board with [2d][4h]. Haxton called with a pair of sevens and took down the $43,920 pot. A short time later, Blom pulled his signature move, the river overbet, but Haxton looked him up despite a dangerous board:

With less than a minute to play, Blom's lead stood at $227,216, but the final hand turned out to be a doozy. Haxton opened for $800, Blom three-bet to $3,200 and Haxton called. Blom check-called $4,224 on the [Ks][Qd][4s] flop and another $9,799 on the [5d] turn. When the [9d] hit the river, Blom shoved and Haxton called, turning over [Kc][Kd] for top set. Blom could only show a busted flush draw with [7s][8s] and Haxton claimed the $88,100 pot.

With 1,901 hands in the books, Blom is off to a strong start with a $198,438 lead, but this match is by no means over. Tune in tomorrow at 1pm ET for another four hours of heart-pounding action as Haxton attempts to turn around his five buy-in deficit.

We'll see you on the rail.

This was always going to happen, wasn't it? From the very first hand of the very first SuperStar Showdown in December 2010, it was always going to end up right here at this moment when Viktor "Isildur1" Blom and Isaac Haxton agreed to face off for $1 million.

Today we learned Blom and Haxton have negotiated the terms of a play-to-the-death duel beginning in just two days. The rules are not the ones you see in the average, everyday SuperStar Showdown.This is where, to borrow and corrupt a phrase, stuff gets real.

Blom and Haxton are both putting up $500,000. Beginning Saturday at 1pm ET, they will sit down for a SuperStar Showdown-format match. The blinds will be $200/$400. The game will be no-limit hold'em. The hand-cap?

There isn't one.

In normal SuperStar Showdowns, the match ends after 2,500 hands or whenever somebody has won $150,000. In this special match, the game will go on for four hours a day until one guy has a million bucks and the other guy has nothing.

You read it correctly. If four hours passes on Saturday without one guy felting the other one for the full half-million bucks, Blom and Haxton will start again on Sunday. And then Monday. And so on until one guy's stack sits at zero.

Let's take just a moment to examine the scope of this agreement. In the first SuperStar Showdown (December 2010), Blom and Haxton played the full 2,500 hands and Haxton finished with a profit of $41,701.

After that, Blom was forced to carry his grudge for more than a year. It was only a few weeks ago that the pair engaged in a rematch that ended with Haxton coming back from a gigantic hole to beat Blom for $5,093.

Both matches got a great deal of attention, both for the stakes and the men involved. Now, the stakes and stacks have grown. Blom is down to Haxton by less than $47,000. He now stands to win or lose more than ten times that amount.

We have scrambled our jets and have full coverage planned for every day of the event. We'll have full wrap-ups of all the action every day when it finishes up.

So, start your betting now.

Who is going to win?

How many hands will it take?

How many days will it take?

Let us know in the comments section below, because we honestly have no idea. We only know this is going to be one of the craziest things we've watched on PokerStars in a very long time.

If you want to watch it live, tune in to PokerStars at 1pm ET Saturday and use the "search for a Team PokerStars Pro" function. Or, just follow the smell of a million bucks.

Alex Millar is not a household name. He doesn't travel the tournament circuit, preferring a quieter life in his native England. Unlike many of his fellow online pros, Millar is neither a social media maven nor a self-promoter. He's given only one interview we know of, and it happened to be about today's undertaking, a $100/200 NLHE SuperStar Showdown match with Viktor "Isildur1" Blom.

Although he has thus far avoided the limelight, Millar is hardly one to shy away from a challenge. Over the last year, the man best known as Kanu7 has been stealthily working his way up to the nosebleed stakes, solidifying his position as one of the most feared heads-up NLHE specialists in the game. On a daily basis he'll sit down with players that leave even hardened regulars shaking in their sneakers, screen names like Sauce123, takechip and RaiseOnce. Challenging Blom makes for an auspicious and very public debut for any player, but these two have met on the felt before. In high-stakes NLHE cash games on PokerStars, Blom has won about $160,000 from Millar. However, aside from last week's Showdown match with Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton, Blom has preferred to grind PLO as of late. Nonetheless, Blom maintains a fearsome 10-3 record in Showdown matches with net earnings closing in on $650,000.

