Poker Tournament Results

37th Annual World Series of Poker

Event #2 - WSOP No Limit Hold'em

June 27, 2006 at 12:00 PM
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Tournament Schedule

Buy-In	$1,500
Prize Pool	$4,164,000
Entries	2776
Report Available

Brandon Cantu

Place	Name	Prize
1	Brandon Cantu (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$757,839
2	Phong Ly (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$416,816
3	Drew Rubin AKA "Dr. Drew" (Hollywood, FL, USA)	$226,597
4	Lee Padilla AKA "Lee" (Modesto, CA, USA)	$176,579
5	Brent Roberts AKA "astrolux85" (Staten Island, NY, USA)	$151,570
6	Don Zewin (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$126,940
7	Ron Stanley AKA "Carolina Express" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$107,614
8	Mark Swartz (Phoenix, AZ, USA)	$88,668
9	Juan Carlos Mortensen AKA "El Matador" (Henderson, NV, USA)	$71,617
10	Tom Nguyen (Tampa, FL, USA)	$56,081
11	Jennifer Harman Traniello AKA "Jen" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$51,155
12	Jack Rosenfeldt (Redondo Beach, CA, USA)	$46,987
13	Ali Eslami (Van Nuys, CA, USA)	$43,197
14	Chad Burum (Novato, CA, USA)	$39,408
15	David Baker AKA "DB" (Katy, TX, USA)	$35,619
16	Adam Smith (Westlake, TX, USA)	$31,830
17	Steve Hohn (Overland Park, KS, USA)	$28,040
18	Stuart Krasney (Tustin, CA, USA)	$24,251
19	Jorge Walker (Cerritos, CA, USA)	$20,462
20	Paul Smith (Poway, CA, USA)	$20,462
21	Young V Phan (Garden Grove, CA, USA)	$20,462
22	Ronnie Jackson (Henderson, NV, USA)	$16,673
23	Kyle Burnside (Somerset, MA, USA)	$16,673
24	Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott (Hull, UK)	$16,673
25	Michael LaBonte (Richfield, WI, USA)	$13,641
26	Michael Bertolini (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$13,641
27	Kent Roman (Wyandotte, MI, USA)	$13,641
28	Chris Larue (Manteca, CA, USA)	$11,368
29	Richard Burke (Albuquerque, NM, USA)	$11,368
30	Ali Zargari (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$11,368
31	Tam Hang AKA "Tommy" (Lynnwood, WA, USA)	$11,368
32	Paul Darden Jr (Hamdem, CT, USA)	$11,368
33	Mark Schaech (Eldridge, MD, USA)	$11,368
34	Jeff Peterson (Corona, CA, USA)	$11,368
35	Al Krux (Syracuse, NY, USA)	$11,368
36	Rohn Schutsky (Freehold, NJ, USA)	$11,368
37	Vaughn Machada (Red Bank, NJ, USA)	$9,094
38	Motoyuki Mabuchi AKA "Moto" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$9,094
39	Ryan Even (Henderson, NV, USA)	$9,094
40	Bill Gazes (New York, NY, USA)	$9,094
41	Tony Lay (Oklahoma City, OK, USA)	$9,094
42	Arsenio Javier (La Habra, CA)	$9,094
43	Don Leone (Greendale, WI, USA)	$9,094
44	Michael Miller (Northridge, CA, USA)	$9,094
45	Ty Takishita (Kaneohe, HI, USA)	$9,094
46	Phil Gordon (Las Vegas, CA, USA)	$9,094
47	Paul Gratsch (Cocoa, FL, USA)	$9,094
48	Trent Schuler (Springfield, OH, USA)	$9,094
49	Erik Seidel (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$9,094
50	Emmett Burns (Fort Worth, TX, USA)	$9,094
51	Bernard Ko (Foster City, CA, USA)	$9,094
52	Preston Ritchie (New Orleans, LA, USA)	$9,094
53	Ken Koski (Howell, MI, USA)	$9,094
54	Greg Noren (Phoenix, AZ, USA)	$9,094
55	Scott Lynchwick (Gilbert, AZ, USA)	$7,578
56	Michael Kim (Federal Way, WA)	$7,578
57	Danny Fuhs (Scottsdale, AZ, USA)	$7,578
58	Shane Stephenson (Pittsburg, PA, USA)	$7,578
59	Reza Zand AKA "R.Z." (Henderson, NV, USA)	$7,578
60	Chris Hinchcliffe AKA "Hinch" (Olympia, WA, USA)	$7,578
61	William Chen AKA "Bill Chen" (Lafayette Hill, PA, USA)	$7,578
62	Daniel Adelson (Sherman Oaks, CA, USA)	$7,578
63	Gregory P. "Fossilman" Raymer (Raleigh, NC, USA)	$7,578
