Patrik Antonius proved why he’s still among the world’s best cash game players last night by winning a record-setting pot worth almost $2 million.
The flying Finn is no stranger to big wins. In fact, Antonius has been involved in plenty of seven-figure pots over the years. However, in the latest episode of PokerGo’s No Gamble, No Future, he set a new record for winning the biggest pot on a live stream in the US.
Have there been bigger pots won in private cash games? Yes, but we don’t get to see those games. But, thanks to PokerGo’s efforts to reinvigorate high stakes streaming, we got to see Antonius win $1,978,000 in a single poker hand against casino owner, Eric Persson.
Patrik Antonius shows he’s got gamble
PokerGo’s No Gamble, No Future has a unique format in which the blinds escalate over time. The latest show, called Cash of the Titans, started with the blinds at $500/$500. Six players, including Antonius and Persson, sat down with $500,000 and the option to add on another $500,000.
Blinds increased every three hours, and anyone who lost their entire $1 million buy-in was eliminated. The incentive to survive for all three sessions was the chance to play for increasingly higher stakes and a $600,000 bonus for making the biggest profit.
As expected, Patrik Antonius and Eric Persson were eager to mix it up from the start. The former added his second bullet to the table early on Day 1, giving him $1 million in chips. Persson, as ever, was aggressive.
Between some tough spots for Antonius and Persson’s usual kamikaze style of play, both player’s stacks were up and down. Their paths crossed multiple times but, because the blinds were raised to $1,000/$2,000 with a $2,000 ante on Day 3, an epic showdown was almost inevitable.
Eric Persson torches almost $1 million
That potential exploded into reality when Persson made a bold move with Q♥ 9♥ (see video below). The action started with Persson raising to $7,000 pre-flop. Dusk Till Dawn owner Rob Yong called with A♣ 2♣, before Antonius three-bet from the small blind with A♥ K♥.
Persson and Yong called the additional $23,000 and everyone else folded. That put $94,000 in the pot heading to a flop of 3♥ 3♣ 8♥. Antonius continued his pre-flop aggression and led out for $40,000. Persson raised to $140,000, and Yong got out of the way.
Both Persson and Antonius had more than $850,000 in their stacks at this point. Antonius four-bet to $250,000 and Persson called. The turn brought the A♠ and, assuming he didn’t fold, Antonius now had an unbeatable hand. Fortunately for the Finn, he didn’t fold.
Antonius bet $150,000 into a pot worth $594,000 and, almost instantly, Persson moved all-in for $759,000. Antonius needed a moment to think but, eventually, he called. With Persson unable to hit a winning card, all that was left for Patrik Antonius to do was scoop the record-breaking pot when the J♠ landed on the river.
With that, PokerGo’s No Gamble, No Future broke Hustler Casino Live’s record ($1,158,000) for largest cash game pot streamed in the US. In fact, what’s interesting to note is that Hustler’s record was broken multiple times during the final session.
PokerGo’s stream raising stakes
Andrew Robl won $1,269,000 against Antonius and Persson on Day 3 of the show. Robl was at it again later in the day when he chopped a $1,657,000 pot with Yong. And, if that wasn’t enough, Markus Gonsalves picked up a pot worth $1,298,000 with pocket aces.
Breaking the record once is impressive, but to do it four times in a single stream is a testament to PokerGo’s novel format. Increasing the blinds and adding incentives for surviving as long as possible makes for an extreme dynamic where seven-figure pots become the norm. On this occasion, Patrik Antonius found himself on the right end of a record win worth almost $2 million.