Blom and Millar's 2,500 hands of $100/$200 NLHE were fraught with steep swings that saw Blom lay claim to almost half of Millar's $300,000 challenge bankroll. Although the match ended with Blom $37,687 in the black, in many ways it still felt like a victory for Millar, who dug in and nearly pulled himself out of a $148,000 hole in the last hour of play.

BLOM BREAKS AWAY

There was no easing-in phase to this match; the first hand dealt on Showdown 3 was an all-in pot and three more followed in the first 11 minutes, Millar and Blom splitting them 2-2. Millar's first mis-step came when he was dealt [Jd][Tc] on the button and opened for a min-raise to $400. Blom three-bet to $1,600 with [Qs][6s] and Millar came along. Blom hit top pair on the [Qh][8h][4d] but played it slow, check-calling $2,000 from Millar. The turn brought the [7c] and Blom checked again. Millar fired another $5,200 and Blom called. Blom checked a third time when the [Ks] fell on the river. Millar shoved for $16,025 believing he could move Blom off his hand, but the Swede looked him up and took down the $49,650 pot.

A few minutes passed before Millar check-raise shoved his king-high flush draw on a [6h][4d][3d][2h] board and Blom called with pocket fives. However, the [As] missed Millar's [Kd][7d] on the river and he dropped another buy-in. After 164 hands, Blom was already out to a formidable $68,400 lead.

KANU CLAWS BACK

Millar stopped the bleeding after hitting a couple of heaven-sent river cards. All-in on a [4c][9d][Js][Qs] board, both players turned over king-ten for a king-high straight. However, Blom's was in diamonds and Millar's in spades. A freerolling Millar hit the [4s] on the river to make a flush and take down the $42,000 pot. Then, on a [9s][7c][Js][Ts][Qs] board, Blom shoved with [6s][8s] for the queen-high straight flush, only to have Millar take down the $55,600 pot with [Ks][4s]... the king-high straight flush.

Millar steadily hacked away at Blom's lead-- getting value on pocket queens and outkicking top pair-- but it was another fortuitous river card that sent him back into the black:

Seconds later on another table, Millar flopped top pair and turned top two, good for two streets of value and an $18,400 pot. With 504 hands in the books, Millar had erased Blom's gains and edged out to a $4,425 lead, but he'd hold onto it for only ten minutes before another river card changed the course of this match.

LIVE BY THE RIVER, DIE BY THE RIVER

The hand started out innocuously enough, Blom opening for a 3x raise with [4d][9d]. Millar called with [Ks][6c]. There was no way for Millar to know just how hard Blom hit the [9c][9s][4s] flop, and figuring his king high was good here a lot of the time, Millar check-called Blom's $1,000 continuation bet. When the [8s] on the turn gave Millar the second-nut flush draw, he check-raised Blom's $2,800 bet to $9,200 and Blom smooth-called. The river [Qs] was perhaps the worst card in the deck for Millar, making his flush and leading him to bet $14,500. Blom shoved for $27,295 and Millar called, Blom taking down the $77,450 pot with nines full of fours. The pot put Blom back in the lead by $33,700, and he widened that margin to $60,800 by hand 902.

Over the course of the next 150 hands, Millar chipped away at Blom's stacks, reducing his lead by half. It was Kanu's turn for a monsterpotten of his own, flopping the nut straight against Blom's top two pair in this $71,800 hand:

MILLAR TIME?

With 1,100 hands complete, Millar was back in the lead by $13,650 and he more than doubled that margin after flopping trip fives with [Qd][5d] for a $36,800 pot. Blom bounced back within the next hundred hands, but Millar made a risky call with [Ks][Kc] on a [Ah][2h][8s][7s] board when Blom shoved for $16,500. Blom turned over [5s][6s] for the open-ended straight flush draw, but missed the river, the [Tc] falling to send the $41,400 pot to Millar. A few small pots later, Millar held a $62,350 lead over Blom. But once again, he wouldn't hang on to it for long.

Like a wounded animal, Blom reared and charged, completely erasing Kanu's profit over the next 150 hands. Picking up pocket aces certainly helped his cause. In a pot that was five-bet preflop to $10,600, Blom shoved for $31,925 on the [Qc][6c][8d] flop and Millar called with [4c][7c] for straight and flush draws. Millar blanked on the turn and river, Blom raking in the $85,000 pot.

