After narrowly missing out on a bracelet during one of the $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em World Series of Poker (WSOP) preliminary events, finishing second to Ray Foley, Washington native Ultimate Bet pro Brandon Cantu was able to bounce back and claim a bracelet in the $1,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha H/L event. While an uncommon game, the field drew a sizeable 762 runners and the 28-year old bulldozed through the competition on Days Two and Three to make it to a final table that included Omaha aficionado and Full Tilt Pro Lee Watkinson.
Cantu spoke with us following his bracelet ceremony about the game of Pot Limit Omaha H/L and sized up his formidable heads-up opponent:
Poker News Daily: Congratulations on your Pot Limit Omaha H/L (PLO H/L) bracelet. What is your background in PLO H/L? Have you played a lot of it before?
Brandon Cantu: No I haven’t played that much, but I just let my skills as a poker player help me out with the game. I mean, I know what I’m doing. I’m not blind. I play Omaha H/L, I’m just not the best at it. It just worked.
PND: Was there a learning curve at all going through the tournament?
Cantu: It’s not that I’m completely new at the game. I know what I am doing. I’ve played it some. I don’t think very many people in that field can say they play PLO H/L all the time. There’s just not that much of it, the game’s not that common.
PND: So you didn’t think there were many people in the field who had an edge on you in PLO H/L specifically?
Cantu: No. I can pick up games really, really easily. Whatever it is, you can make up a game, and I will catch on to it really fast and, again, it isn’t that I haven’t played it at all, just haven’t played it that much.
PND: Leading up to the final table you had a huge chip lead. At what point, if ever, did you think the final table or the bracelet was in the bag for you?
Cantu: Never. I trailed most of the final table. From five people down I was last in chips. I guess maybe I started to have a chance once I got the chip lead over Lee Watkinson.
PND: Was Watkinson the person you were most dreading playing heads-up?
Cantu: No, I like Lee, I actually wanted to play Lee heads-up. Lee’s a great guy and I wanted to play Lee. He’s competitive, a named pro and it was a good time.
PND: The Main Event is just around the corner. You had a really impressive deep run last year. Are you doing anything to plan or prepare for this year’s event?
Cantu: No planning for it. I don’t know what I’m going to do. One day I’ll just wake up and go play. I can’t really put too much thought into it.
PND: Well, hopefully you’ll make it as far again this year as you did last year.
Cantu: I know, hopefully.
