Jared Bleznick Goes Back-to-Back in High Stakes Duel

Patrik Antonius failed to get revenge on Jared Bleznick this week as High Stakes Duel V continued with the second of at least three battles in No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha on PokerGO. The Finnish poker legend, who became a Poker Hall of Famer in 2024, rechallenged at the conclusion to guarantee that he’ll put up $200,000 in order to triumph at the third time of asking in the coming weeks.

Early Stages See Bleznick Get Rockets

“There are a lot of players who know in theory how to play, but playing is different.”

In the second bout between the pair, each man’s stake was $100,000 and that meant both Bleznick and Antonius began with 100,000 chips. An early pot in NLHE was a humdinger, as the Finnish player was committed for 15,000 on the turn of a board showing 9-2-2-3 with two hearts. Antonius had ace-five of hearts for a straight flush draw but Bleznick held pocket aces and on the river, both men check as Bleznick leapt into a 30,000 chip lead.

Soon afterwards, Antonius discussed the topic of playing more often to improve.

“There are a lot of players who know in theory how to play, but playing is different. When you don’t play for a long time, you miss that spot or make a sloppy decision. Playing is a different story. The more you play, at least, the better you play.”

“If I played every day, I’d get burned out.” Bleznick said.

A bad start for Antonius did see him recover half of those losses when pocket tens made value on a board that started looking scary but in the end only saw Bleznick make a pair of fives. Soon, Antonius was firing again, but with complete air, as he bet with ace-seven on a board of 9-6-4-8, again in NLHE. Bleznick called with king-eight on the turn and Antonius checked hoping ace-high was good enough. It wasn’t and the early exchanges meant Bleznick led with 123,600 chips to Antonius’ 76,400, albeit still topping 150 big blinds.

Finnish Fightback Pre-Empts PLO Drama

An interesting pot, once again in No Limit, saw Antonius level the scores. On a board of A-7-3-T, Antonius held ace-four and face a big bet of 13,500, calling it off to send play to the river with 46,000 chips in the pot. Bleznick had been bluffing with just queen-eight but an eight on the river. Two checks saw Antonius take the lead with 104,000 chips to Bleznick’s 96,000.

A massive pot took place soon after in Pot Limit Omaha to see Bleznick regain the lead. Two pair was good enough for Bleznick to bully Antonius off the pot with just pocket sixes, as The Backer took a lead of around 2:1. That grew to a 3:1 in one of the key pots of the showdown with around half of the contest in the books.

The board showed J-T-2-K-2 and Patrik Antonius’ hand of A-Q-J-3 was good enough for a Broadway straight. On the turn that might have been fine but when Bleznick fired a pot-sized bet of 16,200 on the river, the Finn’s snap-call was wrong. Bleznick’s hand of K-K-K-8 had rivered a full house after he had been behind on the turn and now, the eventual winner had a lead of 154,400 chips to Antonius’ pile of 45,600.

 The Backer Dominates Antonius

“Back-to-back wins for the backer!”

Several ‘smallball’ pots went Antonius way towards the end of the bout, with the Finnish player stabilising. Each time he seemed to win a pot, Bleznick got one back and the American maintained his lead of around 3:1. That slipped to 2:1 towards the conclusion of the match but it never seemed Bleznick wasn’t keeping the Finn at arm’s length.

Antonius paid off Bleznick on another crucial pot and dropped to 33,500 chips where if his second pair had been good, he’s have been up over 80,000. It wasn’t, as Bleznick turned over the top pair of an ace. Antonius, a former Full Tilt Poker poster boy, cut a disgruntled figure as the former tennis player was down a couple of breaks of serve.

Bleznick smelled blood and with a 5:1 chip lead, made it count.

“Antonius is frustrated and on the ropes,” said Brent Hanks in the commentary box with Jeff Platt as ever for High Stakes Duel. “If Bleznick asks him how many chips he [Antonius] has, it might be enough for Patrik to snap, pick Bleznick up and throw him through the LED wall.”

The final hand – once more in NLHE – almost played itself. Heads-up with 30 big blinds, Antonius raised to 4,000 with ace-jack and Bleznick moved all-in with ace-queen. Antonius called for 30,700 in total, then rolled his eyes when he saw his opponent’s hand. Only running it once, a clean board of 7-4-3-T-K gave Bleznick victory.

“Back-to-back wins for the backer!” eulogised Platt, as the Finnish player Antonius called ‘one more?’ as he threw in the red silk handkerchief that symbolized his rechallenge.

The duo will dance one more time soon on PokerGO but after Bleznick coasted to victory in Round 2, can the Finnish poker legend Patrik Antonius upset the odds and get the better of The Backer?

It will all be on the line next time they meet.

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