SWEDISH SURGE

Millar barely had time to recover from that hand when the match's first (and only) six-figure pot developed. Blom opened for a 3x raise to 600 holding [Kd][4d], Millar three-bet to $2,600 with [6c][7c] and Blom called. The flop fell [Ad][Jh][4c], bottom pair for Blom and absolutely nothing for Millar, who led out for $4,000. Blom called. The turn brought the [5s], giving Millar an open-ended straight draw and enough of a reason to bet out $11,500. Again, Blom called. The [9d] on the river missed Millar, but he nevertheless shoved for his remaining $32,350. Somehow, via psychic powers or ancient Scandi magic, Blom found a call and shipped the $100,900 pot with bottom pair.

"Haha he's back," quipped Millar in the chat box, before offering a "nh."

With that pot, Blom was $59,275 in the black after 1,625 hands. That lead grew to $91,000 by Hand #1,700 and reached $133,175 by Hand #1,783. Millar took a five-minute break to regroup and it turned out to be a good move, as he picked up this $94,750 monstrosity by flopping two pair against Blom's top pair:

Although that temporarily trimmed Blom's lead, he quickly rebounded and then some, reaching his high-water mark of $148,275 in profit after 2,066 hands. Millar had already been forced to split his largest stack and nearly everything that remained of his $300,000 challenge bankroll was spread across these four tables. With 434 hands to go, Millar was probably not thinking about victory so much as how to get unstuck. But as we know all too well in this game, everything can turn on a dime.

COMEBACK KANU

Millar's recovery got off to the right start when he picked up [Qh][Qd]. Following a 3x raise from Blom, Millar three-bet to $2,600 and Blom called with [Tc][9h]. The [8d][6s][2d] gave our Swedish friend nothing more than an open-ended straight draw to go with his unimproved overcards, but he still found a call for Millar's $4,000 lead bet. The turn came the [5s] and Millar relinquished control of the pot, checking over to Blom who fired $8,400. Millar called. When the [2h] fell on the river, Millar checked again and Blom shoved for $32,825 effective. Millar didn't waste too much time before calling, his overpair good for the $95,650 pot.

It was just the confidence booster Millar needed. He picked off a river bluff from Blom with top pair. Moments later, he shoved the river on a [As][Qh][5h][9c][2s] board and Blom went for a hero call with only a pair of fives. Millar turned over [Ah][6h] and snagged the $40k pot. On the very next deal of the cards, Millar raked in another $40k pot when his [Kc][Qs] turned trips against Blom's pocket jacks. Blom pulled out all the stops with second pair on a [Ad][9d][6s][4s][3d] board, overbet-shoving for $33,000 effective into an $18,800 pot. Unfortunately for him, Millar rivered aces up and took down $85,600. Within twenty minutes and 192 hands, Millar had cut Blom's lead from $148,000 to $51,650. And there were still 242 to go.

ALL HAIL THE VIKTOR

Blom inched his profits up to $70k when he fired three bullets with an open-ended straight draw and got there on the river. Millar, however, got in one last jab on the river in this hand, where he hit trip nines against Blom's top pair for $28,000:

When the final river was dealt, Blom's profit for the match stood at $37,687-- just short of two buy-ins. Undeterred, Millar gave railbirds a treat before signing off, letting them know he was open to a rematch.

Blom may have earned the "W" in this meeting, but tonight, Millar proved himself as a force to be reckoned with and an exciting player to watch. Hopefully the wait won't be too long before their next battle. But for tonight, Millar should relax with a pint and a football game, knowing he can hang with the best in the world.

If the online rail of the SuperStar Showdown was a Greek chorus, this would've been Tuesday's song: "Either you weather the storm, or you don't. That's life."

It was an axiom delivered by a railbird named skllzdatklls just before the world's poker community watched a bloody, eye-gouging brawl that saw two poker players prone and spent in the middle of the street. Weeks of careful analysis would surely follow, but for the moment both Isaac Haxton and Viktor "Isildur1" Blom looked as if they knew the truth. Neither had won. Neither had lost. And yet, both had lost, and both had won. No, it didn't make sense, but little does in the fog of war.

