The third meeting between Jared Bleznick and poker legend Patrik Antonius came to a head as the High Stakes Duel 5 matchup resulted in a clean sweep for “The Backer”.
Similar to their previous two matches, Bleznick and Antonius underwent a battle of attrition in their latest encounter. The Finnish HOFer and the sports card hobbyist waged war for 5 hours, and the format was a mixed no-limit hold’em/pot-limit Omaha game.
Players began the match with a stack of $200,000 chips, and the increasing blind levels started at $300/$600.
More of the Same… Again
For their 3rd faceoff, Bleznick and Antonius started with ten hands of PLO. This setup was advantageous to Bleznick in the previous 2 matchups, but Antonius took an early lead when the action switched back to NLH.
Antonius started off Round 3 by quickly accumulating a lead against Bleznick, similar to his performance in their first meeting. Antonius began their bout by flopping two-pair in PLO and getting a bit of action from a drawing hand before winning a $21,000 pot on the turn.
A couple of hands later, Bleznick had an AC, 6H, 5S, and 4D, while the board flopped 9C, KC, 9S, 5C, and 3H. “The Backer” made a bluff with a $13,000 river bet play, using his AC as a blocker. However, he was up against Antonius’ QC 2C, who also had a flush. Antonius made the call to take down the pot, which brought his stack up to $224,000.
However, the HOFer’s luck slowly turned sour in the succeeding hands. Bleznick was quick to gain back the lead, chipping away at Antonius’ stack by winning small battles with his patented bluffing plays.
Antonius Tries to Bide His Time
While the previous two matchups saw Antonius have similar early success, only to lose steam by the middle, and flaming out in the end, he was more patient than usual in the 3rd matchup against Bleznick.
This proved to be a crucial factor, as Antonius managed to stop “The Backer” from chipping away at his chip lead. A key pot that saw the momentum shift considerably in his favor came from his sudden strong play.
From the button, Antonius raised to $4,000 with AS 6S. Bleznick defended his big blind with Qs 8C.
The flop saw 9S, KC, and 10S, and Bleznick opted to employ his bluff play against Antonius for $3,000. Antonius opted for a flat call and the two players went to the AC turn. Bleznick checked and Antonius, having turned top pair to go with his flush draw, bet $10,000 into the $14,000 pot.
Bleznick made a play, raising chips and put in a check-raise to $28,000. Antonius was quick to call. With $70,000 in the middle, the river came up 5S, giving him the best possible hand.
However, “The Backer” continued his bluff play, ballooning the pot to $58,000. When his opponent moved all in over the top, Bleznick folded, and Antonius took the largest lead in the match so far.
Bleznick Makes a Comeback… Again
Bleznick saw himself fighting to take back the chip lead from Antonius yet again. Despite the chip disadvantage, Bleznick continued to play his game at his own pace, and quickly regained his footing after his previous misplayed bluff.
The PLO rounds went Bleznick’s way, as this is the poker type he is most skillful at. His prowess in the format was notable that he managed to wrestle back the lead against Antonius. Once he re-took control of the match, Bleznick upped his aggression and play tactics with the intent of bleeding Antonius dry in the succeeding rounds.
The back-and-forth marathon match would come to an end at the $4,000/$8,000 blind level when Antonius went all-in for $119,000 in NLH with a KC, 4C preflop on the button.
Meanwhile, Bleznick, who had an AH, 5S, made the call. Antonius then asked his opponent if he wanted to run the board once or twice. After asking for a count, Bleznick called it off and, just like that, High Stakes Duel 5 Round 3 came down to a 60/40.
As he threw down his cards and took to his feet, Bleznick said to Antonius, “Show me king-high.”
Antonius obliged, rolling over his hand.
“I know. It doesn’t matter, I have to win,” Bleznick continued.
Antonius and Bleznick had the option to run two boards and, as they discussed whether to go once or twice, Bleznick declared against his opponent,
“I’m going to tell you this right now – I’m being honest – win or lose, I’ve completely outplayed you. You can pick, I don’t care.”
Antonius replied with, “Let’s do it one time.”
The dealer spread the 4D, 7D, 2S which had the Poker Hall of Famer out in front. But the 3S on the turn gave Bleznick a straight, and sealed the victory for “The Backer”.
No Antonius-Bleznick IV
As the realization that he was defeated by Bleznick three times in a row, Antonius stood up from the table and went for the exit. However, the dealer and floor staff called him back, asking the Finnish poker HOFer to throw out either the red challenge flag or the white concession flag.
Antonius returned to the table and tossed the white flag into the middle, signaling his concession to Bleznick. With his surrender, there will be no 3rd rematch, and Bleznick holds the distinction of being the second player in High Stakes Duel history to win three straight matches against the same opponent.
The first one to do so was Phil Hellmuth back in HSD I, where he defeated Antonio Esfandiari, and then HSD II, Hellmuth was victorious against Daniel Negreanu after winning three straight games.
