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Finnish Hihhuli Takes On The World

Patrik Antonius about his titles, his approach to the game, and his goals for the future

By Rolf “Ace” Slotboom

It was in September 2005 when I saw Patrik Antonius in action at the poker table for the first time. I was doing Internet coverage of the final table at the EPT Barcelona, and Patrik was one of these finalists. When I polled the opinions of some of the spectators, a large percentage of them expected this young man from Helsinki to win it – and this despite the fact that no other than Gus Hansen was at this final table too. As it happened, neither Gus nor Patrik would win it – the trophy went to the likeable Frenchman Jan Boubli. But just three weeks later, Patrik would win his first major brick and mortar tournament title after all. Having already been crowned Scandinavian Poker Champion, he now took the Main Event at the EPT Baden for a €288,180 first prize. In an excellent display of poker, he outplayed everyone at his table with a game that consisted of not just aggression and a strong right arm, but also a great rhythm, calmness and almost Zen-like approach.

During this entire tournament, Patrik did not let himself get affected by any adversity or good fortune, and I found that quite remarkable for a (then) 24-year old – especially when taking into account all the money and the potential fame at stake. All in all, he did not play at all the way his nickname “Hihhuli” suggests. (Hihhuli is a Finnish word for a guy who is always bragging and fooling around, and who consistently does stupid things – yet still someone who is considered a “good guy”.) Anyway, a month after this remarkable win, Patrik & I got together during the Master Classics of Poker – and here is his story.

Patrik, when doing research for this story, I came across a - to me - reliable source, who marked you as one of the biggest winners online. Is this correct?

Well, yes - I have being doing really well lately. (Big smile) I often play heads up in no-limit games where just the blinds are already $200 and $400, and I have crushed those games so far. What’s more, I really don’t care for the money that much, or better: I usually don’t try to let the money affect me. I am confident that the good money I have made in recent years has not changed my personality much.

In games as big as the ones you mention, you must be facing some of the biggest names in online poker on a regular basis, say people like Prahlad Friedman. Right?

Yes, that’s correct. I am often at the same table with people like Prahlad, Tore Lagerborg and Eric Sagström. I used to respect Prahlad a lot and obviously I still do, yet I have also won a lot of money against him. Also there is Ram Vaswani who likes to play heads up, someone who experiences lots of swings and who despite his obvious abilities is a rather good opponent for me. And obviously there is also Dustin Woolf, Neverwin, who plays limit hold’em a lot. These are some of the best players, but quite frankly I like to play with all them. They are highly aggressive, and this leads to bigger pots and in general more action. Now, if you’re a good player yourself, this means you simply can win more.

It should be clear though that the bigger the games, the harder it is to keep them going on a regular basis. Also, because you are playing against good and highly experienced players, you have to stay on top of your game at all times. For this reason, I don’t multitable as often as most people do. When I’m in a really big game, I usually restrict myself to just one table or two tables at most, for the simple reason that in these tough games most plays you will make are based on your opponents rather than on the quality of your cards – and thus you will have to stay 100% focused to maintain your edge. Also, because these games are often shorthanded, it is not like you will have to wait for hours for a good hand / situation. Quite the contrary: You will be involved in many hands. And being up against top players, it will require lots of concentration for you to come out on top, mostly by taking advantage of their tendencies and specific weaknesses.

Speaking of strengths and weaknesses – how would you rate your own game in this respect?

I think my main strength is the quality of my reads. Especially the people who are used to playing online and then turn to playing live, I think I can read them exceptionally well. I don’t think I have lots of clear weaknesses or leaks, other than maybe the fact that in relation to some others I am not that experienced yet. Also, I used to have some physical problems because of a back injury I had. This was a problem that developed when I was still actively playing tennis, and that has caused me some difficulties at the poker tables – especially when I was playing live. But fortunately, these back problems have recently been solved, meaning I am in good physical condition again – and I am certain that this has helped my poker game tremendously.

You seem to have made a massive step forward in recent months. You have booked some great results in EPT for instance, where you finished third in Barcelona and then won in Baden. To tell you the truth, when I saw you play for the first time in Barcelona, I didn’t think too highly of the way you played there, as you seemed to be playing a bit too predictable for my taste. But then I watched you play in Baden throughout the entire event, and I have to say I was very impressed. You seemed to be extremely focused, you played in a real smooth rhythm, and despite your aggressive play it looked like your opponents respected you a lot and gave you credit for a hand once you got involved. Yet based on common sense and pure mathematics, it was quite clear that you could not have had great hands on all these occasions where you took an aggressive posture. In other words: You must have been making moves and been taking advantage of your – in the eyes of some – solid and reliable image. Can you give your own view on how you played in both these events?