The storm in question actually began several days ago when Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton's Maltese home suffered the battering of a record-breaking storm. The resulting internet outage cost Haxton more than a night of watching cat videos on YouTube. When Sunday's SuperStar Showdown shut down due to Haxton's connectivity issues, he was down nearly $100,000 to Blom with fewer than 700 hands of the 2,500 match played. It was a gigantic hole in which Haxton was force to sit for 48 hours before the Showdown could resume.

There was already a history between these two. Haxton was Blom's first SuperStar Showdown opponent in 2010, and he was the only one to leave the field of battle with a profit against Blom. When they met on Sunday, it was time for Haxton to prove himself again and time for Blom to seek his revenge.

And so, when the fight resumed today, it was up to Blom to hold his massive lead. It was up to Haxton to come back. What happened?

Blom extended his lead to almost $130,000.

Haxton erased all of Blom's profit.

Haxton moved nearly $80,000 into the black.

Blom won it all back to bring the contest even again.

And in the end, Haxton eked out a $5,093 win, a number that at once represented a victory, a loss, and a tie.

Here's how it played out.

FAIR WEATHER FRIENDS

"Sorry again about the connection last time," Isaac Haxton said. Down nearly $100,000, he was still apologetic about his early exit on Sunday.

No problem, Blom said, "Hope no storm today."

Haxton came out of his chair swinging. Within a few minutes, he had recovered more than $20,000 in losses when his [Qc][Kc] out-kicked Blom's [Kd][Jc]. They got it on a king-high flop and Haxton's hand held for the $42,144 pot. The recovery didn't last long. Within seconds, Haxton got [Ad][Jc] all in against Blom's [As][Ah] and lost a pot worth more than $48,000.

All being fair in love and kicker battles, neither man was too worse for the wear until the following monstrosity that likely left Haxton looking for sharp objects.

Rivered and soaking wet, Haxton was down $125,122 after 1,013 hands. Forty-five minutes had passed and the niceties a friendly talk about the weather was done.

OH, SNAP

As if something awoke inside him, Haxton went to work on Blom. A series of traps and big bets saw Haxton erase $50,000 of Blom's profit in just a matter of minutes. For a moment, it looked as if all of Blom's work in the early going was not only going to be for naught, but also perhaps be his undoing. Haxton seemed to have figured something out. An hour into play, he was only down $77,000.

And then this happened.

Blom came in for a 3x raise to $600. Haxton three-bet to $2,200, and Haxton called. On a flop of [Qc][4c][Ah], Haxton led for $2,640 and Blom called. The turn brought the [jh]. Haxton led out again, this time for $7,100. Again, Blom only called. The [6s] fell on the river and Haxton pushed for $18,590. Blom snap-called with [Jc][Jd], a turned set, and always ahead of Haxton's [5h][8h]. The pot was worth $61,060 and a huge morale bump for the young Swede.

At the halfway point in the match, Blom was up $117,845. It seemed just a matter of time before he could officially declare victory over Haxton.

BOAT ON BOARD

If this narrative needed a fulcrum to help us understand the balance between the opponents' resolve, we found it an hour and 15 minutes into the day's festivities. Blom's haymakers had hit, they had missed, and they'd been met in kind. Something had to happen to define the rest of the match. This was it.

This board got checked all the way to the river: [8d][8c][Qs][Qd][Qh].

There was precious little in the pot when Haxton moved a $7,200 bet into the center. It was a giant over-bet in front of Blom. His response? All-in with more than enough to cover the rest of Haxton's stack.

Haxton thought for a good long while, but finally released his hand.

There was something about that moment that, perhaps, neither of the opponents will remember. But for those of us watching on the rail, it seemed to signify the moment something flipped in Haxton's head.

After that move, Blom wasn't going to screw with Haxton anymore.

Over the next hour, Haxton refused to be bluffed. He picked Blom off time and again. With a thousand hands left to play, Blom's profit was down to $49,775. All Haxton needed next was a game-changing hand.

THE GAME-CHANGER

If the Boat on Board hand defined the psychological battle between the two players, The Game Changer came in the form of pure poker, a sort-of cooler that could've gone a lot of ways, but ended up with Haxton nearly erasing Blom's lead. You can watch it as we did in the video below.

After that hand, Blom's lead was barely more than $8,000, a minuscule amount compared to his profit just an hour before. A few minutes later, Haxton flopped two pair to Blom's top pair, and just like that, Haxton had his first lead of the day. After 1,800 hands, he was up more than $40,000, a $140,000 swing in less than 1,200 hands.

