Antonius and Bleznick to Highlight High Stakes Duel on PokerGO
Fans of heads-up poker can get excited, as PokerGO is gearing up for the return of High Stakes Duel. The show garnered much popularity when it began with Phil Hellmuth defeating nearly every opponent and dominating the heads-up poker space for some time. Jason Koon and Daniel Negreanu also took turns defeating opponents, but the last match ended more than one year ago.
Now, PokerGO is ready to bring it back, with High Stakes Duel 5 set to feature Patrik Antonius and Jared Bleznick.
Duel’s Rules
High Stakes Duel is a series of heads-up No Limit Hold’em poker tournaments that can escalate in stakes. It is meant to provide the best structure and setting for heads-up poker, a format of Hold’em that many players relish because of the intense focus and strategy required.
PokerGO set up the format to start with two players (obviously) and each buying in for $50,000. Round 1 ends with a winner, and the stakes then double to $100K each for Round 2 and $200K for Round 3. It continues with doubling buy-ins until one player quits.
As for quitting, a player must win three consecutive rounds prior to Round 4 or two consecutive matches in Round 4 or later rounds in order to be declared a champion. A High Stakes Duel champion then wins the championship belt Meanwhile, to keep the matches going, the loser of Round 1has the first option to declare a rematch or walk away. However, the rules changed in the fourth season so that a player needed only win two matches to become the champion.
History of HSD Matches
High Stakes Duel debuted on PokerGO in 2020 when most tournaments were on hiatus due to pandemic restrictions in casinos. In the PokerGO Studio on the Las Vegas Strip, the show began with two players who had been talking about playing each other heads-up for years – Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari. Hellmuth went on to dominate High Stakes Duel for quite a few iterations of the show, and several players have won since then.
- High Stakes Duel 1: Phil Hellmuth dominated Antonio Esfandiari for three rounds for $400K.
- High Stakes Duel 2: Phil Hellmuth dominated Daniel Negreanu for three rounds for $400K.
- High Stakes Duel 3: Hellmuth defeated Nick Wright in one round, Tom Dwan in two rounds, and Scott Seiver in one round. Jason Koon then defeated Hellmuth in one round and went unchallenged to win $1.6M.
- High Stakes Duel 4: Negreanu defeated Eric Persson in one round and Doug Polk in one round to win $200K.
Season 5 Starts November 12
In the fall of 2024, PokerGO announced that High Stakes Duel 5 would begin in mid-November. Patrik Antonius and Jared Bleznick would be the contenders, each buying in for $50K. And in a change of pace, the game will be mixed; the format will change every 10 hands from No Limit Hold’em to Pot Limit Omaha.
Antonius is known for his longevity at the highest stakes in poker. The native of Finland was known for his serious demeanor at the tables, his model looks, and his fearlessness in games of any stakes. He became a core member of Team Full Tilt during the poker boom, and he won millions online. In live tournaments alone, he sits just below the $24M mark, with the majority of his tournament finishes in the past decade in $10K buy-in and higher events. Just this year, he was inducted into the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame for his career accomplishments.
Jared Bleznick is known for his antics at the tables and his sometimes unpredictable table talk. His career in poker dates back to pre-Black Friday times, but it’s only been in the last few years that he played more live tournaments. He claimed his first major tournament victory in 2021 in a US Poker Open PLO event and won the 2023 Super High Roller Bowl PLO tournament for $1.3M. This summer, he won a WSOP bracelet in the $50K NLHE High Roller for more than $2M.
The match will start on Tuesday, November 12 at 8pm ET live on the PokerGO website. Viewers will need a subscription to watch in full, which can be obtained via a monthly or yearly option.
