WSOP: Brandon Cantu Dominates Day 2, Leads Final Table

Paul Oresteen | June 27, 2009

Brandon Cantu controlled the action for most of the day.

The World Series of Poker finds new ways to offer interesting formats for tournaments priced for value. The $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha HiLo Split-8 or Better (Event 48) attracted players ranging from an amateur playing his first WSOP event to the all-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth. Day 2 saw 87 players return to play down to the final table and Brandon Cantu will enter the final table as chip leader.

Day 2 play started slowly needing only 14 eliminations until the money bubble. Carlos Citrone had the unfortunate, but necessary task of being the last player to bust without getting paid. His A Q 4 2 fell short against A K 9 9 on a board of T J 9 T 2.

A short-stacked Hellmuth seemed frustrated for most of the night, crediting himself with many good folds. On his final hand he moved all-in and was called by Jacqmin Mathieu on the button and Lee Watkinson from the big blind. The flop came 5 4 Q and both live players checked, then the A hit on the turn and Mathieu bet Watkinson out of the pot. Hellmuth tabled A T 6 2 and Mathie showed T 4 3 2. The J came on the turn and Hellmuth said, “He called a raise with deuce, three fucking four.” As Hellmuth made his exit he muttered, “Nice hand buddy.”

Cantu’s huge rush on Day 2 gave him a comfortable cushion to work with. At one point, he had more chips than the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th place players on the leaderboard combined. He flirted with the 1,000,000 mark for most of the later part of the night and finally broke it in the last twenty minutes of play.

Watkinson made a slow steady rise up the leaderboard throughout the day. He surged from a beginning stack on Day 2 just under 20,000 to 3rd in chips with 400,000.

During the last two hours the players sat ten-handed until one more player busted out so the final table would be set for a 2 p.m start. The final table bubble boy was Sean Getzwiller when he was scooped by Tommy Vedes.

Play resumes tomorrow at 2 p.m. PST at the Feature Table area.

Final Table Chip Counts for $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha HiLo Split-8 or Better (Event 48)