Haxton continued to work on Blom through the next three hundred hands, finally hitting his high-water mark at 2,150: $78,921 profit.

THE BIG ONE

In a battle as bloody as this one had been, a a fight between two people so similarly stubborn and vicious, it all would essentially come down to this hand:

Haxton min-raised, Blom three-bet to 1,600, Haxton four-bet to $4,000, and Blom called. Blom check-called $4,000 on a [8d][7c][Qd] flop, and $10,400 on a [7d] turn. When the [3s] hit on the river, Blom checked again, and Haxton moved all-in.

Woops.

The effective amount was Blom's $29,000 remaining stack.

Haxton's [jd][6d] flush was no good against Blom's [qs][7s] boat. The pot was worth $94,800 and effectively erased half of Haxton's comeback. Though he held the lead for another couple hundred hands, before long, Blom had done enough work to cut Haxton's lead to $363...less than a min-raise.

THE DENOUEMENT AND THE RAIL'S RESPONSE

There would be more hands. About eighty more, in fact, but the blood-thirsty rail was left with the understanding that nothing was going to end with satisfaction. Both men would be bloody. Both would be tired. But neither would be dead. Everyone was...say it with me...so.un.sat.is.fied.

As if to confirm the even nature of it all, one of the last hands was a huge all-in that saw Haxton turn up king-ten for a full house...and Blom turn up king-ten for a full house. It was over. It didn't matter who won, because it would be a tie.

With three hands remaining, PokerStars paused the game long enough to ensure it would go no longer than the specified 2,500 hands. When the game resumed, Blom won this giant hand, but it wasn't enough to off-set Haxton's lead. It was a three-run homerun when he needed four.

And so it was on the day after the day after the day. A storm came. A storm went. Isaac Haxton lost. Isaac Haxton won. Viktor Blom won. Viktor Blom lost. In the end, it was likely the worldwide rail that profited the most. At least we got a show out of the deal.

Now, Blom has just a few days to regroup before taking on English high-stakes standout Alexander "Kanu7" Millar. That match kicks off this coming Sunday at 12pm ET.

And, of course, now begins the call for Haxton to come back. He's still the only player besides Blom to profit on the SuperStar Showdown.

Will there be a Round 3 to give Blom another chance at the guy they call Ike?

We sure hope so.

Isaac Haxton can see clearly now. And while the rain may be gone, the pain may not be. Tuesday he'll get a chance to change that.

As you might have heard, Haxton was more than 600 hands deep into a big SuperStar Showdown with Viktor "Isildur1" Blom yesterday when his internet went wonky. At the time, Haxton was down nearly $100,000 to Blom.

As it turned out, Haxton now lives in Malta and had suffered some fairly serious thunderstorms that messed up the connectivity. The storm was no laughing matter. It was deadly. Killing one person and destroying homes, the gale force winds and record rains uprooted power poles and generally ran roughshod over the island. As you might expect, the internet was a lesser concern to the authorities there.

Now a few days later, Malta has largely recovered and the internet is working again. While poker isn't the most important things on the mind of the Maltese people, the recovery will allow for Haxton to go back to work against Blom.

As Kirstin Bihr pointed out last night, Haxton still had 1,800 hands to go against Blom when the internet went dark.

Today, PokerStars announced the rematch will resume at 2pm EST (18:00 GMT) Tuesday. We'll have full coverage of the proceedings when the time comes.

Among the people we expect to be watching with us is Alexander "Kanu7" Millar. Millar will be Blom's next SuperStar Showdown opponent March 18 at 12pm ET.

After a 36-week hiatus, the SuperStar Showdown was set to return with a bang this afternoon. Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton, Viktor Blom's very first challenger (and the only net winner against him in Showdown matches) was back for another 2,500 hands at double the stakes. Only this time, rather than playing from a Las Vegas high-rise, Haxton was at his new home in Malta, where storms have pounded the area for the last few days. About 75 minutes after cards went in the air, Haxton began experiencing connectivity issues and despite everyone's best attempts to troubleshoot, the problem persisted. With 692 of 2,500 hands completed, there was no choice but to suspend the match and resume later this week, once Haxton's internet connection has been fixed. As Haxton wrote himself on the 2+2 forums:

"I'm really sorry about all this. I know it's ruining the flow of the match for spectators.

