Patrik Antonius on why he can't get into High Stakes Poker Games

It used to be that when one thought of high stakes poker games, Patrik Antonius was one of the first players who came to mind. After all, the Finnish pro was not only a regular on High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, but he also played in the 'Big Game' at Bobby's Room and dominated the online tables too.

Well, the latter is still true since Antonius added another $1.6 million to his online poker profits last year. However, he's had a lot of trouble getting anywhere near the biggest live cash games. So what gives? Are other players jealous of Antonius' model-like looks? Let's look at what the 34-year-old told PokerNews' Sarah Herring about the matter below.

"Private" Games

According to Antonius, the biggest change in the high stakes scene these days is that the games have "changed to more private games." He added, "A lot of casinos, they're allowing players to have private games where if there's a seat open, you can't just go and take the seat and play. This has been the trend for all over the world now."

Antonius contends that he can still find a good game and play for a while. However, somebody will eventually grab the "players you want to play with" and go play somewhere private. The former Full Tilt pro also said that this isn't such a good thing for he and other pros who don't have the greatest connections to the games.

Missing TV poker

Another topic that Antonius discussed was how he misses playing on the famed TV poker shows. "The most I miss is the high stakes TV shows, High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark," Antonius said. "I mean I would love to play for big money and be involved in some big hands. And so, they just need to get this going, find sponsors, come on let's get a game. I mean people wanna play, there's a lot of people who are playing for big money."
The Finn added that high stakes action hasn't dried up around the world. Instead, the games have just gone to different places and many of these international players would be interested in playing on TV shows.

What's Antonius up to now?

In addition to discussing the current high stakes scene, Antonius also talked about what he's been doing lately. He hasn't been playing as much poker due to everything that we discussed before in the nosebleeds. That said, he's been dedicating a lot more time to his family and playing sports in the absence of quality cash games.
Given everything that Antonius covered, it's pretty clear that he may never play the same high stakes volume that he did in the mid and late-2000s. However, it would be great to see a reputable poker TV show on again that features Antonius.