Isaac Haxton first player to challenge Isildur1 in PokerStars Superstar Challenge

SWEDEN - Last week's big poker news was the announcement that PokerStars had signed high stakes online cash game player Isildur1 to their Team PokerStars Pro in one of the biggest coups in online poker.

PokerStars also announced the Superstar Challenge, which is an open challenge to any player to take on Isildur1 in a 2,500 hand match over four tables at minimum stakes of $50/$100 in either No-Limit Hold'em or Pot-Limit Omaha. The first match kicks off tomorrow with experience online player Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton the first player to accept Isildur1's challenge.

Haxton and Isildur1 will each risk $150,000 of their own money over four tables of $50/$100 No-Limit Hold'em. If both players are still standing after 2,500 hands, the player with the most profit will keep that plus a bonus of $10,000 from PokerStars.

Isildur1 has played almost exclusively at Pot-Limit Omaha since he joined PokerStars and has played over 20,000 hands, losing just over $100,000 in the process.

Haxton is a highly regarded young pro and has had much success in live tournaments, winning just over $2.8m in his career. His biggest cash came in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship, where he finished second to Vitaly Lunkin for a prize of $1.168 million.

Many sources in the poker media have been alleging that PokerStars are set to unveil Isildur1's identity at the Carribean Adventure in January, although it is widely believed that he is young Swedish pro Viktor Blom.

The match between these two high stakes professionals is set to begin at 1800 EST.