Patrik Antonius

Poker News Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:21:00 +0000

We have gone live. This has been an exciting project for me and I have put a lot of time and energy into making it the best I can. I hope everyone enjoys it and finds the videos educational. Making the videos has been an interesting process and I feel that I have learned more talking aloud and paying closer attention to what I am doing and why.

You can check it out at http://www.pokernews.com/strategy-videos/

This blog will be moving to my www.PatrikAntonius.com webpage so check there for new blogs. I have been very ill for the past 10 days, so I apologize for the lack of updates. I am in London for the WSOPE and a cash game on TV, and will report all the details soon.

-Patrik-

$25,000 Heads-Up PLO Championships

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 04:39:00 +0000

I apologize for the long delay in posting. I have been on a much needed vacation in Finland and now in South Africa. I promise to write a long blog in the next few days. As for now, I have to get some rest and get ready to win the $25,000 Heads Up tournament tomorrow. I won 4 matches tonight, since I am in South Africa, I played my matches when I would usually be sleeping.

My opponent in the semifinals is "Urindanger." He is one of the best online players, and we have also battled in a few big pots in Bobbys Room. I am sure he is going to be ready for the challenge and try to get some revenge for his brother, whom I beat in the quarterfinals.

Wish me luck

-Patrik-

Back to Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:55:00 +0000

I am just about to leave for the airport with Maya and Mila and go to Finland for the first time in a few years. It has been a fun time back in Las Vegas, although I could easily forget this last week, but thats a whole 'nother story.

I have been playing a lot of poker this week as well. I played in Bobby's Room with Tom Dwan, David B, Bobby Baldwin, Sammy F and a few others a few times in the past few days. We were playing mostly NL and PLO with no cap and of course props and Chinese every once in a while. The games on Full Tilt are going strong as well. I have been battling in Omaha 8 and HORSE with Lolina especially the past few days.

Here is a recap of some bets I made the past few weeks.

Brandon Adams and I played our 18 hole stroke play golf match at TPC Summerlin and I played very well and won by a few shots. Easy $100,000!! We decided instead of playing a tennis match, we would play a $100,000 NL HU Freezeout on Full Tilt. I decided this was the best strategy for me, because I had so many big golf bets coming up, it was not worth the risk of getting injured. Only a few hands into the match and we both flopped trips and he turned a full house and he won back his $100,000. Easy come easy go.

My good friend Mikko finally made it to town for our highly anticipated golf adventure. The first two days were a 36 hole 2 man team total stroke play. My partner Nick and I were up 15 shots after day 1 and they conceded after 9 holes on day 2. That was $200,000 in our pockets. The next day we decided to play 36 holes, 18 hole scramble match and 18 hole best ball. We won the scramble, I was a putting machine and we won another $50,000. The best ball did not go as planned, we might have been a little cocky going into the match, and quickly found ourselves down a few shots. Jani who was quite stuck going into the match wanted to play my partner Nick in a separate match of total score, and he wanted us to lay hm 8-1. I let him bet $20,000 and looking back, it only gave Jani more reason to focus and play his best. Nick birdied 3 of the last 6 holes and made an amazing up and down on 18 to win by 1 shot and save me $160,000.

We lost $50,000 in the best ball match, but felt like a winner when Nick made his last putt. I was so concerned following their match I forgot to focus on my own game. Anyway, it was a fun, adventurous, and quite profitable 3 days with these guys. But better then winning the money, was the look on poor Mikkos face at the end of the scramble match, he came to Vegas 110% certain he was going to win all the money and go back a rich man. He looked like a kid who found coal in his stockings on Christmas.

Full of confidence after this little match, it was time for bigger and better golf games. No one better to play then Daniel and the misfits, as he likes to call them. Daniel and his little group fly around TPC every afternoon and you cannot miss them. They are usually teeing it up from the ladies tees with no shame, because I have never seen any ladies playing in their group. My coach Jimmy joined our team and we played a scramble against Daniels team. We won the first day and then got crushed the 2nd and 3rd day. We are all very good putters, but the 2nd day it was like there was a lid on top of the hole, we were hitting great shots close to the hole, but could never convert. Meanwhile Daniels team would be across the green 30-50 feet away, and sink the putt every time. Naturally this was as frustrating as it gets, but they won fair and square and I paid Daniel his money.

So when it was all said and done, Daniel is currently 83rd on the PGA money list for 2008, right behind Freddy Couples.

I am excited about this vacation and seeing my family in Finland. I will be checking Full Tilt and playing if the games are good. I also want to thank all the nice railbirds who say hi to me when I am playing online, I wish I had enough time to write back to everyone, but I always appreciate the kind words.

On a final note, the 2025 Wimbledon Champion Mila Antonius has taken her first few steps, and has started walking all on her own. It was a very exciting time for Maya and I, and its hard to believe how fast she is growing.

Good luck at the tables
-Patrik-

Heads Up Freezeout vs Brandon Adams

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:29:00 +0000

In a few minutes I will be playing my friend Brandon Adams in a $100,000 No Limit Heads Up match with blinds of $300-600. We agreed to cancel our big tennis match on Monday, and instead, play this poker match tonight.

Brandon is a very good no limit player and it should be a great match. I am happy that I have been playing some No Limit lately against some very good players on Full Tilt, so my game is sharp.

We will be playing on Full Tilt naturally and the official start time is 11:30 pm Las Vegas time.

I will write about the match tomorrow, wish me luck!!

WSOP Main Event

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:12:00 +0000

I will start with a little recap of my first day at the 2008 WSOP Main Event. I made it through day one for the second straight year which is good. It was a long day and everything was going great until the last hand of the night. I was close to the chiplead most of the day and was getting ready to bag my chips up and go home, but the last hand got me good. I had J6 on a J J 5 flop and got it all in on the flop, my opponent was leading with AJ and had me drawing dead on the turn when an Ace fell. It was the last hand of the night and instead of going home with around 110,000 I am going to start day 2 with 64,125. 64k is still a good stack and I will enjoy a few days off before day 2. Maya played Day 1a and she has around 70k in chips. We will both be playing tomorrow in Day 2a and hopefully we both survive to day 3.

I have taken a few days off tennis because I hurt my neck last week. It was so bad that I could only chip and putt at the golf course. Yesterday I finally could start hitting some woods and long irons and played some golf with Jani and Nick. Jani has hired a new caddie James, and unfortunately for us, he is helping Jani so much. Most people would call it a day after spending an afternoon golfing at TPC, well Jani and I needed a little more excitement. We bought the nicest seats available at the Forest Griffin vs Rampage Jackson UFC fight. Jani and I had a small bet on the fight and I had Griffin and he pulled off the upset. It was getting late, but whats a day without some poker. I headed over to the Bellagio and sat down in a nice little $4000-$8000 game with David, Eli, Rafi, and Mynh. While we were playing I was thinking to myself, I am living the dream, I golfed, went to a UFC fight, played in Bobby's Room, and the Wimbledon final will be on TV in a few minutes. 2 TV's in Bobbys Room started showing the Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal Wimbledon final. I kept playing in the poker game, but was really watching the tennis. It turned out to be one of the greatest matches in Wimbledon history and was a pleasure to watch two of the greatest players battling to the end. I decided my day was complete and time to go home. I had booked a nice win and was halfway home when my phone rang. My agent, called and said I could meet Forest Griffin and Chuck Liddell over at the RIO if I wanted to. I am a huge MMA fan, and rushed over to the RIO to congragulate Forest and chat with the two before they played in the Main Event. It was a long day, but I could not have dreamed up a better day. I love Las Vegas, there is no other city in the world that can match it.

