Brandon M. Cantu (born May 10, 1981 in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, located in Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Was ...

) is an American professional poker player. Upon winning a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2006, Cantu relocated to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

. On March 14, 2007, Cantu became one of only 27 players to ever win both a

World Series of Poker bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1 ...

(2006) and a

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...

championship (2008).

World Series of Poker

At the $1,500 No-Limit hold’em

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

in June 2006, Cantu won his first

WSOP The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pl ...

bracelet in a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event, winning $757,839. The event was the largest live poker tournament outside of the main event, with 2,775 players. At the

Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

of 2008, Cantu finished in 20th place out of 6844 entries, earning $257,334. At the

2009 World Series of Poker The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No ...

, Cantu won his second bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event, defeating fellow poker professional

Lee Watkinson Lee Watkinson (born October 18, 1966) is an American professional poker player, originally from Longbranch, Washington. At the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Watkinson finished 2nd in the $5,000 pot limit Omaha event. He also finished in t ...

in heads-up play, and winning $228,867. At the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe, Cantu took second in the 10K Mix Max losing to J.C. Aguilar.

World Series of Poker Bracelets

World Poker Tour

Cantu has four cashes at the

(WPT) including finishing 18th place at the Festa Al Lago V in 2006 and 19th place at the World Poker Challenge in 2007, then in March 2008, he won his first WPT title at the

Bay 101 Bay 101 is a cardroom in San Jose, California. Like other California cardrooms, Bay 101 offers poker cash games and tournaments as well as special "California" style table games. Bay 101 is perhaps best known for hosting the Bay 101 Shooting Star ...

Shooting Star championship earning $1,000,000 and was nicknamed "The Bounty Hunter" for earning an additional $30,000 in bounties for busting a record six notable poker professionals in the tournament known as ''"Shooting Stars"'' who along with their $5000 bounties they also relinquish a custom made t-shirt with that particular players image on it, Cantu's six bounties were;

Bill Edler William Edler (born February 11, 1964) is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. He has a J.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Edler won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 2007 by claiming the $5,0 ...

John Juanda Johnson "John" Juanda (born July 8, 1971) is an Indonesian professional poker player of Chinese descent based in Tokyo, Japan. He has won five World Series of Poker bracelets. Personal life Juanda was born into a Hoklo family in Medan, Nort ...

Phil Laak Philip Courtney Laak (born September 8, 1972) is an Irish–American professional poker player and a poker commentator, now residing in Los Angeles, California. Laak holds a World Poker Tour (WPT) title, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, a ...

Joe Hachem Joseph Hachem ( ar, جوزف هاشم; ; born 11 March 1966) is a Lebanese-Australian professional poker player known for being the first Australian to win the World Series of Poker main event, which earned him $7.5 million, then a record for al ...

who finished 20th,

J. C. Tran J. C. Tran (born Justin Cuong Van Tran January 20, 1977 in Vietnam) is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player, based in Sacramento, California. Tran is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, a World Championship of Online P ...

who just missed the six person final table in 7th and

Jennifer Harman Jennifer C. Harman (born November 29, 1964) is an American professional poker player. She has won two World Series of Poker bracelets in open events, one of only four women to have done so. Career Harman won her first World Series of Poker bra ...

who finished 3rd, also making the final table were non-designated pros John Phan (6th), Noah Jefferson (4th) and runner-up Steve Sung. As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $3,400,000. His 10 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,693,509 of those winnings.World Series of Poker Earnings
, worldseriesofpoker.com

Notes

External links

Pokerlistings.com interviewPokerSourceOnline.com article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantu, Brandon American poker players World Poker Tour winners Living people World Series of Poker bracelet winners Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington 1981 births