February 3-6
Hands played at the final table.
- 1STOttomar Ladva$1,150,000
- 2NDGeoffrey Mooney$717,000
- 3RD
Mikalai Vaskaboinikau$490,000 - 4TH
Kirill Shcherbakov$355,000 - 5TH
Patrik Antonius$270,000 - 6TH
Matthias Lipp$200,000 - 7TH
Boris Kolev$160,000 - 8THDaniil Kiselev$124,000
- 9THJessica Teusl$100,000
When the final nine players took to the felt in the Onyx Club High Roller Series $25,000 Main Event on Friday, Patrik Antonius held the chip lead. If you had to pick a favorite from the remainder of the field, he would likely be top of the list. With an extensive resume of high roller results and a decent chip advantage to work with, the Finn had both the past experience and present edge to close out the win.
As many readers will know, however, a final table – especially one with such a high caliber of competition – is never that simple.
In the early goings, Antonius seemed to be in cruise control as he eliminated Jessica Tuesl and Daniil Kiselev to notch the first two eliminations of the day and bolster his chip lead. With two down and only six players separating him from yet another seven-figure payday, Antonius had momentum firmly on his side.
And then it all went wrong.
Foundational damage
In tournament poker, your run can turn from smooth sailing to a tempestuous tumble in the blink of an eye – and that's exactly what happened to Antonius.
In the first of four pivotal hands, the Finn raised with 
from up front and was met with resistance in the form of a call from second-in-chips Ottomar Ladva in the big blind. On the 
flop, Antonius continued for a quarter-pot sizing, but Ladva wasn't going anywhere with 
. The 
on the turn saw the Estonian lead into his opponent for less than 10% of the pot size. With just queen-high, Antonius charted a path to potential victory through a massive raise.
Ladva made the call, unwilling to relinquish his draw to the nut flush in the face of aggression. The 
river completed his draw, but Antonius wisely found a check-back when the action came to him to avoid further losses.
Still, the damage was done: the Finnish foundations had begun to crack.
In the video above, you can watch the entire final table replay – or jump right into Antonius' downfall with the hands at the 3:26:30, 3:37:30, 3:44:00, and 4:12:45 marks.
From hero to zero
In the second hand, Antonius took a high variance line as he four-bet jammed 
and ran into the 
of Mikalai Vaskaboinikau. Antonius' requisite two-outer failed to materialize on the runout and, in just two hands, his chip lead vanished as he slipped to third in the counts.
Antonius' third pivotal hand was perhaps the most brutal of the lot – and followed a familiar pattern. With 
, the Finn raised first to act and picked up only one caller: Ladva in the big blind. The 
flop went check-check this time, but on the 
turn Ladva once again opted to seize the betting initiative. For viewers of the stream, Ladva's holding was unknown (perhaps due to a card reader error or an intentional mystery hand).
After checking back top pair on the flop, Antonius sprang to action with a sizable raise – echoing the actions taken in their first clash. As he did before, Ladva made the call on the turn to bring in the river. Rather than check to the aggressor, Ladva opted to lead out with a chunky three-quarters pot sizing and Antonius went deep into the tank.
Eventually, he made the call and was shown the bad news as Ladva rolled over 
for a rivered straight.
Live by the sword, die by the sword
Antonius bounced back quickly, taking out the short-stacked Matthias Lipp with a rivered straight of his own to regain some of his lost chips.
And yet, the very next hand off the deck – the fourth and final pivotal pot – would be his last.
Estonia's Ottomar Ladva went on to win the Onyx Club High Roller Series Main Event for a career-best cash of $1,150,000. With about 33 big blinds to work with, Antonius looked down at – every GTO wizard's favorite hand – in the face of a raise from Ladva with 
.
"A very tempting hand to get to work with," came the verdict from Niall 'Firaldo' Farrell in the commentary booth. "This is the hand that gives me the Vietnam-war style flashbacks with all the stacks I've punted off putting this in."
And Antonius succumbed to that temptation as he fired out a three-bet.
"I've got a foreboding feeling here for Patrik if we do see the small four-bet," Farrell continued. "I know I'd be tempted to rifle it in."
When the action folded back around to him, Ladva did opt for the non-all-in four-bet sizing, leaving the door open for Antonius to step out of line. As he mulled his options, you could almost see the wheels spinning in Antonius' head.
In the end, the hand played out exactly as Farrell feared. Antonius announced an all-in and Ladva, with the slightest reluctance, made the call. While he had only the lone over card to Ladva's pocket pair, Antonius still had a 35% chance to scoop the pot. Unfortunately for the Finn, the board offered no saving grace and his once-promising run came to a crashing halt in fifth place.
Ladva, on the other hand, went on to claim victory as he bested Geoffrey Mooney heads-up to earn a career-best live tournament score.
Images courtesy of photopoker.ru/Onyx Club/Merit Poker/Oleg Novruzov