To clarify the weather stuff: There was a really bad storm 2 days ago. My internet was completely down for 2 hours and has been a little unstable ever since. I think something between the ISP and my apartment must have been damaged."

That's some pretty remarkable poise coming from a man on the worst kind of tech tilt. And as if gnawing through red tape to get a Maltese internet connection repaired isn't bad enough, when the match does resume, Haxton will start off $99,886 in the hole.

Since it's been a while, let's refresh our memories on the rules of the SuperStar Showdown. A match lasts 2,500 hands spread across four tables. Blom and his challenger each escrow 15 buy-ins to use as their bankroll. Blinds are typically $50/$100, although for today's match, Blom and Haxton upped the stakes to $100/$200 NLHE. Buy-ins are 100 BB apiece and stacks are automatically topped up any time they dip below that mark. Should either player lay claim to the other's 15 buy-ins before the end of the 2,500 hands, the match is over.

Cards were in the air at 12:03pm EDT, the first significant pot unfolding only three minutes later. On a [7d][6s][3d] board in a raised pot, Blom flopped an open-ended straight draw with [5c][8c]. Haxton check-called $1,000 on the flop, then checked again when the [9s] fell on the turn. Blom bet $2,800 with his nine-high straight and Haxton called. The [Jd] on the river put a potential flush on board but it did not deter either player, Haxton check-calling an additional $7,600 only to see the bad news. Blom raked in the $24,000 pot and moved out to a $7,300 overall lead after only 50 hands.

Minutes later, Blom flopped bottom two pair and turned a full house, getting in a nice value-raise on the river when the board read [Qs][Jd][8s][8c][9h]. Haxton paid him off and Blom dragged the $19,200 pot, taking his lead up to more than $15,000. Haxton at last picked up a five-figure pot when he check-called three streets on a [3h][2d][7h][Qd][2h] board, his [Qs][Jd] outkicking Blom's [Qc][9h]. With that pot, Haxton erased his deficit and took a slight lead-- the only one he'd see all day.

The first all-in of the match occurred on a [9c][8d][7d] flop. Holding [Kc][Kh], Haxton three-bet shoved and Blom called off his remaining $9,300, having flopped the nuts with [Jc][Ts]. No miraculous running cards for Haxton on the turn or river, and the $40,000 pot was shipped to Sweden. Although Haxton picked up a $13,700 pot when he rivered two pair, he gave most of those chips back after calling two streets then folding to Blom's river shove on a [8s][2c][Jd][Ah][3c] board. Blom kept barreling and Haxton kept calling him down only to be shown monsters, as evidenced in this $24,000 pot where Blom rivered his flush:

With 351 hands in the books, Blom led by $45,732 and had double his starting stack on three of the four tables. Only now it was time for Haxton to hit a river card. In a setup that would have likely seen him felted, Haxton's dominated ace caught two pair on the river, just in time for Blom to pull his signature overbet-shove. Haxton called off his remaining $12,620 and nabbed the $40,840 pot:

Although Haxton managed to cut Blom's lead to $35,676 over the next hundred hands, Blom nabbed the monsterpotten of the day when he picked up pocket jacks. Blom opened for $600 and Haxton called from the big blind, the flop falling [Qs][Jd][Td]. Haxton checked, Blom bet $1,000 with his set and Haxton called. The [Th] on the turn filled Blom up, but Haxton did his bidding for him, leading out for $2,400. Blom smooth-called. Haxton led again when the [9c] hit the river, betting $5,280. Blom raised to $23,600 and Haxton called, mucking his hand as Blom raked in the $55,200 pot. With 501 hands completed, Blom's lead stood at $71,376.

The wheels really started coming off the wagon a few minutes later, when Blom picked up pocket eights and opened for $600. Haxton three-bet to $2,100 with [Jd][Td] and Blom called. Haxton led out for $2,400 on the [Js][4s][2h] flop and Blom called. The [2s] on the turn put a potential flush on board and earned checks from both players. Blom hit gin on the river, though, the [8d] falling to make him an extremely well-disguised full house. Haxton checked, Blom shoved and Haxton called all-in for $15,700, his top pair up in flames. With 553 hands complete, Blom was up $94,954.

