The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has announced Finland’s All-Time Money leader and high-stakes pro Patrik Antonius as the 2024 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame. Antonious becomes the 63rd player to enter the Hall of Fame following Brian Rast in 2023.
The Finland high-stakes crusher was honored with an induction ceremony featuring his friends, family and fans inside the Paris Ballroom ahead of Event #95: Poker Hall of Fame Bounty NLH event for which Antonius delivered the customary ‘Shuffle Up and Deal’ before taking his seat.
A former model and tennis player and coach from Finland, Antonius is one of the most successful poker players from Europe with a whopping $22,995,774 in live poker tournament earnings. Currently sitting on top of Finland’s all-time money list, Antonius was inducted into the coveted Hall of Fame after a public nomination and voting by 31 living members of the hall.
“In the modern era of poker, few have been as bold and fearless as Patrik Antonius,” said Ty Stewart, Executive Director of the World Series of Poker. “A force both online and live, we’re thrilled to see Patrik’s high-stakes career acknowledged by legends who have added the first international player to the Poker Hall of Fame in a number of years.”
A nosebleed cash game and high-stakes tournament pro, Antonius is one of most recognized faces and has contributed a lot to the game by playing and promoting it. In 2023, he made history by shipping a $1,978,000 cash game pot, the largest ever pot on a U.S. livestream broadcast.
While his first two cashes came only in low stakes tournaments in 2003, he quickly jumped into high stakes games. He placed 12th in the 2005 PCA and 15th in the $10K WPT Shooting Star the same year before taking down the 2005 Scandinavian Poker Championships, which marked his first live tournament victory.
Since then, there has been no looking back for this poker legend as he has amassed over $23 million in live tournament earnings. He has six seven-figure scores to his name, including his career-best $3,153,551, which came in the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl Macau. Additionally, he has also won an EPT Main Event, EPT High Roller and a Triton title.
This was the second time that he was nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame, having earned a nomination in 2020. His photo will now be displayed in the Horseshoe’s Hall of Fame Poker Room and he will join the elite list of the following poker legends already inducted into the Hall of Fame.
| Name | Inducted |
| Johnny Moss | 1979 |
| Nick “The Greek” Dandolos | 1979 |
| Felton “Corky” McCorquodale | 1979 |
| Red Winn | 1979 |
| Sid Wyman | 1979 |
| James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok | 1979 |
| Edmond Hoyle | 1979 |
| Blondie Forbes | 1980 |
| Bill Boyd | 1981 |
| Tom Abdo | 1982 |
| Joe Bernstein | 1983 |
| Murph Harrold | 1984 |
| Red Hodges | 1985 |
| Henry Green | 1986 |
| Walter Clyde “Puggy” Pearson | 1987 |
| Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson | 1988 |
| Jack “Treetop” Straus | 1988 |
| Fred “Sarge” Ferris | 1989 |
| Benny Binion | 1990 |
| David “Chip” Reese | 1991 |
| Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston | 1992 |
| Jack Keller | 1993 |
| Julius Oral Popwell | 1996 |
| Roger Moore | 1997 |
| Stu “The Kid” Ungar | 2001 |
| Lyle Berman | 2002 |
| Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan | 2002 |
| Bobby “The Owl” Baldwin | 2003 |
| Berry Johnston | 2004 |
| Jack Binion | 2005 |
| Crandell Addington | 2005 |
| T.J. Cloutier | 2006 |
| Billy Baxter | 2006 |
| Barbara Enright | 2007 |
| Phil Hellmuth | 2007 |
| Dewey Tomko | 2008 |
| Henry Orenstein | 2008 |
| Mike Sexton | 2009 |
| Dan Harrington | 2010 |
| Erik Seidel | 2010 |
| Linda Johnson | 2011 |
| Barry Greenstein | 2011 |
| Eric Drache | 2012 |
| Bryan “Sailor” Roberts | 2012 |
| Scotty Nguyen | 2013 |
| Tom McEvoy | 2013 |
| Daniel Negreanu | 2014 |
| Jack McClelland | 2014 |
| Jennifer Harman | 2015 |
| John Juanda | 2015 |
| Carlos Mortensen | 2016 |
| Todd Brunson | 2016 |
| David “Devilfish” Ulliott | 2017 |
| Phil Ivey | 2017 |
| John Hennigan | 2018 |
| Mori Eskandani | 2018 |
| Chris Moneymaker | 2019 |
| David Oppenheim | 2019 |
| Huck Seed | 2020 |
| Eli Elezra | 2021 |
| Layne Flack | 2022 |
| Brian Rast | 2023 |
| Patrik Antonius | 2024 |
Started back in 1979, Poker Hall of Fame was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the World Series of Poker in 2004. Though virtual in nature, its membership includes poker’s most influential poker players and other important contributors to the game. The Poker Hall of Fame elects one or two members annually and the ceremony for the coveted induction is now held in concert with the Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP in Las Vegas.
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Image Credit: WSOP
