Jared “The Backer” Bleznick proved too good yet again for the legendary Patrik Antonius last night, felling the Flying Finn in round 2 of High Stakes Duel 5.
Last week the opening salvo of the latest instalment of the SNG-style highstakes battles on PokerGO saw Bleznick bluff and bully his way to victory, winning $50,000 from his esteemed opponent.
Antonius immediately claimed his rematch rights and ponied up $100k for a chance at revenge, the match a mix of NLH and PLO, the games swapping every 10 hands with starting stacks of 100,000 chips and blinds starting at 200/400 and rising.
First blood went to Bleznick when he picked up pocket aces, facing a raise…
Antonius: A♥ 5♥
Bleznick: A♠ A♣
Bleznick’s 3-bet was called…
Flop: 9♠ 2♥ 2♦
…as was his c-bet, bringing a very interesting turn card…
Turn: 3♥
With $20k in the pot, Bleznick elected to check, and Antonius fired out $8k with his flush and straight draws…
River: 6♣
A damp squib on the river and the action went check-check, giving Bleznick an early lead.
As with last week’s HSD 5 opener, things weren’t going to be quite so straightforward, and Antonius got back into the game after the sports card store owner holding Q♦ 8♦ bluffed an ace-high flop and turn before sensibly giving up on the river.
A major turning point came in a hand of PLO, Antonius limping in…
Antonius: A♠ Q♣ J♥ 3♣
Bleznick: K♠ K♦ K♣ 8♥
Flop: 2♥ J♦ 10♦
The pot was still quite small after a half-pot bet and call, but the turn changed everything…
Turn: K♥
Bleznick bet $1500 into the $2800 pot and Antonius, with a straight, bumped it up to $7,000. Bleznick was going nowhere with top set…
River: 2♠
A pot-sized bet from Bleznick was called and Bleznick announced “Kings full” to take down a sizeable pot.
On the board-pairing river, Bleznick led out once more, this time for a pot-sized bet of $16,200. Antonius threw in one chip for a call and, with a smirk, Bleznick announced, “Kings full.”
The finale came back in the realms of No Limit Hold’em, Antonius picking up a hand but finding himself trapped…
Antonius: A♠ J♦
Bleznick: A♦ Q♣
Bleznick flatted from the button and then sprung the trap when Antonius out in a big raise, his 4-bet shove snapped off by the Finnish legend.
Antonius: A♠ J♦
Bleznick: A♦ Q♣
Flop: 4♣ 7♠ 3♦
Turn: 10♠
River: K♠
And that was it – Bleznick had just skinned Antonius for another $100k on top of last week’s $50k, money hard-earned by the Finn from his Triton Invitational win just a couple of weeks ago.
The High Stakes Duel rules state that the winner must accept a rematch challenge and Antonius obliged immediately by throwing the red flag on the table to indicate another challenge.
That will see $200k apiece on the table and will take place in the PokerGO Studios next Tuesday, November 26th, and we’ll bring you all the best of the action right here on VIP Grinders.
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