Uk-Poker.co.uk

The Wynn Classic Main Event was once considered to be every bit as prestigious as a WPT event or WSOP bracelet, such was its popularity among professional poker players. Nowadays, the Wynn Classic remains an important and popular event on the professional circuit, but in terms of lustre its sparkle has certainly faded. The $5,000 main event was once an impressive $10,000 that attracted significantly higher numbers of players. This week, Brandon Cantu emerged as the winner from a field of 242 players to take home the first place prize of $363,000.

Defeating veteran poker professional, Jared Jaffee, heads-up, Cantu enjoyed an incredible run of good form and good luck throughout the tournament; by his own admission, Jaffee did not stand a chance against some of the hands dealt to Cantu as the main event drew to a close. Speaking of his heads-up encounter with Jaffee, Cantu said: “It was pretty short. When we got down to heads-up, he was down 5:1 in chips and I had a hand the first 10 hands. He didn’t have much of a chance. For some reason, I knew I was going to win. It had nothing to do with the player, but I had been catching lots of cards and cold decking people the whole tournament. It all worked out really well”.

The Wynn Classic Main Event lacked the exposure and television coverage enjoyed by higher profile tournaments. Nevertheless, the Wynn Classic continues to attract interest from some of the game’s most talented players. Jared Jaffee finished second in the tournament for $246,477 and Melik Bagdasaryan scooped $129,107 for finishing third. UK poker tournaments such as the UKIPT and GUKPT are similar to the Wynn Classic in that they do not carry the same weight as the WSOP but continue to gain the attention of the very best poker players in the country.