64	Jordan Smith AKA "scarface_79" (Tool, TX, USA)	$7,578
65	Shahram "Sean" Sheikhan (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$7,578
66	Chris Budak (Katy, TX, USA)	$7,578
67	Phil Hellmuth Jr (Palo Alto, CA, USA)	$7,578
68	Derek Neuman (Bothell, WA, USA)	$7,578
69	William Lin (Denver, CO, USA)	$7,578
70	Ben Boyd (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$7,578
71	Tad Gurgens (Phoenix, AZ, USA)	$7,578
72	Paul Tran (Houston, TX, USA)	$7,578
73	Nick Guagenti (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$7,578
74	Sam Chung (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$7,578
75	Tuan Le (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$7,578
76	William Maguire AKA "Bill" (Robstown, TX, USA)	$7,578
77	Charles Gambino (Brooklyn, NY, USA)	$7,578
78	Jim Bechtel (Gilbert, AZ, USA)	$7,578
79	Mike Ngo (New Orleans, LA, USA)	$7,578
80	Dan Nemec (Menomonee Falls, WI, USA)	$7,578
81	Dao Nguyen (San Jose, CA, USA)	$7,578
82	Cathleen Tran (Irvine, CA, USA)	$6,063
83	Tom Slater AKA "Small Blind" (Danville, CA, USA)	$6,063
84	Bob Rasmussen (Seattle, WA, USA)	$6,063
85	Carl Olson (Seattle, WA, USA)	$6,063
86	John Bonetti (Houston, TX, USA)	$6,063
87	Darryl Dauenhauer (Laughlin, NV, USA)	$6,063
88	Vittario Iemolo AKA "Victor" (Sarasota, FL, USA)	$6,063
89	Richard Talerico (Brookshire, TX, USA)	$6,063
90	Nick Voyatzis (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$6,063
91	Armen Kara (Brea, CA, USA)	$6,063
92	Dominick Auzzi (Bronx, NY, USA)	$6,063
93	Brian Taylor (Honolulu, HI, USA)	$6,063
94	Bruce Yamron (Naples, FL, USA)	$6,063
95	Jordan Rich (Portland, OR, USA)	$6,063
96	Matthew Holtzclaw (Elk Grove, CA, USA)	$6,063
97	Keith Sieradzki (Morristown, NJ, USA)	$6,063
98	Eric Froehlich AKA "EFro" (Rochester Hills, MI, USA)	$6,063
99	Brett Cuccarelli (Modesto, CA, USA)	$6,063
100	Blair Rodman (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$6,063
101	Rigo Vangarelli (Acworth, GA, USA)	$6,063
102	Adam Green (Washington, DC, USA)	$6,063
103	Robert Sweedler (Rancho Mirage, CA, USA)	$6,063
104	Sagar Patel (Morton Grove, IL, USA)	$6,063
105	Frank Sinopoli (Hollywood, FL, USA)	$6,063
106	Fred Yazber (Semi Valley, CA, USA)	$6,063
107	Casey Kastle (Ljubljana, Slovenia)	$6,063
108	Jim Gentry (Vancouver, WA, USA)	$6,063
109	James Weston (Hopatcong, NJ, USA)	$4,547
110	Tom Pniak (Naperville, IL, USA)	$4,547
111	William Shanks (College Park, MD, USA)	$4,547
112	Greg Whitting Jr (Philadelphia, PA, USA)	$4,547
113	Michael Capener (Phoenix, AZ, USA)	$4,574
114	Bruce Leyser (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$4,547
115	Eric Mellott AKA "Rick" (Divide, CO, USA)	$4,547
116	Arms Yongyuth (Carlsbad, CA, USA)	$4,547
117	Derrick Ho (San Jose, CA, USA)	$4,547
118	Darnell Stoner (Orlando, FL, USA)	$4,547
119	Dave Chaput (Brookville, MD, USA)	$4,547
120	Dave Fischer (Buffalo, NY, USA)	$4,547
121	Tom Noble (San Diego, CA, USA)	$4,547
122	Richie Wong (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,547
123	Zack Fritz (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,547
124	Adam Friedman (Gahanna, OH, USA)	$4,547
125	Chris Campochiard (Granada Hills, CA, USA)	$4,547
126	Nevio Nicolich (New York, NY, USA)	$4,547
127	Thandat Tran (El Monte, CA, USA)	$4,547
128	Chad Wiedenhoeft (Whitewater, WI, USA)	$4,547
129	Chaechon Yim (Kent, WA, USA)	$4,547
130	David Byer (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,547
131	Larry Rossland (Mandan, ND, USA)	$4,547
132	David Mann (Long Beach, CA, USA)	$4,547
133	Greg Higginsbotham (Janesville, WI, USA)	$4,547
134	Todd Reynolds (Holtsville, NY, USA)	$4,547
