Patrik Antonius - Cash Games

Cash Games

Antonius is a heads-up specialist. He is a regular high stakes player online and one of the most successful having won millions of dollars. He has played on Full Tilt Poker under several nicknames, including Luigi66369, CryMeRiver9 and Finddagrind, but having become a member of "Team Full Tilt" he now plays under his real name. During his early career he also used screen names e.g. I_knockout_U, try_hrdr_fish and -ANTONIUS- on various other poker networks. Previously Antonius was one of a team of players associated with Martinspoker.com.

He is equally prolific in live cash games, and is a regular in the Game (poker) Big Game, the high-stakes cash game at the Bellagio. Antonius appeared on the third to sixth seasons of GSN's High Stakes Poker. Patrik was involved, along with Sammy Farha, in the show's largest ever pot; it totaled $998,800. After a preflop raise and re-raise the flop came 6♦ 3♣ 9♦; Antonius held J♥ 9♥ for top pair and Farha held K♦ Q♦, giving him two over-cards and a flush draw. Sammy called Patrik's all-in raise instantly and the two agreed to run the turn and river four times. Though Sammy's hand was a slight favorite, Patrik won three of the four runs and collected $749,100.

In another sizable pot on High Stakes Poker, Patrik went up against Jamie Gold. Jamie had K♠ K♦ versus Patrik's A♠ J♦. Patrik raised to $4,000 preflop with Jamie reraising to $14,000, after declaring that his hole cards felt "like aces." The flop came out 3♠ Q♦ 10♥, giving Patrik an inside straight draw. Jamie bet $15,000 into a $30,800 pot, which Patrik called. The turn was the K♥, giving Patrik a straight and Jamie a set of kings. Patrik bet $45,000 into the pot, which Jamie reraised all in. Patrik immediately called making the pot worth $743,800. The players agreed to run the river three times. Despite being a 77-23 favorite, Patrik won only the last of the three times, as Jamie hit a full house on the first two. Even after losing two times as a favorite, Patrik remained calm and showed no emotion on his face. At the time, it was the largest pot ever on High Stakes Poker.

Antonius has since lost a pot of almost $600,000 to Tom Dwan on an episode of the Poker After Dark high stakes cash game. Tom straddled the hand to $1,200 and Patrik was first to act having pocket 10's, with which he raised. Tom reraised the hand with pocket kings, and Patrik called. The flop gave him a set of tens and he bet $27,000, which Tom called. The turn was a king, giving Tom a set of kings. Patrik bet $59,000 which led to Dwan going all-in for over $200,000, which Patrik called, making the pot almost $600,000. They ran it twice, Patrik losing both. It was the largest pot in the history of Poker After Dark.

Antonius was the first player to go up against Dwan in his "Million Dollar Challenge" on Full Tilt Poker (though not the first to accept the challenge). Dwan has challenged players to high-stakes no-limit hold 'em or pot-limit Omaha at Full Tilt, playing four tables at a time heads-up for a total of 50,000 hands. Dwan has put up $1.5 million to any opponent's $500,000; the player who is ahead after 50,000 hands will win the money put up by his opponent, while retaining any winnings resulting from play in the challenge. The Antonius vs. Dwan match has not been finished as of July 2011, lasting longer than two years, as the two pros could not free their schedule to play.

In November 2009, Antonius won the biggest pot in online poker history, $1,356,946 against Viktor Blom, who was at the time known only by his Full Tilt Poker moniker, Isildur1.