Cantu Can
The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event wrapped up late last night in San Jose, California. The player who walked away with the $1 million prize and his first WPT title was Brandon Cantu.
This tournament is always a unique one, with bounties on numerous pro players worth $5k each, and $10k bonuses for the chip leader at the end of Day 1A, Day 1B, and Day 2. Players typically enjoy the unique aspects of the game, and the fans can’t get enough. There are fans everywhere seeking autographs, photos, and a glance at the pros in action.
The final table was set to be a great one…
Seat 1: Noah Jefferson – 842,000
Seat 2: John Phan – 374,000
Seat 3: Brandon Cantu – 3,323,000
Seat 4: Steve Sung – 474,000
Seat 5: Jennifer Harman – 541,000
Seat 6: Michael Baker – 1,964,000
Phan was the first to go, followed by Baker and Jefferson. The lovely Jen Harman put up a solid fight but finished in third. By the time heads-up action began, Cantu had over 6 million chips to Sung’s 1.3 million. It didn’t take long for Cantu to seal the deal.
Cantu had a stellar tournament. Not only was he the Day 1A chip leader for a $10k bonus, but he ended up collecting six bounties throughout the event for an extra $30k. And in the end, he maintained his final table chip lead, which is an usual phenomenon these days, and took the WPT title and cool mil. He is now one of the elite group of players to have won a WSOP bracelet (2006 $1500 no-limit hold’em) and a WPT tourney.
Congrats, Brandon!
DanM says:
March 15th, 2008 at 10:17am
Is that the same Brandon whom Brandi dedicated a video to, or is that the other Brandon?
Kevin Mathers says:
March 15th, 2008 at 11:31am
That was a different Brandon.
DanM says:
March 15th, 2008 at 12:00pm
Bummer. This woulda made a better revenge story.
California Jen says:
March 15th, 2008 at 12:31pm
Cantu would never get involved with someone like Brandi!
I’m not sure of the other Brandon’s last name.
DanM says:
March 16th, 2008 at 1:45am
I thought there were only two Brandons in poker — Adams and Cantu. Turns out there are 109 more:
http://www.cardplayer.com/players?sort_by=fname&page=308
Michael says:
March 26th, 2008 at 12:04pm
Word on 2+2 is that he stiffed the dealers at Bay 101…..
California Jen says:
March 26th, 2008 at 2:57pm
Word from Brandon is that he was confused about protocol and thought a standard tip was taken out of the buy-ins. He just spoke about it on PokerRoad Radio and is doing an interview with CardPlayer.