135	Kenneth John Pitchford (Sutton-In Ashfield, UK)	$4,547
136	Michael Hill (Wiesbaden, Germany)	$4,547
137	Bradley W Anderson (Fresno, CA, USA)	$4,547
138	Patrick Poels (Mesa, AZ, USA)	$4,547
139	Michael Ruth (Schenectady, NY, USA)	$4,547
140	Thomas Sanduski (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$4,547
141	John Yahnig (Louisville, KY, USA)	$4,547
142	Andy Miller (Abilene, TX, USA)	$4,547
143	Kenneth Brosnahan (Marietta, GA, USA)	$4,547
144	Michael Rohland (Downey, CA, USA)	$4,547
145	Jason Akay (Honolulu, HI, USA)	$4,547
146	Ryan Buckholtz (Encino, CA, USA)	$4,547
147	Chris Odle (Middletown, DE, USA)	$4,547
148	Rodney Johnson (Mechanicsville, VA, USA)	$4,547
149	Abraham Iannous (Henderson, NV, USA)	$4,547
150	Ryan Harrington (Portland, OR, USA)	$4,547
151	Burelle Almaello (Honolulu, HI, USA)	$45
152	Hung Na (Manhatten Beach, CA, USA)	$4,547
153	James Kilaryian (Moneta, VA, USA)	$4,547
154	Neil Matthews (Colorado Springs, CO, USA)	$3,410
155	Walter Davis (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
156	Brandon Leeds (Phoenix, AZ, USA)	$3,410
157	Jason Strasser (New York, NY, USA)	$3,410
158	Unknown	$3,410
159	David Siegel (Calabasas, CA, USA)	$3,410
160	Roger Houston (Westminister, CA, USA)	$3,410
161	David Wekks (Toledo, OH, USA)	$3,410
162	Angie Tran (Houston, TX, USA)	$3,410
163	Peter F Horn Jr (Acworth, GA, USA)	$3,410
164	Thomas Carrion Jr AKA "BigTom" (Fairfeild, CA, USA)	$3,410
165	Jose Rosenkrantz (Miami, FL, USA)	$3,410
166	Unknown	$3,410
167	Benjamin Lin (The Dalles, OR, USA)	$3,410
168	Raed Abdulfihat (Kyle, TX, USA)	$3,410
169	Dustin Goff (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
170	Jason Howard Gutherie (Parrish, FL, USA)	$3,410
171	Jonathan Little AKA "FieryJustice" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
172	Stephen Grockett (Costa Mesa, CA, USA)	$3,410
173	Chris Hammett (Westchester, NY, USA)	$3,410
174	Alex Balandin (New York City, NY, USA)	$3,410
175	Alexander Porter (Tucson, AZ, USA)	$3,410
176	Michael Davis (Norcross, GA, USA)	$3,410
177	Ehren Ezzell AKA "EZ" (Austin, TX, USA)	$3,410
178	Joseph Shukys (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
179	Joseph Cordi (Indian Wells, CA, USA)	$3,410
180	Benedicto Cruz (Freemont, CA, USA)	$3,410
181	Doug Gladstone (San Francisco, CA, USA)	$3,410
182	Zui Groysman (Toronto, ON, Canada)	$3,410
183	Pierre Bergeron AKA "Khaosman" (Brossard, QC, Canada)	$3,410
184	Dawna Wilson (Teton Village, WY, USA)	$3,410
185	Rob Goetschius (Westlake Village, CA, USA)	$3,410
186	Michael Kennedy (Greenwood, AK, USA)	$3,410
187	Noah Kelly (Eugene, OR, USA)	$3,410
188	Jason Farkas (Oak Creek, WI, USA)	$3,410
189	David Unketer (Arlington, TX, USA)	$3,410
190	Todd Bourgault (Fairhaven, MA, USA)	$3,410
191	Robert Tyburski (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
192	Russell Giorgianni (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
193	Mike Epstein AKA "Magic" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
194	David Skinner (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$3,410
195	Evan Paushter (Fairfield, CT, USA)	$3,410
196	Kenneth Meier (Pittsburgh, PA, USA)	$3,410
197	Stephen Gin (North York, ON, Canada)	$3,410
198	Jethro Horowitz (Double Bay, New South Wales, Australia)	$3,410
199	Aaron Price (Barsto, CA, USA)	$2,274
200	Troy Kidwell (Austin, TX, USA)	$2,274
201	Jeremy Lux (Shelbyville, IN, USA)	$2,274
202	Gerald Johonnot (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,274
203	Andrew Wade (Adrian, MI, USA)	$2,274
204	Sam Lewis (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,274
