Patrik Antonius: Player Profile

Patrik Antonius was one of those guys who never wanted to be a professional poker player growing up. Sometimes, however, it seems one cannot fight fate. Antonius aspired to be a pro tennis player, but when he was 15 years old, an injury forced him to let go of that dream. He took up the game of poker, and that’s where it all began.

Today, Antonius is one of the most famous poker players in live tournaments and online games. With his good looks and his stellar poker skills, Antonius shows no signs of slowing down.

Beginnings in Poker

Patrik Antonius was born on December 13, 1980, in Helsinki, Finland. Before deciding to be a pro poker player, Antonius was a tennis player and coach. Antonius was reportedly very good at playing tennis, and he had plans of running pro. Unfortunately, he suffered a back injury that prevented him from pursuing a career in sports. His injury led him to learn how to play poker. He briefly turned to professional modelling, which got him enough money to start his poker bankroll.

Antonius clearly exhibited talent in playing poker, so much so that Marcel Lüske decided to include him into the “Circle of Outlaws”. The “Circle of Outlaws” was a group of young poker players that shared knowledge about big tournaments. The idea behind the circle was that each player would bring something unique to the entire group as a whole. Marcel Lüske served as the group’s mentor. Being a member of the “Circle of Outlaws” fast-tracked Antonius to the top of the poker world. Other notable members of the group are Luca Pagano, Noah Boeken, and Eric Mizrachi.

Patrik Antonius' Poker Career

Antonius made a huge splash in the poker world in 2005, when he played at a number of high-profile poker tournaments. He started off with at the main event of PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where he finished in 12th place. This finish left Antonius US$34,600 richer, but his year was just beginning.

Only a few months after the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Antonius finished in 15th place at the Bay 101 Shooting Stars of Poker for a total of US$40,000.

In the following months, Antonius won US$66,261 from the Ladbrokes Scandinavian Poker Championship and then US$145,068 for finishing in 3rd place at the EPT Barcelona main event.

The biggest wins for Antonius came in the last three months of 2005. In October, he managed to dominate the EPT Baden Classic. He took home US$343,366 from the competition. In December, Antonius made his ended up finishing in 2nd place at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas. For this feat, he won a whopping US$1,046,970.

Since 2005, he has continued to impress poker fans and players around the world, increasing the Patrik Antonius worth as time passed. He has a total of thirteen WSOP cashes and has reached the final tables thrice. For the WPT, he has seven cashes. For the EPT, Antonius has won one championship, three cashes, and has reached the final tables twice.

His biggest win to date is a first place finish at the Aussie Millions Event 20 - No-Limit Hold'em $250,000 Challenge in 2012. He won a total of US$1,235,369.

When asked about his ultimate goal, Antonius once told Poker News Daily, “I want to be remembered as one of the best cash-game players to have ever played the game.”

Antonius Playing Poker Online

Patrik Antonius also developed his skills for online poker, formulating an aggressive style that would leave his opponents cowering in fear. Antonius did very well in his early days playing at online poker sites. He built up a six-figure bankroll that he would eventually use to buy his way into large buy-in live tournaments.

Antonius is ranked 2nd for All Time Money earned from online poker, behind Phil Ivey. Just like poker pro Phil Ivey, Antonius plays every form of poker imaginable. Most of Antonius’ success at online poker sites come from playing High Stakes Pot Limit Omaha.

Antonius uses a variety of aliases when playing online poker. Some of these are “crymeariver8", "luigi66369" and "FinddaGrind". He already won millions of dollars in online poker profits before he inked a deal with Full Tilt Poker in 2008.

Antonius made history in 2009 when he won the largest pot in the history of online poker. The pot was a Pot Limit Omaha hand played against Viktor Blom (better known as online poker player Isildur1). Antonius ended up adding $1,356,946 to his bankroll.

Patrik Antonius Trivia

Here are some fun facts about Patrik Antonius that you may not know about:

  • Like many other professional poker players, Antonius enjoys betting on sports events. He is known to make pretty huge wagers on outcomes of golf matches.
  • After being mentored by poker pro Marcel Lüske as a member of the Circle of Outlaws, Antonius was also advised by Jennifer Harman.
  • Antonius is married to fellow poker player Maya Geller-Antonius. Maya is sometimes seen dishing out good poker hands at tournament circuits. The couple has two children.
  • Antonius once showed up at a WPT event wearing only a bathrobe after losing a bet to Roland De Wolfe. The bet was about whether the Bellagio's orange juice was fresh squeezed or not.

Patrik Antonius Winnings and Net Worth

The exact amount of Patrik Antonius net worth has never been revealed, but the Hendon Mob Poker Database places Antonius’ total live earnings at US$6,788,791. Around US$2,163,141 of the total came from cash winnings from games in the Americas, US$1,874,607 came from Europe, and US$2,749,641 came from Oceania. These figures put him in 90th place on the All Time Money List.

Notable Career Highlights

Here are the notable career highlights of Patrik Antonius. The information below is taken from cardplayer.com.

DateEventBuy-in (in USD)PlaceWinnings (in USD)
Jan 27, '12
Event 20 - No-Limit Hold'em $250,000 Challenge 2012 Aussie Millions
$257,369
2$1,235,369
Dec 16, '05
No-Limit Hold'em Championship Day 1 Chip Count 2005 Five Diamond World Poker Classic (WPT)
$15,000
2$1,046,470
Jan 27, '13
Main Event 2013 Aussie Millions
$11,190
3$633,419
Feb 08, '14
AUD$100K No-Limit Hold'em 2014 APPT 8 - Aussie Millions
$90,399
5$626,850
Apr 25, '12
Event 1 - No-Limit Hold'em Super High Roller 8 Max 2012 EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo
$130,045
4$585,513
Sep 09, '08
EPT Championship Event 2005 EPT Baden/Poker EM - Season II
$4,400
1$343,366
Sep 06, '08
$25K Heads-Up PLO Championship Full Tilt Poker
$25,000
2$320,000
Jul 02, '07
Event 50 - World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha 2007 38th Annual World Series of Poker
$10,000
3$311,394
Jul 15, '06
Event 20 - H.O.R.S.E. 2006 37th Annual World Series of Poker
$50,000
9$205,920
Oct 06, '13
Event 5 - No-Limit Hold'em EPT Super High Roller Eight Handed EPT Season X / UKIPT - London
$75,772
8$175,424
Sep 17, '05
EPT Championship Event - Event 6 2005 EPT Barcelona - Season II
$4,959
3$145,068
Jan 29, '11
Aussie Millions Main Event 2011 Aussie Millions
$9,890
8$129,439
Apr 10, '12
Main Event 2012 Party Poker Premier League V
$125,000
4$125,000
Jun 01, '08
Event 1 - World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em 2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
$9,400
7$124,080
Oct 19, '11
WSOPE No-Limit Hold'em Championship 2011 World Series of Poker Europe
$14,985
9$120,228
Apr 24, '06
Event 12 - No-Limit Hold'em Championship 2006 Five-Star World Poker Classic (WPT)
$25,000
17$117,165
Jan 19, '07
No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Championship 2007 Aussie Millions
$8,000
13$72,000
Aug 21, '05
No Limit Hold'em Ladbrokes Scandinavian Poker Championships
$30,000
1$66,261
Sep 16, '07
No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Championship 2007 World Series of Poker Europe - London
$19,800
29$54,300
Apr 27, '07
No-Limit Hold'em Championship 2007 Five-Star World Poker Classic (WPT)
$25,00052
$46,410
Mar 11, '05No-Limit Hold'em Championship 2005 Bay 101 Shooting Star (WPT)
$10,000
15$40,000



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