Brandon Adams and I had agreed to play our match at the Wynn Golf Course. I was allowed to pick three courses, and he would select the final one. I chose TPC Summerlin, Bears Best, and the Wynn. TPC is my home course, but it is also very tough. Bears Best is my least favorite, because it has very tough rough and I have a lot of difficulty chipping out of it. The Wynn is my favorite, and last time we played there, Brandon stormed off the course after 9 holes with me up around $70,000.

Well we had to make a change today, due to some unusual circumstances. We had a practice round today at the Wynn. Brandon, Jani, Nick, my agent Chris, and myself. We paid a small fortune to play, greens fees were over $2000 when it was all said and done. The troubles started before we teed off the first tee, the assistant golf pro Greg said we could not have our own caddies. We all have personal caddies we pay to come wherever we golf to help us and caddie.

The Wynn provides their own caddies, which is fine, we just told him to stay out of the way and let us do our thing. We were all playing for big money and everyone brought their own caddie. The assistant pro drove around the course spying on us seeing if our personal caddies were staying in the cart like they were told. Well I pay Jimmy and felt that he should be able to help me read greens, clean my clubs, and do normal caddie duties. On about the 5th hole they threw our caddies off the course. I could not believe what I was seeing. The Wynn staff treated us so poorly no one could believe it. You can bet every penny you have that the next time I lose 1 million dollars at the craps table, it will not be at the Wynn.

So Brandon and I decided to play our match at TPC, my home course. Because I have a little edge there, if Brandon wins, he gets $110,000 and if I win, I get $100,000. Brandon is starting to play better so I am the underdog.

We will be playing our tennis match the day after the golf, around the 14th of July. It should be a fun two days and hopefully I can win both of them and make a nice little profit.

I should have a new video blog coming out soon as well, so check www.rawvegas.com for that as well.

WSOP and Golf Update

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:54:00 +0000

I have had a very busy and great start to the WSOP. As many of you have probably heard, I signed a deal with Full Tilt. I am very proud to be a member of Team Full Tilt and be on such an exclusive and elite team. In the first event this year, the $10,000 World Championship of Pot Limit Hold Em, I reached the final table and finished 7th for a nice payday of $124, 080. It was a very strong final table with Kathy Liebert, Phil Laak, Chris Bell, Mike Sexton, Andy Bloch, Mike Sowers, Amit Makhija, and Nenad Medic . Nenad played very well and eventually went on the take down the tournament.

In event #4 the $5000 Mixed No limit and limit tournament I had a very good stack deep on day two, but ran into a few big hands, but still had my second cash, as I finished in 27th place. Erick Lindgren went on to win this event and his first bracelet, Erick is one of the nicest guys in poker and happy to see him win his bracelet, hopefully my first one is coming sooner then later.

With so much poker the first few days, I was missing my favorite thing to do, golf. It did not take long either for a very interesting bet to happen either. My assistant was texting Daniel about a possible team match between us and Daniel and his caddie / coach. We decided to play $20,000 for low team total on every hole and $20,000 for individual low score on each hole. There were going to be a lot of ties, but it would still be possible for one team to win or lose $300,000. It was a very dramatic match, we started out hot, and were up around $140,000, but Daniel went on a tear and played his best round ever and was phenomenal on the back nine. He was a wizard with his chipping and putting, and they beat us for $20,000 when it was all said and done. We are definitely getting a rematch next week, so will be sure to keep you posted on how that goes. Raw Vegas was there to film it, and I think will be airing it in a High Stakes Golf series in the next few days.

I would like to issue a little challenge to a few online players who have been very successful at the biggest games online the past few months. All they do is hide behind their computer screens, scared to play anyone that they think is any good. I have not played Heads Up No Limit on Full Tilt for a long time and have hardly any experience playing it compared to these guys, yet, they refuse to play me and are dodging me in all games.

Durrr, OMGClayAiken, trex313, Urindanger, I am looking for action and I want a chance to play against the best. I will play any of you in any game on Full Tilt, I will be waiting, hopefully your up for the challenge.

Video Blog #2

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:16:00 +0000

I have been playing a lot of poker the past few days, which is a very good thing, because it means I am doing well in my tournaments. I finished 7th in the $10,000 PLH which was disappointing, but there was nothing I could have done.

I survived Day 1 today of the $5000 Mix No Limit / Limit tournament and have a little above average stack. Hopefully I can continue to play well on Day 2 and make my second final table.

Raw Vegas Video

Day 1 WSOP

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:33:00 +0000

I did a short video blog before day one of the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold em event. I will be doing video blogs a few times a week to keep everyone updated.

Raw Vegas Video

Barcelona

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sat, 17 May 2008 03:39:00 +0000

I arrived in Barcelona after working the past two weeks in Amsterdam. I have talked about this new project I am working on a few times, and unfortunately, I can still not give out too many details. But, I can tell you I have put in many 10 hour days in Amsterdam working as hard as I can to make it really special. I also got to spend a lot of time with one of my best friends Noeh Boeken and his crew.

I really enjoyed Amsterdam, and got lucky that the weather was so nice. It was around 80 degrees everyday and I took advantage of it, playing a ton of tennis while I was there. I have to give a special thanks to Melle Van Gemerden who kicked my butt on the tennis court a few times. He is recovering from an injury, and when he gets back on tour, watch out for him to have some great results.

The only major problem I found in Amsterdam, was the lack of golf courses. My financial and legal manager Tommi, came to visit, and we headed out to a nearby course. It would be an understatement to say that the fairways at Shadow Creek were a lot nicer then this courses greens. I did visit a driving range a few times, but they only had mats to hit off of, and I really prefer practicing on grass. My good buddy Mikko has been hitting on the indoor mats in Finland the past few months, and thinks he can beat Tiger Woods. I cannot wait until he arrives in Barcelona and realizes golf is played on grass and not mats.

The plan in Barcelona is to play a lot of tennis and golf in preparation of a summer full of tennis and golf bets. Gus and I are playing very soon, so it is important to be in tip top tennis shape. My golf game is a little rusty from not playing much in Amsterdam, so I am sure my friends who are arriving soon are going to try and bust me the first few days.

I am trying to decide if I am going to play the WPT Spanish Championships or the big $25,000 Heads Up online tournament the same time. I keep saying that I am ready to have some good results in tournaments, and hopefully I can get the momentum started heading into the WSOP. I am going to be fresh and ready for an exciting June and July at the RIO, and hopefully do well in the big games in Bobby's Room as well.

Daniel, Daniel, Daniel

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Thu, 01 May 2008 21:43:00 +0000

I was hoping to break the news myself, but Daniel spoiled it for me. I would like all my loyal readers to know, that I have given up poker and joining the PGA Tour full time, starting this weekend at the Wachovia Championship. Most people find it amazing that I only picked up a golf club for the first time a few months ago and just broke the course record at Shadow Creek shattering Tiger Woods 63, with a 59 of my own.

What Daniel fails to mention in his blog, is that it was the first time I have ever broke 90, and more importantly, it was me reaching into my pockets and paying Daniel in the clubhouse. He beat me for a large sum of money and he is talking like I am the next Tiger Woods. All that aside, I had a lot of fun playing with Daniel and Erik Lindgren. Daniel is not going to win any long drive competitions, but his ball never sniffs the rough and he can putt lights out.