205	Daniel John Stanton (Northfield, IN, USA)	$2,274
206	Adam Zinn AKA "duck" (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,274
207	Richard Wilcox (Danville, CA, USA)	$2,274
208	Charles K Lehr (Bossier, LA, USA)	$2,274
209	Randy Campbell (Villa Park, CA, USA)	$2,274
210	Steven Wegel (Wedowle, AL, USA)	$2,274
211	Jason Hodges (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,274
212	Richard Paulsen (Weburn, MA, USA)	$2,274
213	Duane Capes (Rochelle, IL, USA)	$2,274
214	Edward Piper (Mogador, OH, USA)	$2,274
215	Joseph Sorren (Flagstaff, AZ, USA)	$2,274
216	David Doyen (West Hills, CA, USA)	$2,274
217	Unknown	$2,274
218	Amir Naderi (Santa Monica, CA, USA)	$2,274
219	Brendan Taylor (Henderson, NV, USA)	$2,274
220	Isabelle Mercier AKA "No Mercy" (Victoriaville, QC, Canada)	$2,274
221	Jason Gonong (Dallas, TX, USA)	$2,274
222	Howard Elkins (Hendersonville, NC, USA)	$2,274
223	Robert Dacleb (Vallejo, CA, USA)	$2,274
224	William Mietz (Littleton, CO, USA)	$2,274
225	John Roveto AKA "Junior" (Leewood, KS, USA)	$2,274
226	Michael Rutherford (Temple, TX, USA)	$2,274
227	Scott Moore (Arroyo Grande, CA, USA)	$2,274
228	Peter Bell (Marina Del Ray, CA, USA)	$2,274
229	Wendeen Eolis (New York, NY, USA)	$2,274
230	Neil Channing AKA "Bad Beat" (Maida Vale, London, UK)	$2,274
231	Joseph Cutri AKA "Jo Jo" (Southampton, PA, USA)	$2,274
232	Kurt Heflan (Kansas City, MO, USA)	$2,274
233	Jeffrey King (Colchester, CT, USA)	$2,274
234	Jim Mercurio (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$2,274
235	Michael Brittain (Englewood, NJ, USA)	$2,274
236	Unknown	$2,274
237	John Winslow (Dallas, TX, USA)	$2,274
238	Hyon Chun (Los Angeles, CA, USA)	$2,274
239	Matthew Snell (Lakeville, MN, USA)	$2,274
240	John Fagerile (Orting, WA, USA)	$2,274
241	Elio Reyes (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,274
242	Hassan Assahouri (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,274
243	Clonie Gowen (Dallas, TX, USA)	$2,274
244	Kristy Gazes (Van Nuys, CA, USA)	$2,274
245	Joseph Zewin (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$2,274
246	Daniel Hill (State College Park, PA, USA)	$2,274
247	David Hatfield (Federal Way, WA, USA)	$2,274
248	Dan Bakker (Hot Springs, AR, USA)	$2,274
249	Brett Tannenbaum (Delray Beach, FL, USA)	$2,274
250	Humberto Brenes (San Jose, CA, USA)	$2,274
251	Richard Aquino (Kearny, NJ, USA)	$2,274
252	Jon K Weekly (Denver, CO, USA)	$2,274
253	David Sands (Bozman, MT, USA)	$2,274
254	Robert Nehorayan (Sherman Oaks, CA, USA)	$2,274
255	Joe Pharo (Scottsdale, AZ, USA)	$2,274
256	John Gill (San Bernaraino, CA, USA)	$2,274
257	Jean Gluck (Alhambra, CA, USA)	$2,274
258	Brian Tracy (St. Louis, MO, USA)	$2,274
259	Richard Abbamonto (Lakewood, CA, USA)	$2,274
260	James Burns (Murfressboro, TN, USA)	$2,274
261	Unknown	$2,274
262	Bryan Griggs (Newcastle, WA, USA)	$2,274
263	Danny Jensen (Arvada, CO, USA)	$2,274
264	Paul Kroh (Battle Mountain, NV, USA)	$1,299
265	Charlie Sewell (Edmond, OK, USA)	$1,299
266	Joshua Nordmark (Sciota, PA, USA)	$1,299
267	Isaac E Khalil (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$1,299
268	John Burk Nugent (Spokane, WA, USA)	$1,299
269	Rodney Clements	$1,299
270	Kathy Koon (Chicago, IL, USA)	$1,299
271	Juan Carlin (Laredo, TX, USA)	$1,299
272	Anthony Girouard (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$1,299
273	Claudie Holland (Fayetville, NC, USA)	$1,299
274	Richard Grijalva (Las Vegas, NV, USA)	$1,299
275	Cody Way (Amarillo, TX, USA)	$1,299
276	Brian Swinford (Champagne, IL, USA)	$1,299
277	Stefeno Cancellwil (Bowmanville, ON, Canada)	$1,299

