Patrik Antonius waved the white flag of surrender last night after losing a third straight match to Jared Bleznick in High Stakes Duel 5, this time the Flying Finn losing $200k to add to the $50k and $100k losses of previous rounds.
Bleznick and Antonius have been battling it out at the PokerGO studios in Vegas over the past three weeks to determine who would join Phil Hellmuth, Jason Koon and Daniel Negreanu in the HSD winner’s circle.
Hellmuth won both HSD 1 and 2, taking $350k each from Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu respectively. Koon won an impressive $1.6million in HSD 3 before running out of challengers, while Daniel Negreanu bounced back in HSD 4 to take $200k from former arch-nemesis Doug Polk.
For High Stakes Duel 5 the format was changed somewhat, PLO added to No Limit Hold’em for the first time, the combatants playing 10 hands of each game in turn, with a “Run It Twice” option on all-ins.
Bleznick, who spends more time on his card-collecting business than at the poker tables these days, won the rounds of $50k and $100k impressively.
Antonius, however, had a bit of cash to spare following his monster $5,130,000 scoop at the Triton Invitational earlier this month and saw no reason not to have another pop at Bleznick.
This time there was $200k in the pot from both men and it was the Poker Hall of Famer who made the early running, helped by getting paid on his river overbet in the hand below…
Tune in NOW for Round 3 of High Stakes Duel 5 between @harrington25 and @Patrik_Antonius 👿
Live now: https://t.co/5a1A6SsAuI pic.twitter.com/GI1lCC2FBy
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) November 27, 2024
It didn’t take long for Bleznick to fight back, courtesy of a rivered full house after the Finn turned the nut flush, but just as with the previous two matches, the pendulum kept swinging.
Antonius: A♠ 6♠
Bleznick: Q♠ 8♣
Flop: 9♠ K♣ 10♠
Having defended his big blind, Bleznick led out on the flop, Antonius calling with his big draw…
Turn: A♣
Bleznick has been noted for his willingness to bluff big and that’s what he did here, 3-betting Antonius’ $10k bet into a $14k pot to $28k. The Finn called…
River: 5♠
With the pot at $70k, Bleznick fired out $58,000 but knew the game was up when Antonius shoved for $125k. The Finnish pro was in the lead again.
So it went on for more than three hours, the rising blinds playing an ever-more-significant role, until Antonius made what would be his last stand…
Antonius: K♣ 4♣
Bleznick: A♥ 5♠
Antonius’ shove found a call, but he still had a decent chance of emerging unscathed, although he stuck to his “run it one time” motto when offered the chance to run it twice by Bleznick.
Flop: 4♦ 7♦ 2♠
Exasperated at the flop, Bleznick pleaded: “I need a three, I deserve a three… I’ll tell you right now, I deserve a three.” Lo and behold…
Turn: 3♠
…and that was game, set and match to the man known as “The Backer”, the river falling an inconsequential…
River: 9♣
Antonius now had the chance of throwing in the red rematch flag, for the third time, but instead chose the white flag of surrender, conceding defeat and ending High Stakes Duel 5 in Bleznick’s favour.
Who’s Next for High Stakes Duel 6?
Discussion has already begun for who will take their seats for High Stakes Duel 6, Bleznick likely to return and potentially face two-time HSD champ, Phil Hellmuth.
Hellmuth took a bit of a pasting from Jason Koon, however, and may not fancy stepping into the ring with Bleznick. Koon and Negreanu are possibles, as are Dan “Jungleman” Cates and Phil Ivey.
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