I am currently in Amsterdam working very hard on an exciting project that will hopefully launch in a few weeks. I will blog all about it in the next few weeks and cannot wait to share the news. I am going to be here for a few days and then off to Barcelona for a few weeks of rest, golf, and relaxation. A few friends are also coming into town and we are going to have a lot of fun gambling on the golf course and probably some all night Chinese games. The real purpose of the trip is to refresh and go into the WSOP ready to grind long tournament hours and win a bracelet.

I am committed to playing more tournaments at this years WSOP, too be honest, I am a little frustrated with my tournament play as of late, and want to start making some final tables and make things happen.

The night before flying to Amsterdam, I played at the Bellagio in the Big Game with Doyle, Phil Ivey, Tom "Durr" Dwan, and David Benyamine. I give Tom a lot of credit for playing some mixed games at stakes that high. The game broke after two hours, but I still booked a very nice win. I headed home and got ready for the flight.

One of my best poker friends Noah Boeken is my tour guide for the week, so naturally it will be a fun few days. Will write soon when I get to Barcelona, and my favorite Hotel in the word, Hotel Arts.

Doyle, Poker after Dark, and more Prop Bets

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:42:00 +0000

I was enjoying my first few days back in Vegas when all of a sudden I received a ton of phone calls and emails all asking me about a golf match with Doyle Brunson. I had no idea what they were talking about until I read Doyle's blog, and saw he challenged me to a $100,000 per hole golf match. First of all, when the hell did Doyle Brunson start writing a blog, is it even legal for a man that old to blog? Pretty amazing for a guy that was around before TV's and telephones. And second, what is the gambling world coming to when a 108 year old man can challenge a young man in the prime of his life to a $100,000 a hole golf match.

Now you have to remember I took up golf only a few months ago. I am very happy if I can break 100 when I play 18 holes. Doyle on the other hand, is rumored to have hustled the likes of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and other legends at Shadow Creek since the early 20's.

I would like Doyle to know that I accept his challenge (not that I had much of a choice, I would be the laughing stock of the poker world if I backed down from this challenge) and if I have until August to practice and improve, hopefully I can make a big dent in Todd's inheritance. Seeing Todd cringe when I win millions is going to be worth just as much as the money.

Doyle and I met this past Wednesday to discuss our upcoming heads up poker match before we played on Poker After Dark that evening. In the three years I have known Doyle, I have never seen him looking more alive and with so much energy and focus. Most likely due to the fact that he thinks he has finally found the ultimate fish who is going to donate millions on the golf course and poker table.

I am going to play some tennis in the morning and then hit the putting and chipping greens to work on my short game. The WPT Bellagio starts for me Sunday and you can bet that I will bring my best game and fight hard for every chip.

Should have gone to sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:47:00 +0000

That is what I was asking myself as I left the casino and headed home yesterday after the completion of Day 1. I had a crazy up and down day yesterday at the EPT Grand Final here in Monaco. I was down to 3700 early in level 2 from the starting stack of 15,000. And then things started to turn around and I went on a nice rush and built my stack to around 70,000.

We had played for almost twelve hours and I was in great position to put myself in contention to be a major threat, buy I got a little frisky preflop with 22 and lost a huge pot to KK. For some reason I decided that my opponent did not have a big hand, and my pocket deuces were the best hand at the moment. I did not want to call preflop, so I decided to make a over raise and commit myself. He pushed all in and I was in trouble against KK. My deuces could not crack his kings and I lost a ton of chips. I was not too happy with myself at the end of the day and going to try my best to recover on Day 2.

I start day 2 tomorrow with 15,000 in chips, thankfully the structure is very good and I still have a little time to make things happen. We are going to start the day with blinds of 200-400 and 50 ante.

I spent the day off today going up to the mountains to hit some golf balls on the range. I had a Swedish camera crew following me around for interviews and pictures for an upcoming article in a Swedish poker magazine.

I have a few new prop bets that I will write about in my next blog, but here is a quick look into what I have going on this summer. It is going to be a super busy June and July with all these bets and the WSOP events. I am planning on playing a few more events this year.

Heads Up Poker match vs the legend Doyle Brunson (I have been working non stop on my pineapple game Doyle, so you better watch out)

Tennis / Golf bet for $100,000 with Brandon Adams

Tennis match vs Gus Hansen for $200,000

Golf team match with my assistant vs two Finnish pros for $200,000

Heads Up Stud 8 or Better match / Golf match with Daniel Negreanu for $500,000

The family is doing great, everyone is starting to feel like Monaco is home. It felt like a vacation for everyone the first few weeks, but we have finally settled. Mila is getting so big, fast, and smart it is amazing. She is the most curious little girl and tries to get her hands on anything she can get a hold of. Maya and I cannot take our eyes off her for a second, if we are not paying close attention, she finds trouble wherever she can.

The weather has not been very good the past week and I have not been able to play tennis or golf, hopefully the sun comes out before I leave so I can get some practice. The match with Gus is finally going to happen, so I need my game to be in tip top shape so I can have the Bobby's Rooms tennis bragging rights.

As soon as the EPT finished I will be flying to Las Vegas for a taping of Poker After Dark and to play in the $25,000 WPT Bellagio Event. This is one of my favorite events and the large prize pool makes it a great tournament. I have had some deep runs the past few years in this event, and I feel if I play well and remember that 2's do not beat Kings, I might have a chance to make something special happen in Vegas.

I have found a new interest in tournaments, so going to really focus tomorrow and try to double up early. Wish me luck and I will keep you posted on how the day goes soon.

-Patrik-

Tournament Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 01:12:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Mine did not go as smoothly as planned, but everything is fine now. I went on a last minute vacation to the Canary Islands to spend a few days with my good friends Jani and Mikko. We are staying at a beuatiful five star hotel, but my first room had no Internet, they moved me and now I am set. We all have been working extra hard on our golf games because we are so competitive with each other. The trash talking has been non stop and the way Mikko is talking, he is ready to take on Tiger Woods.

I have started to host some Bounty tournaments on Martins Poker. All the information is available on Martins Poker, click the link for all the details. The tournaments are €5 + €1 buy in with rebuys for the first 4 levels. If you knock me out, you receive €200 immediately into your account.

Here are the dates I will be playing:

Tuesday: March 25 at 20:00CET
Thursday: March 27 at 20:00CET

I look forward to seeing you all at the tables and good luck, your going to need it.

Exciting News

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:42:00 +0000

I just returned from a small little golf vacation with my good Finnish buddies Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Jani Vilmunen, and my accountant Tommi Majala at the beautiful Four Seasons in Nice, France. It was a great trip and my golf game took a big jump. I am now shooting from 92-96 consistently which is a lot more fun then shooting 114 like I was doing a few weeks ago.

While were on the way to the airport we were enjoying a few drinks and it was not long before we were in a heated debate over who was was the best at all the different games. Jani is not a big guy, and he was working on his third beer. Three beers for Jani is about nine beers for the average guy, so you can imagine that he is really feeling good and his confidence level is at an all time high. He was bragging about how he has not had a losing heads up PLO session in a long time. Ilari who also had about three beers was sober as could be and knew that it was the perfect time to challenge Jani to a match of some sort. I joined in the negotiations and we were trying to come up with some interesting HU battles for a large amount of money. We decided to call one of the most successful HU no limit players, our friend Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelpuro to see if he would be interested in gambling with his buddies. Sami is only 23 but he has established himself as an online legend and has a hard time finding opponents that will play him. The boys flew back to Finland that night and met Sami at the night club and got him to agree on a bet. It is going to be a team HU match, Ilari and myself vs Jani and Sami.