Tournament Report

Cantu Can Do!

Brandon Cantu Wins Second-Largest Live Poker Tournament in History!
25-year-old Las Vegan wins a whopping $757,839 in prize money
Las Vegas, NV - Each and every poker player needs a little luck. Just ask Brandon Cantu. Sure, poker is a game of skill. But luck can also carry a good player a very long way.
On June 28, 2006 Cantu, a 25-year-old semi-professional player from Las Vegas, was competing in his biggest poker tournament ever. With 64 players still contending in the tournament on the second day, Cantu found himself nearly all-in with most of his chips in the pot and drawing slim against none other than Greg -Fossilman- Raymer, the 2004 World Series of Poker Champion. With Cantu-s tournament life hanging in the balance, Raymer had the best hand, by far. But luck sometimes appears when least expected. The angels of mercy resuscitated Cantu with two near-miracle diamonds to complete a flush, which eliminated the poker superstar and stunned those who witnessed the decisive moment. That pot ignited a flame in Cantu that would never extinguish. In fact, as it turned out, that crucial hand made Cantu three-quarters of a million dollars in extra prize money.
In Event 2, Cantu burned through a record-field of 2,776 players - an astonishing number in size and scale. Consider that the $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold-em event was the second-largest poker tournament ever in history. Already on pace to shatter every previous poker mark ever recorded, the first open event of the 2006 World Series of Poker was a complete sell-out. Only the 2005 WSOP main event attracted more participants (with 5,619). The total prize pool amounted to $3,789,240. There were 277 players who collected prize money.
After two long days of play, the final table was set. ESPN was on hand to film the finale for later broadcast. When the first hand was dealt out in front of a standing-room only crowd packed inside the Rio Convention Center, the seating positions and chips counts were as follows:
Name Chip Count Seat

Lee Padilla $753,000 1 Phong -Mark- Ly $516,000 2 Mark Swartz $359,000 3 Brent Roberts $260,000 4 Carlos Mortensen$337,000 5 Brandon Cantu $773,000 6 Ron Stanley $283,000 7 Drew Rubin $573,000 8 Don Zewin $337,000 9

