Event #5: €10,450 Mixed Max No-Limit Hold'em

Redemption. That was the only word on Jonathan Aguiar's mind as he played Brandon Cantu heads up for the bracelet in Event #5: €10,450 Mixed Max - No-Limit Hold'em. Aguiar, who stone bubbled in this exact event in 2011, was battling to redeem what he referred to as "the worst day of his career". After a six hour heads up battle on Day 4 and 45 more minutes on Day 5, Aguiar was able to seal the deal and defeat Cantu heads up, earning him his first WSOPE bracelet as well as a €258,047 first place prize.

Going back to Day 1, this prestigious event turned out many of poker's elite. Its unique format gives players a chance to utilize their skills in many different styles of play. The first day began with 9-handed play and it moved down to 6-handed on Day 2. Once the final 16 players were reached a random bracket was drawn and heads up matches were played down until there was a champion

The final bracket of 16 did not disappoint in terms of powerful names from the poker world. Phil Hellmuth, Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, Joe Keuther, Mike Watson, Jason Mercier, Paul Tedeschi, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, and Jennifer Tilly were all among those to make it to the heads up portion of this tournament, only to be eliminated in the first round. These players earned a payday of €20,443 for their performances in this tournament.

The next round saw the exits of Kristijonas Andrulis, Martin Jacobson, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Konstantin Puchkov, all of whom took home €42,094. The eliminations of these players saw the formation of the final four.

Final Four

Aguiar took care of Jaka fairly quickly and was able to rest up for the final match. The match between Cantu and Roger Hairabedian, however, was a different story. The match lasted for roughly nine hours and saw much controversy. Tournament Director Jack Effel was called on two occasions to assess issues brought up by Cantu. The first involved Hairabedian moving to a different side of the table which Cantu did not think should be allowed. The second was ruled in favor of Cantu, and involved Hairabedian betting after he had already checked. These issues delayed play for about an hour total, but despite all of that Cantu was able to clinch his spot in the finals.

Cantu held the chip lead going into heads up with Aguiar and came out with guns firing. All of that changed, however, during a hand where both players saw a flop of    . Cantu led for 75,000 and Aguiar raised to 270,000. Cantu moved out a three-bet to 540,000 and Aguiar four-bet all in.

Showdown

Cantu:   
Aguiar:   

Cantu held the nut flush but Aguiar was drawing live with his set of eights. The   on the turn was of no help to Aguiar and Cantu was one card away from the championship. It was not meant to be, however, as the   fell on the river and gave Aguiar a full house.

From there the two players battled for another roughly three hours and by the end of the night, Cantu was able to overtake the chip lead once again. Due to scheduling issues and the casino closing at 5:00 AM, the match had to be rescheduled to when both players were available after the Main Event. Both Cantu and Aguiar busted from the Main Event on Day 1 and so they were back to the felt the next day.

The stacks were fairly close to even when play began on Day 5 with Cantu holding 1.52 million to Aguiar's 1.361 million. Aguiar drew first blood in the match by taking the chip lead on the second hand and he never looked back after that. Aguiar won several large confrontations early on and Cantu was visibly upset. Finally, Aguiar raised to 40,000 before the flop and Cantu shipped all in for his last roughly 600,000 more. Aguiar snapped and the hands were turned over:

Showdown

Aguiar:   
Cantu:   

The players were racing with Cantu's tournament on the line. The flop came down     and Aguiar was able to pair his ace and jump into the lead. The   fell on fourth street and Aguiar was one card away from the championship and his first bracelet. The dealer put down the   on the river and Cantu's tournament was officially over.

PokerNews would like to extend our congratulations to Jonathan Aguiar for conquering this stacked field to earn himself his first WSOP bracelet. That does it for our coverage of Event #5: €10,450 Mixed Max - No-Limit Hold'em, be sure to tune into our coverage of the Main Event!

Brandon Cantu is internally steaming right now after a brutal river saw him drop even further in chips.

Cantu opened to 40,000 and bet 50,000, 140,000 and 275,000 on a       board.

Aguiar tank-called on the turn but snap called the river. Cantu quickly, and confidently, opened    before he was destroyed by Aguiar slamming down    for a rivered two-pair.

Jonathan Aguiar	2,100,000	275,000
Brandon Cantu	600,000	-455,000

The spice in this contest from two days ago is still lingering today, and has the potential to travel right up the Scoville scale.

Jonathan Aguiar is pulling clear after the two played out a hand that made it all the way to showdown. Aguiar opened to 40,000 and Cantu called before both players checked the     flop.

On the   turn Cantu led for 55,000 and Aguiar called to the   river. Cantu checked and tank-called a 135,000 after he muttered something about Phil Hellmuth.

Aguiar responded, "Did Hellmuth turn you into a calling station?" And opened    for two-pair.

Cantu pointed out that Aguiar likes to hit rivers.

Jonathan Aguiar	1,710,000	159,000
Brandon Cantu	1,170,000	-159,000

Two days ago Brandon Cantu and Jonathan Aguiar played in the final heads up match of Event #5: €10,450 Mixed Max - No-Limit Hold'em. The duo battled on the felt for the better part of six hours and still no champion was found. All of that will change today.

Brandon Cantu began the match with the chip lead holding 1,770,000 to Aguiar's 1,110,500. Cantu jumped out to a clear lead but Aguiar was able to battle back and finally score a key double up roughly halfway through the match. Aguiar got it all in holding pocket eights on an     flop, but unfortunately was up against Cantu's    nut flush. The board paired on the river and gave Aguiar a full house to double up.

As the match wore on, Cantu was able to hit a surge and was able to overtake the chip lead once again. Cantu now leads the match with 1.52 million to Aguiar's 1.361 million.

The two will take their seats to finish the match in roughly twenty minutes. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews as we update you on the quest to find a winner.