All matches will be played on Martins Poker with 200BB stacks.

I will play LarzLuzak in NL HU and Ilari will play Jani in HU PLO.

If one team wins both matches, then they are crowned Champions. If it is a split, then I will play Sami in a final tie breaker, the final match will be NL to decide the Champion.

Just when you thought that was an interesting heads up match, there is another one that is in the works that would be a dream come true. I made a little challenge to Doyle in the latest Card Player magazine, and it seems like Doyle has gladly accepted.

Since I am in Europe I have not yet seen the cover or read the article. It is my first ever CardPlayer cover and I am excited to see it. My new agent Chris is working on getting the match on TV. I will try and talk to Doyle and iron out the details. No matter who wins, it will be an amazing experience playing Doyle, one of the great legends of all time, heads up for over a million dollars. I am getting excited just thinking about it.

I have been playing a lot online the past few days on Martins Poker. I have been running really well in NL, but Ilari has been getting the best of me in PLO the past few days. I have been playing 50-100 to 200-400 Euros games.

Starting this Friday I will be playing in a few Bounty tournament on Martins Poker. The entry fee will be $5 Euros and the bounty on my head is $200 Euros. You can download Martins Poker by clicking on that link, unfortunately USA residents are not allowed to play on Martins Poker currently, hopefully that changes soon.

Maya has been putting some finishing touches on the loft and it really finally feels like home. I am still waiting on my computer chair to arrive, I have been playing online sitting on the kitchen chairs and it is not very comfortable.

I forgot to mention in my last blog that I bought a new car last time I was in Monaco. It has been awhile since I bought myself something really nice, so I decided to go big time and get the newest Range Rover, the SE Vogue. I sparred no expense and got all the top accessories and extras, needless to say, Mila will be having fun in the backseat with all the TV's and other gadgets.

I write soon with more details about the bounty tournaments on Martins Poker. And hopefully I have news about the match with Doyle as well. I am going to try and play a little tennis this afternoon or hit the gym. Hopefully I will see some of you on Martins Poker battling with me in the upcoming tournaments.

Good luck at the tables
-Patrik-

Back Home

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:38:00 +0000

I was visiting Vegas for a few days to play in the NBC Heads up and have a few meetings. I played the NBC Heads Up tournament this past weekend, and unfortunately I did not last too long. I was up against poker commentator Gabe Kaplan in the first round anhd started off well and built a nice chip lead. The levels are not long, and was forced to push the action faster than I would have liked. When I had a slight lead, we got it all in before the flop and I had JT and he had AJ. The flop was a good one for me, 89K, but I did not hit any of my outs and we were close to even. The blinds were 600-1200 when I looked down at 22 and pushed all in from the button and Gabe called with A5 with the 5 of diamonds, and the flop came A K Q all diamonds.

I had a great meeting on the golf course yesterday which could lead to a lot of interesting deals for me. I wish I could give you all the fun details, but you will have to wait a few weeks before I can public ally announce them. We discussed one interesting golf bet involving a few friends and it looks like it might even be on TV, which would be a lot of fun.

It is nice to be home in Monaco, it really feels like home now, because Maya and Mila are here, but the first few days have been rough for them, because they are struggling with the jetlag. Naturally, with all the travels I have been through, I do not feel any jetlag.

It was an adventurous trip from Las Vegas. We took a Southwest flight from LV to LAX, and naturally one of my bags did not make it. Thankfully my assistant made the flight with us to LA in case of a situation like this. He waited for the next flight from Vegas to arrive and rushed the bag across two terminals to us while we checked in for our American Airlines flight to London. Mila is a pro traveler, she has flown around the world a few times now and sits quietly and enjoys the flight.

I will be playing a lot of golf and tennis the next few days and have a big golf match with my buddy Jani in a a week or so. We are playing 18 holes for $100,000 and he has to beat me by 15 shots. We are playing from the club tees at the Four Seasons golf resort in the south of France. I think I have an edge and hopefully I can pull it out. I want to thank my favorite caddie and golf coach Joe, who has helped my game a ton the past few weeks.

I will be in Monaco for about six weeks before heading back to Vegas for Poker after Dark and the WPT Championships in the middle of April. Hopefully I can get a little action online in the meantime and make some money.

-Patrik-

Enjoying Europe

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 09:58:00 +0000

Life has been very busy the past few weeks. I played in a huge cash game in Vegas, partied at Carnival in Brazil, golfed in Rome, and finally had Phil Ivey try his best to hustle me on the golf course. Needless to say, it has been a fun few weeks.

I had been planning on going to Brazil for quite some time. Martins Poker is going to be the official sponsor of the WSOP Brazil and I was going to go there to do some promotional work. A few days before the flight, I became very ill and it looked like I was going to have to cancel the trip. I missed my first flight because I was too sick to fly. I got a phone call from a friend that he was coming to Vegas and he wanted to play some $1000-2000 PLO / NL game that with no cap. I told him I was supposed to be in Brazil, but since I was sick, I was still in Vegas. He told me that after the game, I could join him on his private jet, since he was headed to Brazil himself the day after the game.

One of the most amazing things I have ever seen in the Bellagio happened that night as well. One of the players in the $40-80 mix game right outside Bobbys Room just walked right into Bobby's Room and sat down at our table, pulled out a bunch of $5000 and $25,000 chips and played with us for about seven hours. He was straddling every hand and moving chips as fast as he could. He ended up winning over $200,000. I am not sure how many players have played a six hour session of $40-80 and a seven hour session of $1000-2000 NL and PLO in the same day.

I brought along my good friend Mikko down to Brazil. It was his first time in a private jet and we had a blast. This was my first visit to Brazil and Carnival was absolutely amazing. The acts were very impressive. Of course we found a golf course close by and got some holes in.

I flew into Nice, France a few days ago and was suppose to fly to Copenhagen for the EPT event. I have not played any poker since leaving Australia and ready to get back into action. But at the last minute I decided to skip the tournament and finish decorating my loft in Monaco. Maya and Mila are joining me in a few weeks and I want the place to be looking good for their arrival.
They are both doing well, Mila is a few days away from walking all on her own; it is really cute watching her trying so hard to balance and then fall down.

I went golfing with Martin de Knijff, Phil Ivey, Winky Wright, and my assistant Nick at Shadow Creek awhile back. Nick who is a 12-14 handicap, performed one of the worst golf hustling moves in the history of Shadow Creek. Now considering how many gamblers play there, that is no small feat. Nick had grand plans of winning his retirement in one day of golf with Ivey and when Nick asked Phil how much he wanted to play for, and Phil did not want to bet, Nick was heartbroken. Nick was on super tilt and decided to show Phil what he was missing. He almost drove the first green with a 345 yard drive and was 2 under par after five holes. He ended up shooting a 36 from the tips on the front nine. Needless to say, Phil Ivey will not be betting Nick on the golf course anytime soon. Phil still doesn't believe Nick is my assistant, he thinks I brought out a ringer to hustle him. Phil was trying as hard as he could to not score well himself. He played some of the worst golf he has ever played and I am sure next time we play, he will not want to give me any shots. I will not fall for his hustling, so don't worry about me.

Brandon Adams and I have been negotiating an interesting prop bet. It is a hybrid prop bet, $200,000 Tennis and Golf Match. If one of us can win an 18 hole golf match and 2 out of 3 set tennis match, he wins. If it is split, it is a push. At the moment, I am a big favorite in tennis and he is the big favorite in golf. I have heard that Brandon has been hitting tennis balls every day the past two weeks, but that's ok, because my golf game is getting better as well.

