Patrik Antonius was born in Finland and grew up in a place called Vantaa, about 50 minutes drive from downtown Helsinki. He was about 12 years old when he started playing poker with local friends - in those days it was a good day if he won $1! He was a very serious tennis player and when he was about 14 he played poker with his friends at the tennis club. They played 5 card stud and made up our own progressive betting rules. They all loved poker and played all the time. Then one day his friend Mikko found the rules for Omaha and they started playing that. When he was 18 he went to a casino in Helsinki and played in his first No Limit Texas Hold Em tournament and won! He was so happy turning his $25 buy-in into $260 and he was really motivated to play more poker even though his goals in life at that point were all to do with tennis. At the Helsinki casino they had $100 Omaha cash games and he spent a lot of time at those tables. He went broke many times because he had no bankroll but after about 2 years he was winning all the time. Fast forward to a strong tournament year in the EPT and his first WPT final table with a 2nd place finish that includes him in the WPT Millionaires Club to close out 2005. In April 2006 he went deep into the competition at the WPT Championship event with a 17th place finish.

For more information on Patrik Antonius check out his website at www.patrikantonius.com