Born in Helsinki Finland, 13^th December, 1980 Patrick Antonius has been branded “the Black Lotus” and “the Finn”. The ex-tennis player/coach and model was recruited into poker by Marcel Luske (who at the time was part of an illegal poker operation). Now living in Monte Carlo with his wife (Mary Geller) and child, Patrick Antonius was trained by professional poker player Jennifer Harman.

Tournament

Antonius’s remarkable performance at the European Poker Tournament (EPT) and the World Poker Tour (WPT), where he almost made it to the final was rated as excellent considering he was not recognized as a professional poker player. The player took 12^th position at the EPT Poker Stars Caribbean Adventures, and 15^th at the World Poker Tournament Bay 101 event.

In 2005 three sterling performances on three different occasions at World Series of Poker event shot Antonius into the lime light, and he emerged as a favorite in the European Poker Tour held in Barcelona. Playing up until the final his popularity was notched even higher as he was now classified a runner-up.

In October of the same year, Antonius emerged victorious in the Baden Bei Wien event winning a €288,180 cash prize by beating Gunnar in the final.

Antonius celebrated two years of poker in December 2005 and closed the year by participating in a World Poker Tournament; the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas, where he won $1,046,470.

In 2006, the player was ranked 9^th in the World Series of Poker. This event had a total cache of 50,000dollars H.O.R.S.E. of which he won $205,920.

2007 was not a good year for Antonius, loosing several tournaments at the World Series poker. However, he was favored for the Pot Limit Omaha event, another World Championship tournament, coming in third and winning $311,394. This was his ninth large win in the Poker Series, increasing his total poker earnings to $569,964.

The first time Antonius participated in the NBC’s Poker after Dark, he finished in second position, being beaten by Jennifer Harman his former coach. The second time Antonius took part he defeated Brad Booth with a wide victory margin and in his third attempt was defeated by Jonny Chan. By the onset of 2010, the player was estimated to have won in excess of 2.8 million dollars in cash.

Winnings from The World Tournament Series of Poker makes up $759,741 of this amount, accumulated as a result of 12 wins.

Antonius missed the 2009 WSOP main event as a result of late registration. The event could only host a few players and hence Antonius and others were turned away while trying to register. This was a big financial setback for the player, missing out on such an important event.

Antonius is an active online gambler placing bets in some of the highest profiled events. Playing with Full Tilt Poker earned the player $25,000, and playing in the Pot Limit Omaha event earned him another $320,000.

Cash Games

Antonius has participated in several games that have involved big cash online under different names, and has taken both wins and losses. Most of the games played are Full Tilt Poker; however, he is now registered with `Team Full Tilt’, and plays all games under his real name.

In the early days, Antonius used screen names while playing on other networks. Recently involved in the wins advertised in Martinspoker.com., this player  is a big risk taker and believes in beating the odds.

Antonius has been featured in several big games that have been held of late. These include games in Bellagio, and the third, fourth and fifth seasons of GSN’s High Stakes Poker consecutively.

Antonius and Sammy Farha, competed for largest amount ever played for in the show, amounting to $998,000. The game was won by Antonius who held 9 and J red hearts giving him an edge over his competitor who held K and Q red diamonds. These cards gave Farha 2 over cards and a flush draw. In this competition, Farha and Antonius agreed to take the turn and river 4 times. Farha was expected to defeat Antonius as he was viewed to be a better poker player, however, Antonius won three runs out of the four earning him $749,100.

Another competition played involving big cash was a pot played against Jamie Gold. Gold held a K black spade and K red diamond, whilst Antonius held a black Ace spade and red J diamond. Antonius raised to $4,000 pre-flop and Jamie re-raised to $14,000. The flop was brought about by; 3 black spade, Q red diamond and 10 red heart allowing Antonius an inside direct draw. Antonius proposed a $30,800 pot, but Gold placed a bet of $15,000. The turn was a red K heart giving Antonius a straight, and Gold a Kings set. Antonius placed a bet of $45,000 that Gold re-raised to the full amount. As Gold was re-raising, Gabe Kaplan commented that Antonius was more likely to win. This gave Gold courage and he increased the value of the pot to $743,000, and the contestants agreed to run the river three times. The betting was 72-23 favorite for Antonius. However, Gold gave a sterling performance as he hit a full house in the first two consecutive rounds, Antonius winning only the last three times. Nonetheless, this player remained emotionless. Antonius‘s composure leaves him untouched, even after making big losses like this. He is a true poker player, hiding emotion even when he fails.

Antonius is a fearless risk taker who believes in beating the odds in any game. This prompted him to give Tom Dwan a $1,000,000 challenge. Several players have competed against Dwan but all have lost to him. However, Antonius challenged this legendary undefeatable player in the million-dollar challenge ` Full Tilt Poker’, and beat him at his own game.

Tom has been challenging players in high stakes ‘No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. The game is set to be played four tables at a time, for a total of 50, 000 hands. Tom is a feared master of poker, placing bets of $1.5 million against any player able to raise half a million dollars against him. The leading player, after the 50,000 hands normally takes the amount bet by the other person, and in addition to the amount being gambled, the winning player also takes other winnings from other wins coming from the challenge.

In November 2009, Antonius won $1,356,946, making him the recipient of the largest amount ever won on online poker, when he beat Insildur.