I have been enjoying the past few days in Rome, one of my favorite cities. I have just been going to the gym, golfing, and enjoying the amazing food of Italy.

I will be heading back to Vegas in a few days for the NBC Heads Up Championship which is a really fun and tough tournament. Hopefully I play well and run good and can have a good showing.

Good luck at the tables.

-Patrik-

Australia Trip Report

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 06:45:00 +0000

I made a New Years resolution to write my blog more often and more consistent. Well I am off to a bad start, but going to make up for it. We just got back from Melbourne a few days ago and I have been on a really weird sleep schedule ever since.

A friend of ours made arrangements for a private jet to take us from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. I had been in Vegas for a few days visiting Maya and Mila. When we were checking in at LAX, the nice lady at ticketing informed me that the tickets were not paid for. I could not believe that my travel agent could screw up so bad. It was painful paying for six people to fly first class from LA to Melbourne.

I skipped the $100,000 buy in tournament, because I could not pass up some high stakes golf. I am so frustrated with my golf swing, I am hitting worse now then I did the first day I ever hit a golf ball. So you can only imagine how much money I lost on the golf course. Lucky for me I finally started winningat Chinese Poker and recovered all my golf losses and even made some money.

The main event at the Aussie Millions is always a great tournament. I made it deep last year and was hoping to improve on my 13^th place finish. I did not even make it past day 1 which was frustrating. I arrived about three hours late which did not help the cause either. I was steaming from a few different things and did not want to start the tournament on the wrong foot. I have a lot of respect for the players who make a living playing only tournaments, it is a lot harder than people think.

I was invited again to play in the high stakes cash game that airs on Fox. I played very well and hit some big hands at the right time and booked a very nice win. I have said it before, but I love these TV cash games. Everyone opens their games up more and gambles.

The side action was great down in Australia too. We got a $500-1000 PLO and PLH game going with Tom “Durr” Dwan, Phil Laak, Tony G, and a few others mixed in. One of the more interesting hands was against Durr. We were playing with a $2000 live straddle, so Durr raised to $6000. I was to his immediate left and just called with KK. The flop came 8 6 5 and Durr bet $13,000 and I called. The turn was an off suit 2 and he checked. I bet $22,500 and Durr called. The river was a 10 and again Durr checked. I thought I had the best hand and I wanted him to call, so I only bet $65,000 into the $80,000 pot. He called and I was pretty shocked when he turned over 88 for a set. I am lucky that I did not lose more on this hand.

I made it to a few tennis matches with a few poker friends. My country mate Jarkko Niemenen had a great tournament and reached the quarterfinals before falling to Nadal. Jarkko just got done with his military service, and said he is in the best shape of his life

I also got to do a little tennis training. I have always been impressed with how many top poker players are also excellent tennis players. David Grey, David B, Gus H were all top junior players. I spent a lot of time with Brandon Adams in Melbourne and he turned out to be a very good tennis player too. We had a great hit and are in negotiations for our own tennis / golf bet.

Melbourne is a gorgeous city and Maya has been looking forward to coming here for a long time. It is nice being able to give Mila the opportunity to travel the world, even though she is too young to remember, I am sure it is a great experience for her. Mila also swam for the first time with Maya at the hotel pool. She was having so much fun it was hard getting her out of the water. The most fun thing I did on the trip was taking Mila to the Melbourne Zoo. She loved all the animals and she had the biggest smile on her face the entire time.

I am off to Brazil in a few days for some business meetings and a little vacation. After that I will be returning to Monaco and preparing for the EPT Copenhagen.

Good luck at the tables
-Patrik-

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:15:00 +0000

Happy New Years and a Look Back at 2007

Maya and I just spent New Years Eve at Marco and Jennifer’s new place in Queensridge. We had a lot of fun and I spent a lot of time with Daniel Negreanu talking about my new favorite hobby. Daniel has been addicted for a long time, but I am on my way to being the biggest golf enthusiast out there. I have been thinking of splurging on a virtual reality golf simulator for Maya’s place, because it is so cold in Vegas during the winter. Daniel gave me a strong sales pitch and I was sold.

I have been living the dream the past few weeks. My daily routine is to wake up around ten, head to the golf course and hit the range. We usually play 12-18 holes, and the last three holes are brutal because it is around 35 degrees, but no one wants to quit because they want to try and get even. We then grab a nice meal at TPC and add up the bets on the day. We take a little break and then go to the gym and play racquetball and lift. I love golf so much, although I do not love the fact that I am already down $450,000 in golf bets, but hopefully I can get even soon. Phil Ivey and I are planning on golfing everyday in Australia, so I will definitely have some good stories to share when I get back.

I will always look back at 2007 as one of the most important years of my life. I started the year in Australia and had a solid result in the Aussie Millions. My bankroll got a nice boost with my tournament cash and booking a few wins in some high stakes cash games down under. I did not play a full tournament schedule this year, but I managed to make a few results and finished the year a winner in tournaments. I almost won my first bracelet at the WSOP in a Pot-Limit Omaha event. I finished the year strong at the Bellagio, at one point I won eight sessions in a row in Bobby’s Room. Overall it was a great year that I will always remember.

I traveled a lot this past year to play in tournaments and a few high stakes cash games that aired on TV. I really enjoy live cash games and especially when they are on TV. The TV cameras seem to do a great job of creating action. I had a lot of fun playing on Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker and will look forward to playing in them again this year.

There were a lot of big changes in my life away from poker this year as well. I made a big change in moving back to Europe and living in Monaco. I have a beautiful place and I have missed living in Europe the past few years.

By far the best part of this year was the birth of Mila. Watching her grow and spending time with her has brought me so much happiness and motivates me to succeed so that I can provide all the opportunities for her. Poker is my passion, but Mila and Maya are the two most important things in my life and they always will be.

I hope everyone had wonderful and safe Holidays. I will start the New Year in Australia for the Aussie Millions. I am going to try and catch a few tennis matches at the Australian Open while we are in town. Mila will be making the trip; she is already a world traveler. After Australia, Mila and Maya will join me in Monaco for a few months.

Good luck at the tables

-Patrik-

WPT Bellagio and Super High Stakes Poker

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:55:00 +0000

The $15,000 Five Diamond Bellagio WPT will always be one of my favorite tournaments. I arrived almost two hours late, and within forty minutes I built the initial 30,000 stack to 80,000. Since I missed all of level 1, I made things happen in level 2.

The first big pot was when I called a raise with the 8h 5h in the small blind. The flop came 2 2 4 with two hearts. I led out and the initial raiser raised to 9000 which left him with 18,000. He looked very strong when he raised me, so my plan was to call and if I did not improve, I would fold on the turn. The turn was an off suit 8 giving me top pair and I checked. My opponent all of a sudden looked very uncomfortable, he looked back to his cards, and it was pretty clear to me that my pair of eights was most likely the best hand at the moment. He went all in and I called. He had AK with no hearts, so he had four outs to beat me. The river was a blank and I won a nice sized pot.

Another interesting hand occurred around twenty minutes later in level 2. I was in the SB with pocket Jacks. The button limped and I raised to 800. The BB and the Button both called. The flop came 9 5 3 with two spades. I bet 2000 into the 2400 pot and was called by both players. The turn was the 9 of spades completing the flush and pairing the board. I had the Jack of spades, but I checked and the BB checked, the button bet 5000. I called and was surprised when the BB came along as well, I was wondering what he had. The river was the Ace of spades and I led out for 12,000. The BB folded and the button called with 8s 6s. He turned the flush, but I caught one of my outs on the river.

