Finland
Patrik Antonius is a professional poker player from Helsinki, Finland, currently living in Monte Carlo. He is known for winning the European Poker Tour Baden Main Event in 2005 as well as scoring numerous World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour money finishes. Antonius is also considered one of the best high-stakes online poker players in the world.
Intro
Antonius was born in 1980. He started playing poker at a very young age with his friends. He was also a very promising tennis player, but suffered a severe back injury as a teenager and was out of the training for a year and a half. It was at that time when he started taking poker seriously playing $50 games with his buddies. When he turned 18 Antonius took his game to the local casino.
Background
Although Antonius pursued his tennis career after the injury, a few years later he suffered another one and was forced to give up his dream of becoming a tennis superstar. In search of a new path in life he tried a number of other things including modeling, waiting tables, selling products door-to-door coaching tennis, but nothing caught up to him. Nothing except poker.
World Series of Poker
The first time Antonius finished in the money at the World Series of Poker was in 2005. He cashed in total of three events that year collecting almost $21,000 in winnings. Then in 2006 he added another five cashes. His best result that year was the 9th place finis at the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event for which Antonius collected just over $200,000. In 2007 he scored his best WSOP result to date finishing third in the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha for more than $300,000.
Antonius made another WSOP final table in 2008 placing seventh in the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em for more than $120,000. Then in 2011 he scored a ninth place finish at the WSOP Europe €10,000 Main Event in Cannes, France collecting €90,000.
Patrik Antonius' Top 5 WSOP Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha | 3rd | $311,394 |
| 2008 | $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em | 7th | $124,080 |
| 2006 | $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. | 9th | $205,920 |
| 2011 | WSOPE €10,000 Main Event | 9th | €90,000 ($120,228) |
| 2006 | $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 15th | $20,492 |
World Poker Tour
Antonius has a total of seven World Poker Tour cashes on his record including the runner-up finish in the 2005 Five Diamond World Poker Classic $15,000 Championship event. Antonius lost that heads-up play to Denmark's Rehne Pedersen and took home just over $1 million in cash.
Patrik Antonius' Top 5 WPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Five Diamond World Poker Classic $15,000 Main Event | 2nd | $1,046,470 |
| 2005 | PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $7,800 Main Event | 12th | $34,600 |
| 2005 | Bay 101 Shooting Stars of Poker $9,750 Championship | 15th | $40,000 |
| 2006 | Five-Star World Poker Classic $25,000 Championship | 17th | $117,165 |
| 2008 | Spanish Championship €5,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 22nd | €7,580 ($11,818) |
European Poker Tour
Antonius cashed in three European Poker Tour events one of which brought him the EPT title. In 2005 Antonius took down the EPT Baden €4,000 Main Event for the €288,180 first-place prize. He finished third at the EPT Barcelona Main Event that very same year collecting €117,000. His third EPT cash came only seven years later when Antonius finished fourth in the €98,500 8 Max Super High Roller Reload event at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo for €443,000.
Patrik Antonius' Top 3 EPT Results
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Baden €4,000 Main Event | 1st | €288,180 |
| 2005 | Barcelona €4,000 Main Event | 3rd | €117,000 |
| 2012 | Grand Final, Monte Carlo €98,500 8 Max Super High Roller Reload | 4th | €443,000 |
Other Achievements
In 2005 Antonius won the Skr 30,000 No-Limit Hold'em event at the Ladbrokes Scandinavian Poker Championships in Stockholm, Sweden taking home Skr 500,000 ($ 66,261). Two years later, in 2007 he placed first in Poker After Dark's $20,000 Week 12 International Event for $120,000. Then in 2010 Antonius won another $120,000 for taking down The Poker Lounge's $20,000 event on Episode 5. That same year he won the FullTiltPoker.com Poker Million IX Heat 4 on Sky Sports for $90,000 in prize money.
In 2011 Antonius final tabled the biggest poker event in the southern hemisphere, the Aussie Millions Main Event. He finished the tournament in 8th place collecting A$ 130,000. One year later Antonius came back to Australia for another deep run, only this time it was at the A$250,000 No-Limit Hold'em / $250,000 Challenge. Antonius finished the tournament in second place which was good for A$1,200,000.
Did you know?
- At the beginning of his poker career Antonius was coached by Marcel Luske and was a member of his “Circle of Outlaws”.
- Antonius used to be one of the biggest sharks in the high-stakes nosebleed cash games on Full Tilt Poker playing against the other big names, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Phil Ivey, Brian Townsend and others.
