Ivey Sweeps Antonius in the WPT Heads-Up Championship

Phil Ivey added the WPT Heads-Up Championship tilt to his long list of poker victories. The ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner swept Patrik Antonius in the tournament’s final.

Ivey won the first hand of the WPT Heads-Up Championship final. Antonius raised 2.5 big blinds with Qd-4c, and Ivey called with Ac-7c. Ivey check-called a 2,280 bet on the Kc-7h-Qh flop before both players checked on the 5d turn. The 7s fell on the river, Ivey bet 4,280, and Antonius called and mucked. First blood to Ivey.

The first match went to Ivey when Antonius got a little frisky with an ace. Antonius limped in for 1,600, Ivey responded with a 6,400 raise, only for Antonius to jam for 44,292. Ivey snap-called and showed 9s-9h. Antonius revealed Ad-8h, and the board ran Qc-7d-5h-7c-4s.

WPT Heads-Up Championship: Ivey Makes it 2-0

Antonius started the second match strongly, but Ivey still ran out the victor. The legendary Ivey continually made strong hands when Antonius connected with the board. It is difficult to beat anyone heads-up who is playing well and running well.

However, a big hand went Antonius’ way to give him some momentum. With blinds of 800/1,600, Antonius opened to 4,000 with Kd-Js and called when Ivey three-bet to 14,000 with Ac-9c. Ivey led for 9,240 on the Tc-4d-Th flop, and Antonius called. The Qh river saw Ivey bet the same 9,240. Again, Antonius called. Ivey shoved on the Ad river for 24,500 effective, but the pot went to his Finnish opponent, who now had a Broadway straight.

Ivey reclaimed the chip lead when his king-queen held against pocket sevens, and he never looked back.

The final hand of the second match saw Antonius limp for 3,000 with Kd-7d and Ivey raise to 12,000 with Jh-Js. Antonius called, and the flop fell 4h-Qs-8c. Ivey bet 7,920, Antonius called, and the 3s landed on the turn. Antonius fired an 11,952 bet, which was called. The 9s river saw Antonius shove for 45,200 on a total bluff, and Ivey looked him up.

A 2-0 advantage in the WPT Heads-Up Championship to Ivey left Antonius needing to win three in a row.

Ivey Wins 3-0; Sweeps Antonius

The third game in the best-of-five final did not last long. Antonius lost almost all his stack in cooler hand early on.

The Finn made it 2,140 to go with As-6s, and Ivey called with 4c-3s. A flop reading 6h-5h-2s gave Antonius top pair, but Ivey a straight. Ivey check-raised Antonius’ 3,516 bet to 11,043 and was called. The Ac turn improved Antonius to two pair, but he still trailed Ivey. Ivey fired a 17,577 bet on the turn, Antonius called, and the 2c fell on the river. Ivey shoved for 65,041, Antonius called and handed over all but 8,400 of his stack to Ivey, which propelled him to 191,600.

Antonius managed to double twice, but Ivey stopped a full comeback. The final hand saw Antonius initially limp with Qs-Js before calling off his last 13 big blinds when Ivey set him all-in with Ah-Td. A final board reading 3d-5d-9s-3c-3s locked up the WPT Heads-Up Championship and $400,000 for Ivey.

Ivey’s legion of fans should get to see their man in action again soon. His legal problems are behind him now, which paves the way for Ivey to return the game.

He plans on heading to the 2021 World Series of Poker this fall, as revealed in an interview with Joey Ingram.

“But I’m looking to play, and I’m looking to play poker on TV. I’m looking to travel and play poker at the World Series of Poker. I’m not sure about a full schedule, but I’m planning on playing a few events.”

Ivey last won a WSOP bracelet in 2014 in the $1,500 8-Game Mix. We would not bet against him securing bracelet #11 in 2021.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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