Mere seconds after the final card was dealt in Round 1 of High Stakes Duel 5, Patrik Antonius threw the red challenge flag into the middle of the table to express his desire for a rematch. Jared Bleznick, the victor, had no choice but to accept.
After fighting for the $100,000 winner-take-all prize pool in Round 1, both Antonius and Bleznick ponied up the $100,000 buy-in for Round 2.
The second encounter between these two heavyweights followed the same format as the first: a mix of No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha, alternating every ten hands.
In Round 1, Bleznick came out firing in the early goings, entirely unafraid to pull the trigger on a bluff. While it didn't exactly work out for him, he managed to cobble together an epic comeback to down Antonius. This time around, Bleznick – or 'The Backer' – started strong and dealt an early blow to Antonius' stack. With plenty of stack depth to work with, however, the match was anything but over.
Bleznick draws first blood
The hand started with a raise to $1,000 from Antonius on the button with 
before Bleznick put in the three-bet to $5,400 with 
. With $10,800 in the middle, the dealer spread the 
flop and Bleznick continued with a $4,000 bet. Antonius made the call to see the 
on the turn, picking up a flush draw and a straight draw in the process. After a sneaky check from his opponent, Antonius fired out for $8,000 and Bleznick made the call.
On the 
river, Antonius wisely checked back to show down his ace-high holding while Bleznick showed his overpair and hauled in the pot.
And second blood
With nearly a two-to-one chip advantage in his favor, Bleznick struck again in a massive PLO pot to leave Antonius with his back against the wall. This time, Antonius opted to limp in from the button and Bleznick checked his option to send the two players to the flop.
Antonius: 
Bleznick: 
Flop: 
Antonius, having flopped top pair and a gutshot straight draw, bet $600 into the $1,200 pot and Bleznick made the call.
Turn: 
The case king on the turn provided the necessary ammunition for both players to go to battle with. With his top set, Bleznick opted to lead into his opponent for $1,500. Antonius responded with a raise, to $7,000, with his straight. With outs to a full house, Bleznick came along.
River: 
On the board-pairing river, Bleznick led out once more, this time for a pot-sized bet of $16,200. Antonius threw in one chip for a call and, with a smirk, Bleznick announced, "Kings full."
The knockout blow
With a little less than half of his starting stack, Antonius was on the ropes, but not out of it yet. The Finn battled back to the $60,000 mark, but Bleznick continued to run hot and Antonius quickly found himself back down in the danger zone.
The final hand of Round 2 saw each player pick up a strong ace-high holding and, with just about 30 big blinds effective, all the money went in the middle. After limping from the button, Bleznick moved all-in over the top of Antonius' raise and, just like that, it was all on the line. Despite having the option to run it twice, both players opted for one time.
Antonius:
Bleznick: 
Board: 
The runout kept it clean for Bleznick and Antonius, once again, immediately threw the red challenge flag into the center of the table to confirm a Round 3 rematch.
With the first two rounds of High Stakes Duel 5 in the books, Bleznick is up a cool $150,000 against Antonius. The Finn will have a chance to win it all back – and then some – as Round 3 will see each player put up the $200,000 buy-in required to battle onwards.
Round 3 of High Stakes Duel 5 will air exclusively on PokerGO on Tuesday, November 26 at 8:00pm ET.
Images Courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO
