One-On-One with Poker Pro Patrik Antonius -- Part 2Antonius Talks About Isildur1, Hastings, and Dwan |
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Where there was action, there was Patrik Antonius.
The Finnish pro took on anyone who was willing to face him at the high-stakes tables of Full Tilt in 2009, competing in the Durrrr Challenge against Tom Dwan and facing off against the nosebleeds’ newest competitor, Isildur1, even taking down the biggest pot in online history against the new player.
In Part 2 of his interview with Card Player, Antonius talks about some of the major characters in the high-stakes world, the legitimacy of datamining software, and what he sees for the future — both in terms of poker and his growing family.
Part 1 of the Antonius interview appeared yesterday.
On the State of the High-Stakes Cash Games
When Isildur1 stormed his way up to the nosebleeds at Full Tilt, the poker community watched on with intense anticipation. The newcomer’s desire to gamble and his willingness to square off against anyone in the world — be it Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, or Antonius — created fireworks at the game’s biggest stakes.
After taking a sizable chunk of Dwan’s bankroll, Isildur1 was eventually brought back down to earth thanks to CardRunners pro Brian Hastings. He has been largely absent from the online tables in 2010, except for the occasional sighting at the $25-$50 tables - a long way from the $500$1,000 tables he was eight-tabling in his heyday.
Antonius, for one, expects Isildur1 to return to the nosebleeds in the next couple years.
“Isildur is so young — if he’s the guy who people think he is. All it’s going to take is some experience, like a year or two,” said Antonius. “Isildur could easily have over $10 million now on Full Tilt if he had better game selection and if he didn’t play six, seven, or eight games at the same time against Phil Ivey and Durrrr. He’s a great player, but you need everything; you need money management.”
Isildur1 is rumored to be the still-not-21-year-old Viktor Blom, an online poker player in Sweden who established a following after a large rise and fall on the European sites. However, Blom never has admitted publicly that he is Isildur1.
Antonius also expects Dwan to rebound from his losses to the Swedish phenom.
“Durrrr got pretty unlucky, but he’s going to come back as a better player,” said Antonius. “Isildur gave a lot of headaches to a lot of people.”
Isildur1’s fall from grace was complete after Hastings crushed him in a five-hour heads-up session, where he took $4.2 million from the Swedish player. However, that session was not without controversy, as it was revealed that Hastings benefited from hand histories that his friend and fellow CardRunners pro Brian Townsend sent over to him from his sessions with Isildur1.
On Datamining and Tracking Software
“For me, I don’t mind if they’re using (tracking software). But you should not share the hand histories, obviously, with other players … that’s completely out of line. That I don’t accept.”
It’s clear that Antonius is a little annoyed he wasn’t able to face Isildur1 again after Hastings’ knockout session.
“I would’ve liked to play Isildur. I was ready to play him more. But then Brian Hastings ran $3 million over expectation. I’m not sure I agree with how he wrote his ‘thanks everybody’ blog, saying how hard he’s been working on his game,” said Antonius, with a laugh. “He should just be happy to take the money. If I were him, I would’ve just taken the money, I wouldn’t have said anything publicly, and if I did say something, I would’ve said, ‘I was very lucky. I ran over $3 million above expectation. It could happen to anybody.’”
While he doesn’t care if players use datamining tools against him, Antonius says that he never has used any of those programs.
“I never have used any single thing. I never have even thought about using any of it. I don’t care if they get that information off me, because I can always change my game,” said Antonius. “If they think they know how I play, I’ll change my game, and I’ll beat them … You basically have to play your opponent.”
On the Future
Antonius expects and hopes that new players will continue to come along and take their shot at the big games. In fact, he seems a little surprised there haven’t been more challengers already.
“I think there are going to be more young players coming in to dominate the biggest games. Older players have problems competing, because they don’t work on their games as much as the younger guys,” said Antonius.
Still, he’s hesitant to predict which players will make the transition to the big game. As for who he thinks is the best among his competitors, he is much more direct — “The players who are the toughest against me are Phil Ivey, ziigmund, and durrrr.”
Even if he doesn’t get as much action as he would like in high-stakes cash games, don’t expect Antonius to play too many tournaments in the near future. He’s never been a big World Series of Poker guy, only playing in a handful of events last year, and even missing out on the main event after getting shut out with hundreds of other late-comers on day 1D.
“I have no motivation to play for four or five straight days in tournaments,” said Antonius.
Antonius says he will play in the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship in March, but other than that, he doesn’t have any major events on his near schedule. Instead, he will concentrate on his health and his growing family.
“My fiancé is pregnant again. She’s on her third month. We’re going to have another baby. Babies are good, babies are good,” said Antonius with a drawl and his ever-distinct Finnish accent. “I’m happy to be a young dad.”
Antonius already has one daughter, who is two years and seven months old.
Besides spending time with his family, he will continue to do physical therapy to work out his back and to try to get back to the shape he was in during his tennis career.
“When I’m in shape, everything feels lighter, I breathe so much better … Overall, it’s better for my poker game,” said Antonius.
If a healthier back means a better poker performance out of Antonius, his competitors should be wary of what that means in the months ahead.
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