The first player to be eliminated was a bit of a surprise. In fact, the final stages of the tournament were an absolute nightmare for Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 world poker champion. Towards the end of play on Day Two, the superstar Spaniard (who was actually born in Ecuador - a little-known fact) was sitting comfortably, with an impressive chip lead. Given Mortensen's aggressive style, he was clearly a favorite to go far. Many poker observers began speculating that Mortensen might be on his way to a third WSOP gold bracelet. Then, everything began to unravel.
Mortensen lost about half of his chips late on the previous night, and then proceeded to lose the other half within an hour at the final table. The final dagger came quickly. On his last hand, Mortensen was getting perilously low on chips and moved all-in with pocket fours. Phong -Mark- Ly was in the blind and called. Ly caught a queen on the turn to make a higher pair, which dashed Mortensen's dreams of victory. Mortensen, a.k.a. -The Matador- got to play the ill-fated role of the bull in this event, and was dragged out of the ring in ninth place good for $71,617 in prize money.
After Mark Swartz was eliminated in eighth place (good for $88,668) two more long-time poker veterans were eliminated. Ron Stanley, perhaps best-known for his close encounter with poker legend Stu Ungar at the 1997 WSOP final table, moved all-in with A-9 suited after Lee Padilla opened for a raise. Don Zewin, who has been playing in WSOP events for 25 years, re-raised all-in with 8-8. Padilla was pot-committed and made a tough call with A-J of spades.
Remarkably, Padilla caught three spades - good for a flush. Within mere seconds, Padilla had knocked out two consummate professionals and the tournament was suddenly down to just five players. Ron Stanley, a.k.a. -The Carolina Express- (1991 WSOP gold bracelet winner), was derailed at the seventh-place finisher, good for $107,614. Don Zewin -- who finished third in the 1989 main event (losing only to Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan) -- collected $126,940 for sixth. That big hand put Padilla up over 1,000,000 in chips for the first time -- only 15,000 behind Cantu in the chip-count. That would be as close as he would get.
Brent Roberts, a college student from Staten Island, NY, arrived at the final table as a player primed to make history. Roberts, who turned 21 only three weeks ago (Note: The legal age to enter the WSOP is 21), would have been the youngest World Series winner in history, eclipsing Eric Froehlich-s mark set last year. But it was not to be. Roberts took 7-7 up against Lee Padilla's A-Q and lost when a queen fell. One must now wonder where Roberts will go from here. Winning $151,570 in his first WSOP tournament ever is quite a benchmark of accomplishment. (Note: It is believed that Roberts is the youngest player in WSOP history ever to make it to a final table)
Lee Padilla's last hour was a complete disaster. He went from a million in chips down to the felt in what can only be described as a disappointing series of bad hands and unfortunate breaks. Padilla, an almond farmer from Modesto, CA, went out fourth when his A-3 was cracked by Mark Ly-s A-10. Fourth place paid a very respectable $176,579. Mark Ly was the only player to knock Cantu from his chip perch at any point. Ly hit the 2,000,000 chip-mark when he won a monster pot with A-Q versus Cantu-s 6-6. But Cantu wasn-t fazed. Soon thereafter, Dr. Drew Rubin was eliminated when his A-6 lost to Cantu-s 8-8. Rubin, a clinical psychologist from Hollywood, FL, was diagnosed as the third-place finisher and billed the prize pool for $226,597 - which came to about $7,500 an hour for his time.
Down to heads-up play, Brandon Cantu enjoyed a 3 to 2 chip lead over Mark Ly, about 2,400,000 to 1,760,000. The final outcome did not take long. Ly lost most of his chips when he overplayed his hand holding J-4, after the turn showed A-J-6-7. Ly re-raised all-in holding second pair. Big mistake. Cantu called instantly with A-K - good for top pair, top kicker. The river failed to rescue Ly, who went out just two hands later.
Phong -Mark- Ly a Vietnamese-born 27-year-old professional poker player, was the runner up. Ly, who is married with two children, now resides in Los Angeles. He received $416,816 In his first major final table appearance, Brandon Cantu won an astounding amount of money -- $757,839 for first place. He also received the coveted gold bracelet, traditionally presented to each and every WSOP winner. -I have no skills in life other than poker,- Cantu joked afterward when asked why he decided to turn pro. -That-s it for me, maybe I-ll retire.-
But Cantu also admitted to having at least one goal, which he has not yet achieved. -I still have not won our home poker game tournament,- he said. -It has a $20 buy-in. They all keep making fun of me that I never win. When I win that one, my life will be complete.-
by Nolan Dalla
Overall Tournament Statistics (through end of Event #2):
Total Entries to Date: 4,008
Total Prize Money Distributed: $ 4,343,640
World Series of Poker Commissioner - Jeffrey Pollack
Director of Sports and Entertainment Marketing (Licensing) -- Ty Stewart
Director of Sports and Entertainment Marketing (Communications) - Gary Thompson
Vice President of Specialty Gaming -- Howard Greenbaum
WSOP Tournament Director - Robert Daily
WSOP Tournament Director / Director of Poker Operations for Harrah-s Entertainment - Jack Effel

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