Jared Bleznick Scoops as High Stakes Duel Ends in Defeat for Patrik Antonius

Sports Card collector and mixed game poker professional Jared ‘The Backer’ Bleznick put his money on himself all those weeks ago at the start of High Stakes Duel V. Now he has his reward. Having bought in for just $50,000 in Round 1, Bleznick cashes out the $400,000 pot after scooping all three bouts against Poker Hall of Famer Patrik Antonius.

Early Levels Go to the Finn

Patrik Antonius came into the third and eventually final match between him and Jared Bleznick with much to prove, having lost the No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha High Stakes Duel match in both Round 1 and Round 2 to The Backer. In fact, the second one of those battles was extremely one-sided, so it was crucial that Antonius got off to a strong start and he did.

After Tournament Director Paul Campbell turned ‘cut man’ to offer a plaster to the Finnish pro, Antonius made an early bold call with just a queen-high flush in Pot Limit Omaha to move the needle in his favor, his starting stack of 200,000 chips going up to 224,000 as Bleznick dropped to 176,000.

Bleznick was held at bay by Antonius for the first hour of combat at the felt before flopped trips in PLO won Bleznick some ground and he drew level. Aggression had been in scarce supply, as both men tightened up with $400,000 on the line. A three-bet from Bleznick with ace-four offsuit in NLHE was called by Antonius with ace-seven suited and a flop of K-T-5 prompted Bleznick to bet 10,000 into a pot of 25,000. Antonius mucked the leading hand and Blenick took the lead once more.

The Mental Game

Poker is all about momentum and mental strength and once again, Bleznick went on the attack with absolute air to pressurize his opponent. A board of K-T-9-A with two spades and two clubs intrigued Antonius with ace-six of spades. Bleznick was the aggressor on the turn, however, when he raised Antonius’ bet from 10,000 chips to 28,000. Antonius is renowned for his own cerebral prowess, however and made the call.

A river of the five of spades saw Bleznick bet 58,000 with fresh air and Antonius’ shove got through.

“That’s not good for me!” Bleznick quipped, to no response at all, as the Finn sat behind 252,900 to The Backer’s 147,100, less than 100 big blinds. As the match approached the halfway stage, however, Bleznick was back in front again. In PLO, both men rivered a flush but The Backer’s was better and he edged into a marginal lead with two and a half hours of the game gone.

A huge bluff in NLHE saw Bleznick bully Antonius off a valuable pot. A board of A-Q-J-5-2 had landed and Bleznick bet with nine-seven offsuit. Antonius had the better hand, pairing the jack with jack-three but he folded to the bet of 35,000 and dropped to 172,000 to Bleznick’s 228,000. With only 143 big blinds on the felt, that lead was pivotal.

“What a battle this has been,” said Jeff Platt in the commentary booth for PokerGO.

“Two incredible players,” agreed Brent Hanks.

Triple Takedown Totals Antonius

“I played so good. My whole plan was to wait until the levels got bigger then switch gears.”

If Bleznick was betting at the right time, Patrik Antonoius couldn’t have got his timing more wrong if he tried. In PLO, the board had arrived K-J-J-A-9 before the 2023 Poker Hall of Fame inductee bet 20,000 on the river, swelling the pot to 76,000. Antonius held just pocket tens and walked into a monster, as Bleznick made the call to move into a better than 3:1 chip lead.

With blinds up to 2,500/5,000, Antonius raised with tens in NLHE but failed to get a call. Antonius had pocket nines to go with a board of A-A-2-2-8 in PLO, but betting big on the river, he was called by Bleznick with six-five of hearts which had made the runner-runner flush to leave Antonius down to just 14 big blinds in NLHE.

Incredibly, Antonius bullied his way to being almost level after marginal hands for the shover and the folder saw The Backer almost lose his lead. A ballsy shove with just second pair got a fold to see him move into a lead of 250,000 to 150,000 chips, and once again in NLHE, Antonius’ shove with king-four of clubs was called by The Backer’s ace-five offsuit. Bleznick was a 61% favorite but with five cards to come, he was out of his chair and sweating like a turkey on Thanksgiving when the dealer prepared to deal his fate.

“Let’s do one time.” Said Antonius after Bleznick offered him the choice. The pot was for the lead. Antonius flopped the four as it came 7-4-2 but the gutshot was there too and Bleznick only dropped from 61% to 40%. A three on the turn gave The Backer the result and it was all over, as a ‘Wheel’ straight ended matter. Would Antonius rechallenge with the red flag?

In the end, he couldn’t do it. Tossing in the white flag, Antonius was out and Blaznick could celebrate.

“I played so good. My whole plan was to wait until the levels got bigger then switch gears. Four-betting queen-deuce suited? It was incredible.”

After a superb High Stakes Duel, Antonius was left licking his wounds as Jared ‘The Backer’ Bleznick bagged the $400,000 victory and took home the High Stakes Duel Championship Belt.