It all began with a comment from one of the doyens of poker, Doyle Brunson. The two-time winner of the WSOP Main Event stated that he would play any Internet poker star in a live cash game.

It didn't take long for his opponent to emerge. Patrik Antonius said that he would accept Brunson's challenge and play him at any poker variety for any amount.

This has gotten the ball rolling. Doyle Brunson has made it clear that he won't be backing down under any circumstances. After all, there are 7 - 10 different poker varieties that he has played for high stakes. Some of those might cause problems to Patrik Antonius. In his blog, Brunson has even gone so far as to say that he might consider retiring from poker if he loses.

The two adversaries now just have to work out the details and then one of the most exciting duels the poker world has ever seen can begin.

The upcoming match is already dividing poker experts around the world. The Finn Antonius is one of the best online and offline players of the new generation. He plays the highest stakes on the Internet and also impresses time and again in tournaments. At 28 years of age, he has already accumulated 2.6 million in tournament winnings. It is estimated that his cash game winnings vastly exceed this.

His greatest successes include third place at the $10,000 Omaha tournament at the 2007 WSOP and a final table at the $50,000 HORSE event at the 2006 WSOP. Antonius is always underscoring his versatility in poker. As shown in his success in HORSE, he is not limited to Texas Hold'em or Omaha.

Nevertheless, few experts give him much hope against Brunson unless he plays him in one of these main disciplines.

After all, his opponent Doyle Brunson has been in the business for a lot longer. Hardly any other player has shaped the poker world to the same degree as this 75-year old. Besides his two Main Event successes in 1976 and 1977, he was the first player ever to earn more than one million dollars in tournaments. Since then, Brunson has been able to increase this to over 5.3 million.

Despite his ten WSOP bracelets, Brunson is more of a cash game player. At the beginning of his career, he joined up with poker legends Amarillo Slim and Sailor Roberts to travel through the southern states of the USA, playing poker in every city in which he found himself - a period in his life which was shaped exclusively by the cash game.

Following this, Brunson moved to Las Vegas where he enjoyed regular success in big tournaments. His bestselling book, Super System, was one of the first modern poker books. This poker bible is now available in a revised version and is still selling very well all of 30 years later.

Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming duel, both players are part of the global elite of poker players and will deliver a worthy battle.

The Internet generation against the old masters - who will win out?

Eurosport