Jared Bleznick Beats Patrik Antonius in High Stakes Duel Opener on PokerGO

Two titans of the poker world clashed at the high stakes felt on PokerGO as Sports Card collector and shop owner Jared Bleznick put his mixed game prowess to the test against one of the best. Patrik Antonius, the Finnish poker legend who was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2024 stood in Bleznick’s way but after an entertaining first match, Bleznick was boss, winning $100,000.

New Mixed Format Thrills Poker Fans

High Stakes Duel has thrilled poker fans on PokerGO since 2020 when Phil ‘The Poker Brat’ Hellmuth defeated Antonio Esfandiari 3-0 for $350,000. Hellmuth was the man to stop when Daniel Negreanu ‘Kid Poker’ took up the challenge but incredibly Hellmuth beat him in three consecutive games too.

After further victories against Tom Dwan and Nick Wright, Hellmuth’s run ended when Jason Koon beat him, but overall, The Poker Brat’s record of nine wins and just two defeats was amazing. Negreanu himself dusted down his one-liners and triumphed against Nick Persson for $50,000 in High Stakes Duel IV but Persson refused the rechallenge and the format went into mothballs for some time.

The latest High Stakes Duel match up saw two new players take the gauntlet and is hopefully the first in the long-running series of the matches to take place in a mixed format of No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. Patrik Antonius and Jared Bleznick both have experience in NLHE and PLO and with $50,000 put up by each man, whoever lost would have the ability to double the stakes and rechallenge upon the completion of the tie courtesy of a red silk handkerchief that they could throw into the center of the felt.

With each player on 50,000 chips, and blinds starting at $100/$200, play got underway.

Early Action Goes Back and Forth

With the game format swapping between NLHE and PLO every 10 hands, either Antonius or Bleznick had another new quirk to enjoy – each man could ‘run it twice’ on an all-in bet once during the match, a perk that will remain in place for the duration of the series – but just once per round.

Bleznick went on the attack early in the match but Antonius sniffed him out. The former held eight-seven of diamonds and fired a semi-fluff on the turn of a board showing J-J-3-4 with two diamonds. Antonius made the call with ace-four. On the river, Bleznick pumped another $5,500 into the pot after a deuce of hearts landed. The Finnish Poker Hall of Famer made the call and moved up to 56,000 in chips to Bleznick’s 44,000.

Antonius had 60% of the chips in play as he built on that lead. But Bleznick, a Las Vegas sports card shop owner and poker semi-pro with some very impressive results, battled back. Bleznick lost a little first, backing away from a pot where once again his bluffing out him in a tricky position, before a pivotal hand of the match.

On a board showing K-Q-K-J-7, in Pot Limit Omaha, Bleznick bet 13,500 with pairs of sixes and fours in his hand. Antonius had the better holding, making a straight with ten-nine, but thought better of it and folded. Had the Finn called, he would have had a lead of 3:1 exactly. As it was, he fell behind in the match for the first time.

Bleznick Battles and The Flag Falls

As the game progressed, the PLO specialist Bleznick, who won a WSOP bracelet in No Limit hold’em earlier in 2024, was unafraid of raising and re-raising Antonius. Even striking middle pair on a two-club, ace-high flop, Bleznick bet, saw his Finnish opponent raise and then re-raised to take the pot.

Antonius himself showed some mettle as he came back from 70/30 down in chips rivered a better two-pair than Bleznick to recover to an almost-level footing. The key word was almost, however, as Bleznick raised to 2,500 with queen-eight of spades, called by Antonius with king-queen. The flop of Q-8-6 was a stunner and Antonius check-raised to 6,500 with his top pair and king kicker. Bleznick re-raised to 14,000 and that was enough to tempt Antonius in for the shove for a total of 39,900.

Bleznick’s quick call saw Antonius needing a lot of help and while he had the option of running it twice, he turned it down, running it once. An eight on the turn meant only a queen would split the pot to save the Finnish poker legend but an ace came instead, and the opening match was over.

That action ended Round 1 of High Stakes Duel 5 and the $100,000 match went the way of Bleznick. Patrik Antonius didn’t even consider walking away, throwing the red flag into the middle of the felt to indicate the rechallenge.

On November 19, both men will put $100,000 on the line as the $200,000 Round 2 takes place live on PokerGO.

You can watch the opening match of High Stakes Duel V on PokerGO if you are a subscriber right here.