On one of the last hands of the night I was dealt AK on the button. A player in middle position raised it to 2000 and I re-raised to 7000 and he called. The flop was A J 4 and it was looking like a great way to finish the night. He checked and I bet 8000 and he went all in. I called of course, but was up against a set of Jacks. I doubled him up and left myself with 24,600 going into day 2. We started with 30,000 so it was not an ideal position to be in, but I was still alive and was ready to fight hard on day 2 to make a run at the title.

Day 1 finished around 9pm and I grabbed dinner with Maya and Gus Hansen. It also happened to be my birthday. I am not a huge fan of birthdays and was trying to sneak through the day without too much attention. Maya and I had a lot of fun relaxing and talking with Gus and some other friends. I was on the waiting list for the "Big Game" but it was getting late and I decided to go back to Maya's and get some rest for day 2.

Day 2 did not last long; I managed to win a pot early on by making a flush, increasing my stack to 36,000. I folded a whole round and was waiting for a hand. Nenad Medic raised in the cutoff and I called with 9c 7c. The flop was K T 2 and we both checked. The turn was a Jack giving me a eight outs for a straight. I bet 3500 on the turn and he called. The river was an 8 giving me the third nut straight. The pot was around 15,000 and I bet 10,000. He raised, which would put me all in. I pretty much knew I was beat, but I could not lay it down, since I was getting 6-1 odds to call. Nenad could be raising with a set or big two pairs as well, so I had to call. He had AQ, the nuts so I was out.

The tournament was not exactly over for me when I busted out. I had cross booked with one player before the tournament. And it happened that that player was the chip leader going into day 3, no other than Mr. Phil Ivey. I was sleeping after a long twenty hour session when Maya woke me up and told me that Phil was out. Cross booking is a great way to add a little more excitement to tournaments. I will cross book with any players in the world, the ideal scenario would be 6-10 players and we cross book 10-15% per person.

I have been playing a lot in Bobby’s Room this December. This tournament seems to bring all the high stakes players into town. Last week I played the biggest poker game I have ever played. It is hard to imagine that five years ago I was playing $1-2 PLO at Casino Helsinki and a few nights ago I was playing 2k-4k PLO against “Mr Omaha” himself. We played with a $200k cap, which was probably a little too small, but we were trying to keep things a little under control. I played twenty seven hours straight and made a decent hourly rate.

I am a huge fight fan, weather it is MMA or Boxing, I enjoy a good fight. A good friend of mine hooked me up with some great seats to the recent Mayweather vs. Hatton fight the other night at Mandalay Bay. This was probably the best boxing match I have ever seen.

With so much action at the Bellagio I have had no time for the online games. Although I have heard that there are no big games running. I have sat at the Martins Poker tables a few times, but no one has come to play. Hopefully the online games start running more and I can get back to business.

Good luck at the tables

-Patrik-

Marathon Sessions

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:56:00 +0000

I would like to give my condolences to the family of Chip Reese. I had the utmost respect for Chip. If there was one player that I could have sat behind and watched play, it would have been Chip. Poker lost one of the all time greats and he will be missed all. If it were not for Chip, poker would not be where it is today. I am lucky that the old timers paved the way for us so that it is possible to make a great living playing poker.

I was planning on posting a blog a few days ago, but I was on my way to the Bellagio and decided I would wait until I got back in case there were any interesting hands I could add.
I surprised myself earlier in the week by playing a 26 hour session, but I topped that off with a 41 hour session. I barely made it back to Maya's house, I have never been that tired before in my life. I slept 18 hours and woke up wondering what day it was. That is the longest I have ever played and hopefully I will never play that long again.

My first marathon session started as a $3k-6k mix of Chinese, Stud 8, PL 5 card draw, Triple Draw 2-7, PLO, and NL hold em. The NL and PLO had a cap. Johnny Chan, Gus Hansen, Doyle, and Jim were all in the game.

There were a few exciting hands during the night. In a no limit Texas hold em hand, Johnny Chan raised it up and Doyle announced "Cap," which means he is all in for the max. Johnny inst called and Doyle says "Queens" and Johnny says "Aces." It looked good for Doyle when the flop came Q 4 2. But an Ace on the river gave Johnny the pot. Even the greatest player of all time loses on the river every once in awhile.

Now for an interesting PLO hand. We are playing four handed. Gus, Johnny, Jim and myself. I raised pre flop and Johnny and Gus called. The flop came Q Q 9 and I bet and Johnny called. Gus took a little time shuffling his $5000 chips and finally raised. I did not hit the flop so I mucked, but Johnny tanks for quite a while before folding. The funny part was while Gus was raking in the pot; Jim told us that he mucked QQ and what the hell was going on with all the betting and raising. Gus just smiled and I am sure if he was playing online, he would have typed in "*ups*."

The game finally broke, but Gus and I were not ready to leave. We stayed and played Chinese, it turned out to be an epic session and after being down almost the whole time I made a great comeback in the last hour and ended up winning around $50,000. I was so tired at the end I made a crucial error in Chinese that cost me around 40k. It was obviously time to quit. I enjoyed this session of live poker because it was shorthanded the whole time and you can play more hands.

A few nights later I had my 46 hour session. People were in and out of the game, but David B and I were in the game the whole time. I finished a winner, but the wear and tear on the body was not worth it. Unless Bill Gates is passing out $25,000 chips I do not think I will ever play another 40 hour session.

I went another night really late to play again at the Bellagio. I got to Bobby's Room around 2am and played with Doyle, David, Jennifer, Jim, Johnny, Eli, and Rafi. We played 2k-4k mix. The game broke a little later and this time, since Gus was not around, I found a Chinese poker opponent in Rafi. We mixed it up and played with 2-7 in the middle, which is a new variation that is gaining popularity in some bigger mixed games. I booked a small small win, which sure beats losing.

I have been icing my thumb as much as possible and wearing a brace to try and speed up the healing process. I miss being at the golf course everyday. Hopefully only a few more days and I can get back out there. I am thinking of taking a golf vacation in December, I am trying to decide between Hawaii and California.

Good luck

-Patrik-

Golf, Poker, and Family

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:54:00 +0000

My daily routine lately has been almost perfect. I have been waking up early and our wonderful nanny/chef continues to impress with wonderful new dishes on a daily basis. After fueling my body I head down to the 24 hour fitness for a workout and warm up. I am happy with my workouts lately, my body feels good again. The golf course is right across the street from the gym, so after a good workout my body is ready for the range, but since my thumb is not yet healed 100% from an old Muay Thai injury, I have not been able to golf this past week. It looks like I am going to have to take ten days off, since I want to make sure it heals correctly. After golf it is back to Maya's house and hang out with Mila and Maya all night. I usually find a little time to play online if the games are good. Now if my shoulder was a little better and I could throw some tennis in there somewhere I would have my perfect day.

Phil Ivey called me while back and told me there was going to be a "Big Game" on Friday night. It has been a long time since I played live cash games and I was excited to sit back down at the tables and at real people in the eyes. It was the usual line up, I had Jennifer on my right and Minh on my left. Bobby Baldwin, Doyle, Guy (Noatima,) Eli, Lyle, and David B. were all in the game.

