It has taken three gruelling days of poker and a near eight-hour final table, but we finally have a winner with Brandon Cantu taking down Event 48!
762 Omaha enthusiasts took to the felt including the likes of Allen Cunningham, Roland De Wolfe, Kathy Liebert and Phil Hellmuth. However when play resumed today, there would be only two big names remaining with Brandon Cantu and Lee Watkinson headlining the final table.
Cantu captured the chip lead mid-way yesterday and held onto as the final table formed, but after a few pots didn't fall his way, he relinquished it to both Watkinson and Frenchman Jacqmin Mathieu.
Eventually though it would be the two veteran's that would reach heads-up after Mathieu hit the rail in third thanks to Watkinson.
Starting with a near five-to-two disadvantage, Cantu would let that slip out to a six-to-one disadvantage before mounting one of the comebacks to remember.
As his Grandfather cheered him on from the rail along with countless railbirds; Cantu managed to double, then quarter Watkinson to capture the lead. Watkinson would snatch the lead back one last time before eventually falling to Cantu's trip fours.
With Cantu capturing his first bracelet of the series and his second overall, it is unlikely that Cantu can be overlooked as one of the best tournament players of the circuit after adding a near $230,000 collect to his already impressive poker CV.
Congratulations to Brandon Cantu for capturing the Event 48 gold bracelet, and make sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as the remainder of the 2009 WSOP plays out live from the Rio!
We finally have a winner. After a series of hands in which all the chips went in the middle, Brandon Cantu eliminated Lee Watkinson. On the final hand, Cantu raised his button to 150,000 and Watkinson called. The rest of the chips went in on a flop of . Cantu showed , a pair of fours with a club draw. Watkinson showed a huge draw, . Any non-board-pairing low card would have been a great card for Watkinson. Instead the turn fell and the river fell to make trip fours for Cantu and finally send Watkinson to the rail.
The action is "end to end" now. Once again Brandon Cantu and Lee Watkinson were all in preflop. Cantu's bested Watkinson's by making a lowly pair of sixes on a board.
Lee Watkinson raised preflop to 100,000 and was called by Brandon Cantu. Cantu checked a flop of , then check-raised to 800,000 after Watkinson bet 200,000. Watkinson moved all in, drawing a fold from Cantu.
Watkinson has the lead again with approximately 2.2 million chips.
It's an unlucky blow for Lee Watkinson. He opened for 100,000 from the button. Brandon Cantu reraised to 300,000, bringing a third raise from Watkinson. Cantu quickly got all in and Watkinson called.
Watkinson:
Cantu:
The flop hit Cantu without hitting Watkinson, . Watkinson was lucky to catch running low cards, and , to salvage one quarter. Even with those chips, he has relinquished the chip lead to Cantu.
Some more positive movement for Brandon Cantu's stack. After Lee Watkinson opened the button for 125,000, Brandon Cantu reraised to 300,000. Watkinson called, then folded to a pot-sized bet on a flop of .
The last ten minutes of play haven't seen much change in the stacks. What was looking like it might be a quick heads-up match now seems destined for a bit more longevity.
Brandon Cantu is not quite ready to leave this final table. He raised to 150,000 preflop after Lee Watkinson limped the button. Watkinson called, then called Cantu's all-in bet of 270,000 on a flop of . Cantu showed down middle set and a small flush draw, . Watkinson was drawing thin with . The turn and river were bricks to double up Cantu to 840,000.