Well, let me begin with Barcelona: I wasn’t pleased at all with the way I played there. I played good until the final table, but at that final table I made at least two clear mistakes. The first one was against Gus Hansen, who as you know is a great player and who is always “moving and grooving”. Early at that final, I didn’t reraise him on the river with a small full house, thinking I would only get action if I was beat. But in retrospect I think this was an error in judgment, and I should have raised. This was even clearer when I got to see his hand. With a flop JJ7, we had both been slowplaying, as Gus had a third jack and wanted to trap me – while I had flopped sevens full and wanted to trap him. So, as it turned out, Gus had a strong but second-best hand, and I guess I should have made a bit more money than I did now. My second mistake was showing to the entire table a successful bluff that I had made. That was stupid of me, because what I wanted was respect, but now I got called all the time by the eventual winner of the event, Jan Boubli. I lost three out of three pots against him. Frankly, I guess I may have been a bit off my game simply because this was my first ever televised final.

But then my win in Baden. I was, and still am, extremely proud of that win, if only because I came in more than five hours late on the first day! The starting time of the event as listed on a site was a wrong one: It said the first day would start at 7 p.m., but in reality things started much earlier than that. When that had been brought to my attention, I was still in Aruba. I looked at the structure and calculated that even if I would come in a few hours late, I would still have about 7,000 left out of my initial 10K. As it turned out, I had to begin with just 5,000 – yet I was still able to win it. I think I played my best poker in this event on both the first and the third day, when I won not because I had good cards (I didn’t), but because I played them well.

And with regards to this image thing: Yes Rolf, you are right that I like to have an image of someone who knows what he’s doing. This gives me two clear advantages. First, and probably most importantly, my opponents just don’t want to mess with me, and this allows me to bluff a bit more or make a few moves with some rather marginal hands. And second, because my opponents respect me, their response to my bets and raises is usually quite reliable, meaning that in turn I can read them better, and thus it will be easier for me to make the correct decisions. But even though I love to maintain this solid image of mine, I must say that I think Gus Hansen’s image is even better. He is always dancing around, is involved in many pots with sometimes crummy cards, yet people just can’t find the proper way to play him simply because they don’t understand what he’s doing.

Where do you want to go from here, Patrik? What are your goals and aims for the future?

Well, I have just bought a house in Vegas, so I plan on spending lots of time there. I have never been a big fan of traveling, so I have decided to go to Vegas and let the tournaments come to me rather than having to travel around from town to town. I may be carrying the nick “Hihhuli”, but frankly I think I’m just a laid-back guy who simply works hard to lead a good and prosperous life. I hope that in Vegas I will be able to play in more and bigger games, and in addition to that will have more business opportunities. Right now I am still single, and obviously it is hard for a woman to cope with my lifestyle – although you just never know when someone drops by. And as to the money: Yes, especially for a young guy like me it would be easy to lose sense of the money’s worth, because in one day I can win or lose more than for instance my parents may make in few years. Some players just cannot handle these kinds of swings, especially not the upswings – but I hope I can.

Some final piece of advice for the readers, maybe?

Yeah, this one I guess: Don’t ever lend money for playing. I have ‘helped’ friends by lending them money on more than one occasion, and I can tell you: It is bad for both. If you have to lend money just to stay in action, there is just no way you can ever feel comfortable enough to come up with your best game. And the person who has been trying to be helpful – well, he will probably just get a headache thinking if we will ever see his money back again.”

Patrik Antonius (25) is considered one of the biggest talents in today’s poker. He started playing for a living just two years ago, and in no-time has worked his way up to the biggest games. Despite this, he is considered one of the more stable and more intelligent players on the circuit, someone who does not let himself get affected much by big wins or losses. In addition to his victories at the Ladbrokes Scandinavian Poker Championship in Stockholm and the Main Event at the EPT Baden, he is one of the biggest winners in the online cash games.

PATRIK ANTONIUS: FACTS & FIGURES

Name: Patrik Antonius
Place of birth: Helsinki, Finland
Date of birth: 13-12-1980
Currently resides: Helsinki, but will move to Vegas next year (has already bought a house there)
Education: Graduated from Helsinki Business College
Former jobs: Started working at age 14. Did lots of different things: Modelling, working for a network company, performed a military service in Finland and being a tennis coach – having played in the highest Finnish tennis league.
Current job: Professional poker player (since 2004)
Regularly plays: $100-200 and $200-400 blinds no-limit hold’em, $200-400, $300-600 and $500-1,000 blinds limit hold’em (both mainly online)
Favorite game: Hold’em, limit as well as no-limit. (“I guess I am better at no limit – but I have made more money at limit.”)
Online / Live: “Live tournaments are the best thing, but unfortunately they usually don’t have many very big cash games to go with them. Live games are usually good for me, because they tend to reward the quality of one’s reads more than online games.”
Favorite book: Has not read any - believes in learning from own mistakes. (“This will help you think on a deeper level than if you simply follow other people’s instructions.”)
Online nicks: I_Knockout_U, Antonius (on Martinspoker)
Tournament wins: Ladbrokes Scandinavian Poker Championships (August 2005, €60,000), €4,000 no-limit freeze-out at EPT Baden (October 2005, €288,180).
Sponsor: Martinspoker

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