I am sure that I am not the only one who finds live poker so boring after playing online. I was also a little upset that we were only playing $2k-4k instead of $3k-6k or $4k-8k. We played a mixture of four games, NL Hold em, PLO, Limit Holdem, and Stud high. There was a $60,000 CAP in the NL and PLO games. I lost with AKs to KK in a capped pot and chopped with KK vs 77 since we ran it twice in another capped pot. I did still manage to leave the game a small winner, but the game was slow that I could not take it anymore and quit the game after five hours. The game was moving just to slow since we were playing nine handed and it felt too small, even though $2k-4k is a big game.

The Bellagio was getting pretty busy while I was playing the other night. This is a great sign, hopefully when the tournament rolls around, the stakes are bigger are more players are in town. I have talked a few times with Brian Townsend, Guy, and Bobby Baldwin about getting the $1k-2k NL and PLO game going again during December. I will play the Main Event in the upcoming WPT Five Diamonds, which brings back a lot of great memories and a few sour ones too.

On the way from the poker room to the valet pick up, I managed to take the long route so I could stop by the blackjack tables and hopefully win some money or break even while building up some comps for the Holiday season. I lost a little and when I finally got to my car I was a small winner on the whole poker, BJ trip. Maya on the other hand who came with me, hit two jackpots on the slot machines while I was playing poker and made more money than I did. She is a lifetime winner at slots and if poker does not work out, I might have to stay home with Mila and let Maya play high limit slots all day and support the family.

Online poker has been a roller coaster still, but the past few days have been profitable and on a little hot streak. I have been sitting at Martins Poker waiting for opponents, but no one has sat down. Actually, I forgot to stand up and leave the tables the other day and while I was in the shower, someone sat down and stole my blinds on three tables. That added up to 900 Euros, so I was not too happy about that, but I will get it back, someday.

Mila is starting to crawl and it is so fun to watch her grow each day. It is amazing how fast it all goes. She will be going off to school before I know it. Maya's family is visiting, her Mother just flew in from Israel and her brother from LA with his new Fiance. We are having a Thanksgiving feast today, my first Thanksgiving ever, and with our nanny cooking, it is going to be great I am sure.

I am off to the Bellagio, I just got a call that there is going to be a $3k-6k game and it is shorthanded. Wish me luck and I will let you know how it goes soon.

Good luck at the tables

-Patrik-

Roller Coaster Cash Games and an Online Final Table

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:06:00 +0000

What a few days. The action on Full Tilt has been incredible the past week.
I wish I could tell you that I have been winning everyday; instead I have been
on the roller coaster ride of a lifetime. The first day the action was crazy,
I had one of my all time great days. Unfortunately the next three days no
matter how good my cards were, Full Tilt found a way to make me lose.

Last night was the icing on the cake. I played a marathon online session
and it was not looking good at all, but somehow, I grinded away and at
the end of the night had booked a win. It was a wild session with huge
swings up and down, Gus, Zigmund, and Kaibuxxe, were all gambling. I
played a little HORSE at the end of the night, but most of the session I was playing PLO.

The past few nights, Maya and my assistant have been playing
the FTOPS tournaments. It has been a lot of fun watching
them go deep and giving advice if they want it. Maya often wants
the advice, but when the advice does not suit her, applying the advice
is a different story. So the other night I decided to have a little competition
with them and see who could go the furthest. The tournament was a $200
PL Hold em event. It was only the second online tournament I have played this year, and I managed to make it to the final table.

I went into the final table with the chip lead, but it was not meant to be.
I got knocked out 5th which was still good for $14,000. Not bad for a
last second entry. On the way to the final table I played a big pot with
poker pro Chip Jett and knocked him out. For busting the Full Tilt pro,
I got a $200 bounty and a T-Shirt saying, "I knocked out Chip Jett."

Now for a gambling story on the golf course. I played a few days
ago with Jani (KObyTapOut) and I lost a little under $100,000.
Overall I am stuck a little over $100k in golf bets so far, and to be
honest I do not like being stuck. In the past when I get stuck at something,
it usually means I am going to put a lot of time into getting so good that
I can get even and make some good money. For now, I look at the loss
as a initiation to the golf gambling world. My swing under pressure is not the
same on the range, so once I can master that, I should be in great shape.
Golf is such a great game and I see why poker players love gambling on it.
I hope when its all said and done, I am the biggest golf better around.

Yesterday at the golf course, my thumb started to kill me. We had to cancel
our round and I just putted for a little while. I ran into Daniel, I
watched him hit a great chip shot on the 9th hole. It looks like all of
Daniels hard work on his short game is paying off.

My shoulder is starting to finally feel better, so I should get
back on the tennis court this week. I have only played two or three
times in the past two months, I need to get my game ready for Mr. Hansen.

I am getting excited for the upcoming WPT at the Bellagio. There are going
to be some huge cash games and I feel as ready as ever. All of the big
players in town will be ready to gamble in Bobbys Room. I really hope we can
play the uncapped NL and PLO game we played during the WSOP. The next
few days I might join Maya in some more online tournaments, so keep your eyes open.

Good luck at the tables

-Patrik-

Golfing in Monaco

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:58:00 +0000

I flew back to Monaco last week and I have been ordering all new
appliances and furnishings for my loft and have been spending a few days
getting everything set up. It is a great feeling being able to design
the loft just the way I want it and install all my favorite things.

My friends Mikko, Tommi, and Jani all flew into town and we golfed at
least 18 holes everyday, so it was a great time. I even I even decided that
I was ready to put some money down and start gambling on the golf course.

We showed up at the Monte Carlo Country Club the first day and Jani
said I would need two shots per hole because he was a 6-7 handicap. Jani did everything he could to make sure my first day gambling on golf was a good one. He had not played for a few months and was not able to play up to his standards. I booked a win and
what a great way to start my gambling golf career.

On the second day we changed course and played at the beautiful Four Seasons Resorts Provence at Terre Blanche. I played good enough to beat the rusty Jani. It was starting to feel like making money at golf was too easy.

On the third day we decided to mix it up and play a team competition.
I was partnered with Tommi and Jani played with Mikko. Mikko was driving the ball farther than I have ever seen. He carried their team as Janni was still not playing up to his potential. I was happy to play with Tommi since he was playing the best of all of us going into the day.

It was a very tight match coming down to the last hole. We got very unlucky
in the end and they ended up beating us. But we all had a great time
and I cannot wait for the next golf vacation. Maya and Mila spent some time in Hawaii this summer and Maya is still talking about how wonderful it was. I might take the family there for a week or two and enjoy Hawaii’s beautiful golf courses.

One thing that I cannot believe after watching the ESPN high stakes
golf is how all of the poker players bend the rules when they golf.
They use Vaseline on their clubs to keep the ball straight and other
tricks that are not legal. I want to learn real golf and will not bet
with those kinds of crazy tricks.

Enough about golf, onto poker, I was going to have a high stakes heads
up poker match in Amsterdam, but we are going to postpone it to a later
date. Every once in awhile I get offers to play in high stakes games
around the world.

I have been putting some time in online. My favorite poker room
Martins Poker just opened some high limit tables and I will be playing
there often. Lately I have been running very good at HORSE, I really
enjoy playing the different limit games. I do not have a ton of
experience at Stud or Stud 8 so it is great practice for me so when I
am playing these games in the Big Game against Barry, Chip, Phil, and Gus, I can make better decisions. No matter how good you get at poker, you can always improve and
practice and fine tune your game.

A few days ago I finally got the best out of my good friend Ziigmund in PLO. At the end of the session we even ran two flips and I won both of those. In limit Hold em,
Hoss_TBF and I have been battling like usual and lately he is getting
the best of me, but hopefully things turn around soon.