Moments later, Haxton's internet connection began acting up. The match went on a five-minute break while he restarted his router, but it took more than thirty minutes for Haxton to reconnect. Three minutes after cards went back in the air, Haxton disconnected again, and it was another half-hour before the match could resume. Haxton's connection held for only 15 minutes before going out again, and this time the decision was made to suspend the match and resume action at a later time once Haxton's connection was repaired.

Hopefully that will happen sometime later this week. With 1,808 hands to play, Haxton trails Blom by $99,886. While that might seem steep, fortunes can change quickly at these stakes, even more so when you're up against the "King of Swing."

Meanwhile, tune in one week from today for another SuperStar Showdown as Viktor Blom takes on a new challenger-- English high-stakes NLHE star Andrew "Kanu7" Millar. Action begins Sunday, March 18 at 12pm EDT. Let's hope for dry weather.

If revenge is, in fact, a dish best served cold, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom is doing it right. It's been nearly 15 months since he played his first SuperStar Showdown match. Indeed, it's been some 450 days since Blom dropped the first SuperStar Showdown to well-known rounder Isaac Haxton. Now, Blom wants another shot at Haxton. The dish isn't just cold. It's getting moldy. All the more perfect to shove it in Haxton's face?

Well, that remains to be seen.

This Sunday at 12pm ET, Blom and Haxton will face off again for a high-stakes match on PokerStars. The four-table match will last for as long as 2,500 hands. Nothing changed in those details since the last match. This time, however, the stakes have gone up.

In the December 2010 match, Blom and Haxton played $50/$100 no-limit hold'em. In this weekend's rematch, PokerStars has bumped the stakes to $100/$200.

This could end up getting crazy.

If your memory isn't as long as Blom's, you may not remember how the last match ended. After playing out the full 2,500 hands, Haxton had won $41,701 off Blom. In the ten matches Blom has played since then, he's won nine of them. In fact, the only one he lost was a rematch with Daniel Negreanu, and Blom still finished more than $100,000 up on Kid Poker over the two matches.

Yessir, over the course of eleven SuperStar Showdowns, only one person has been able to say he walked away with Blom's money. That's this guy you see below.

Though Haxton came out a winner in the match, he didn't leave unscathed.

"No one has ever more consistently made me miserable when playing against them," Haxton said after the 2010 battle. "I guess I'd put (Phil) Ivey in second for that, but it's honestly not that close. Isildur's brand of over the top--but carefully balanced--aggression is unlike anything I've played against and really takes me out of my comfort zone in a lot of situations. As someone who's probably played half a million hands of high stakes HUNL, that's saying something."

So, tune in Sunday at noon ET when the re-match kicks off to see how much, if any, of his $40,000 Blom can get back from Haxton. It's not often you get to see revenge served up so cold. It's going to be quite a show.

I had a lot of travel problems getting to the PCA. I got stuck in Miami for one night, and had a lot of other flight problems. I showed up at the tournament very tired, which is not the way you want to be at a $100,000 tournament.

I ran really well in this tournament. I tried to pick my spots more in this one that I had in the past. I was lucky to win the big all in pots. The end of Day 2 felt good for me, because we were playing short-handed, which I am more comfortable with. This allowed me to play my game a bit more, and as the money approached, I was very comfortable.

The key hand for me was against Jonathan Duhamel: I called his opening raise with [Ah][Qh] from the small blind. The flop was J-5-7 with two hearts, and we got it all in on the flop after a series of raises. I knew he wouldn't make the last raise as quickly as he did with any kind of really big hand, so I felt I was in okay shape. I hit the heart on the turn, and it was the key hand that really helped me get the win.

I needed those chips because, of course, on the very next hand, I pick up [Kh][3h] on the button and face a three-bet from Galen Hall. I called, the flop came J-7-2 with 2 clubs and one heart. He lead out, I raised, and he quickly shoved. At that point, I thought "What the hell am I doing in this pot?"

I folded. Sometimes I can't hold on to my chips for very long.

I was so happy won, but I was so tired, and I had a feeling like I was ill. My whole body was aching. I really wanted to go out that night and celebrate. Maybe you saw my interview. I was so tired, during that interview. I don't even remember half the questions. I went back to my room and slept. I saved the celebration for later in the week.

When I woke up the next day, I started to feel really good, and the win started to sink in. The win feels great.

I hope it isn't my last.

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