Antonius versus Brunson

This is going to be the most interesting story throughout the summer. In case you haven't heard, Patrik did an interview with Card Player magazine late last year. During the interview, somebody told him that Doyle had said he would swim across the sea to play him heads up. Basically saying that he thinks Patrik is a fish. So Patrik shot back in the interview, which then got published, by saying he would play him any game for any stakes. Big mistake Patrik.
Patrik Antonius is one of the great players on the planet. He is without a doubt one of the most talented and feared players. However, he is letting Doyle pick the games and the stakes. Patrik is a no-limit hold'em and pot limit omaha player. He can play the other games well, but not to the level that Doyle can. If you saw the WPT tourney that Doyle won, he had a hell of a call against Patrik. The hand came down like this:
Three handed, Doyle is the short stack. He has a little over 4 million, and Patrik has about 6 million. The blinds are 150,000/300,000 with a 50,000 ante. The button folds and Doyle limps with 33. Patrik takes a second, then declares all-in. It appears that Doyle snap calls him with 33. Patrik has this look on his face like somebody shot his dog. He then whines about the call. He even goes so far as to say, "How can you make that call with threes?" He says it over and over and is almost indignant. Finally, Doyle quips back, "We're playing poker son, not solitare." Classic Doyle comeback. The flop and turn brick, but on the turn the board pairs, giving Patrik 6 more outs. He bricks the river and is still befuddled by the call. I'm sure there were a couple of factors that influenced the call by Doyle. The first of which is that he knew Patrik is a maniac, loose player and he was probably in a race situation. The second factor was that he was sick and tired of Patrik trying to run him over. If you have read Supersystem, you will know that if you push on Doyle, he will push back. He'll let you get away with it once or twice, but he is coming if you keep it up.
So, they are working on a heads up match. Rumors are floating around that they will be playing for a minimum of $1 million, and some have even speculated that it will be a series of 7-10 games for $1 million each. In his blog, Doyle said that it will be a cash game and not a freeze out. So that is another big plus in Doyle's corner. He plays the biggest game in the world on a regular basis and I'm sure he will not pick Omaha or Hold'em. So that is another big plus for Doyle. So it will be interesting to see if they televise this landmark event and who wins. Doyle has also stated that if Patrik beats him, he will retire from poker. He said that he will move to Montana and live the rest of his days on his 110 acre ranch. That will be a sad day. But the new guard has to take over someday. I personally think a match between Ivey and Brunson would be more fitting.
I just read tonight, that the Antonius-Brunson feud is also spilling over onto the golf course. Brunson challenged Antonius to a round of golf for $100,000 a hole. He told Patrik he has from now until the end of August to accept the challenge. The verbal sparring going on between these two is very fascinating. You should read both of their blogs. It is quite good reading.