Mila turns six months in a few days and is getting cuter and cuter
each day. She is developing ahead of schedule and it is amazing to see it. She is growing
so fast and just started to sit up on her own. She is even recognizing our friends. I cannot wait for her first steps and her first words should be very soon.

On a funny note, I had a crazy dream a few nights ago where Maya got
3rd in the Main Event at the WSOP next year; we had a big argument
because I wanted all the money since I taught her everything she
knows. We had a good laugh about it at breakfast the next morning.

Good luck at the tables
Patrik

Visiting Vegas

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:30:00 +0000

I have been back in Vegas for almost a week visiting Maya and Mila upon returning from the EPT Baden and WPT Barcelona. Neither tournament was a success for me, but the online cash games were running strong and I managed to win my fair share. I have not played this much online in a long time. If I was not in the tournament or in the gym I was grinding away online.

First tournament was the Baden EPT. Instead of staying in Baden, I stayed in Vienna, which meant I had to take a 40 minute cab ride each day to get to the Casino in Baden. I was planning on staying at the Le Meridian, but I booked my room too late and was not able to get a room. Le Meridian in Vienna is one of my favorite hotels. I did manage to get a room nearby at Hotel Bristol, which turned out to be a fine place to stay.

Vienna is a wonderful city and I like having a better selection of restaurants, gyms, and other attractions a big city has to offer. Vienna was also hosting an ATP tennis tournament the same week and I managed to watch quite a few matches on TV.

After Vienna I took a short flight to Barcelona, another one of my favorite cities. The great thing about the WPT Barcelona was that they started each day at 5pm. This was terrific; you could enjoy the nightlife, play cash games or online games all night and still get enough sleep before the tournament. I have a morning routine, which includes working out, so the late starting time is great for me. Although on Day 1 I still managed to show up an hour late.

My first table at the WPT Barcelona was a very good table for me, only one known player, Ram Vaswani. But since I was late, they took my chips and made me redraw for a starting table. My new table had Barry Greenstein, Jani Sointula, Steve Zolotow, Alex Kravchneko, and Joe Elpayaa. There was not a soft spot anywhere at the table.

I played very tight and I lost every single hand I played, fortunately they were all small and medium sized pots, so I was hanging around. Just before the dinner break I made a move with AT diamonds and the SB called me with AK and I was out.

I am always happy to go out early in the tournament, because I know I did not sacrifice so many hours and not get paid. The most frustrating thing is to play for three days and get 15^th place and hardly make any money. I went back to my room, ordered some room service and played online all night. I had a nice little win and booked a flight for the next morning and was in Vegas later that day.

If you have been following the online action lately, you have seen that I had a few great limit hold em sessions against HOSS_TBF. He plays a little different than normal limit hold em specialists. It took a little while for me to figure out what he was doing. Limit hold em heads up is a great game, which requires a lot of aggression and there is a lot of bluffing involved. Not laying down your hand when you are beat can cost you a lot of money, so folding at the right time is very important.

A lot of people might think of me as a PLO and NL specialist. But my limit games are very strong at the moment. Actually I mostly played short handed and heads up limit hold em for a year straight when limit hold em was the biggest game online. I was a little rusty the first few session against Hoss, but lately I have getting the best of him.

Despite winning a lot of money online during the trip, I managed to hurt my back and shoulder while working out. My shoulder needs about a week or two off before I can start hitting tennis balls again.

The reason I flew back to Vegas was for Poker after Dark. I did some work with NBC for some upcoming commercials and promotions. I had a very tough heat. Roland De Wolfe, John Juanda, Johnny Chan, Gus Hansen, and Daniel Negreanu were my table mates. The buy in was $20,000 and it is winner take all. It was a tough table but I had a lot of fun, should make for some good TV.

Maya’s best friend was staying at the house for a few days; she also just had a baby, a boy. So Mila has her first friend and they had a lot of fun playing with each other.

I have a few weeks in Vegas before heading back home to Monaco. The trip I am really looking forward to is to Australia for the Aussie Millions and for some Grand Slam tennis at the Australian Open. Melbourne is a beautiful city and I am bringing the whole family to this one.

Thanks and good luck at the tables

Patrik

A Few Days At Home - And A New Hobby

noreply@blogger.com (Patrik Antonius) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:51:00 +0000

I got back to Vegas last Saturday from a long European trip, but now I’m recovering from yet another 16-hour flight across the Atlantic back to Europe. This was a rough trip because I had three flights to get there. It started with a Southwest flight to LA. Once I arrived at LAX I had to pick up my bags at baggage claim and check in again at Lufthansa for my flight to Frankfurt. My final flight was Frankfurt to Vienna, which thankfully was short flight. By comparison, the 45-minute cab ride to Baden was a breeze.

This has been the busiest fall I have ever had, but I am really enjoying it. The weather in Vegas the past few days has been perfect. I got a little tennis in and hit the gym a few times. I have also picked up a brand new hobby and have fallen in love with golf. I just started and I am hooked.

I ran into Daniel Negreanu at TPC in Summerlin a few days ago and he was surprised to see me. I am sure he cannot wait to get me on the course and take my money. But that is going to be a while, because I just started and want to be able to put up a good fight when we start.

So far, I feel like Tiger Woods on the practice range, hitting the ball cleanly and pretty straight. But the few times I tried to play on the course, I could barely hit the ball. I did have a great shot the other day; I hit the ball in the hole from around 100 yards. The only problem was I had already hit three shots out of bounds and one in the water before that miracle shot. I scored an 13 on the hole and did not even have to putt!

Before leaving for Europe a few weeks ago, I forgot to plug in my Aston Martin so, when I got home, it was completely dead. I had to have it towed to the dealership last Monday and get a new battery installed. I had to make a decision about the fate of my car, leaving it in Vegas or shipping it with me to Europe when I move. I decided to ship it to Monte Carlo as I am not quite ready to part ways with my first fancy car quite yet.

On Sunday I played the WCOOP main event, but nothing special happened and I was out early. I was focusing more on some high-stakes online cash games and did not give myself a great shot. It also didn't help that I was not picking up any good cards. I broke even in the cash games, so it wasn't too eventful of an afternoon. Congratulations to all the players who made the final table.

Three and four years ago I used to be a Sunday junkie, playing all the Sunday tournaments. Playing the WCOOP reminded me of back then, which seems like so long ago. Just shows you that anything is possible in poker.

I played quite a bit online this week and had a solid HORSE session a few nights ago. I started the night playing some $200-400 PLO and got very unlucky in some pots early in the session and was stuck around 100k. I decided to single table and play some HORSE. I ended up booking a nice 120k win. It was a tough game with a few friends of mine. I was really playing well, and hitting hands, which is always nice.

I have been playing a lot of heads-up NL on some of the Euro sites and been running very good. I had an interesting hand against my last opponent. I raised on the button with A7 and he called. The flop came A 7 3 and we were soon in a raising war.

Before I put my last chips in the pot, I told my friend watching that he most likely has 33. But if he thinks I am folding top two he is crazy. I called and the seven of diamonds peeled off on the turn. It was very nice to get lucky one time.

I will be playing the EPT Baden and then the WPT in Barcelona. My favorite hotel in Barcelona is totally booked, which is disappointing. If you are ever in Barcelona, Hotel Arts is the only place to stay.

Good luck at the tables and I will keep you posted on my results in Europe.

Patrik