Just a little bit before 2 AM in Salvador, Brazil there may have been a short burst of cheers as one of their own added their name to the growing list of Brazilian poker players with a World Series of Poker bracelet. Leonardo Mattos defeated Christopher Puetz heads up to take down WSOP Online Event #59 ($2,500 Double Stack NLHE) for $399,046.75 and his first career bracelet.

Mattos is the fourth Brazilian to win a WSOP bracelet so far this summer joining Marcelo Pudla (Event #32), Yuri Dzievielevski (Event #42) and Luis Eduardo Garla (Event #55).

A double-elimination during hand-for-hand play on the final table bubble meant the final table actually started with just eight players. The early going of the final table was actually dominated by another Brazilian, Pedro Madeira.

Nine minutes is all that Yiannis Liperis got to spend at the final table. Madiera raised to 200,000 from late position with before Liperis moved all in for 1,964,232 from the cutoff with . Madeira called and breathed a sigh of relief when the flop did nothing to help Liperis. The turn and river sealed Liperis’ fate with an eighth place finish.

Madeira found yet another victim 23 minutes later. Fabiano Kovalski raised to 2,250,000 from the hijack with . Madeira re-raised to 4,500,000 with and Kovalski called off his last 1,388,003. The runout gave Madeira an unnecessary full house and eliminated Kovalski in seventh.

Five minutes later Kevin Gibson walked straight into the Madeira buzzsaw in a blind versus blind battle. Action folded around to Gibson in the small blind and he moved all in for 2,354,824 with and Madeira insta-called with . Gibson got no help on the runout and became Madeira’s third straight victim at the final table and finished in sixth place.

Mattos decided to interrupt the Madeira show and claimed the honor of sending the next player to the rail. Down to 14 big blinds, Antonio Pedro moved all in from the small blind for 4,218,108 with and Mattos called from the big blind with . The flop put Mattos in control and Pedro failed to connect with the turn or river and was out in fifth.

Madeira and Mattos traded the chip lead back and forth before Madeira picked up a substantial lead after sending another player to the rail. From UTG, Madeira raised to 800,000 with and Nethanel Klein moved all in for 5,413,704 from the big blind with . Madeira called and then breezed through the runout to eliminate Klein in fourth.

Three-handed play went on for 40 minutes and almost none of it went well for Madeira. His final hand saw him start with just a tad more than 16 big blinds. Puetz raised to 1,200,000 from the button with before Madeira moved all in for 9,848,067 from the big blind with . Puetz called. The flop kept Madeira in control but the turn gave Puetz top pair. The river changed nothing and Madeira was out in third place.

Puetz, who won WPT Germany at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic in February, before the Coronavirus pandemic shut down most of the live poker tournament scene around the world, started heads up play with nearly 57% of the chips in play. The pair each had two turns as the leader over the 35 minutes of play before Mattos put his last opponent away. Puetz was down to just 10 big blinds and moved all in from the button for 10,133,768 with and Mattos called with . Neither player connected with the runout and Puetz was out in second place giving Mattos the title.

Final Table Payouts

1. Leonardo Mattos – $399,046.75
2. Christopher Puetz – $298,296.25
3. Pedro Madeira – $216,473.38
4. Nethanel Klein – $157,094.80
5. Antonio Pedro – $114,003.68
6. Kevin Gibson – $82,732.53
7. Fabiano Kovalski – $60,039.04
8. Yiannis Liperis – $43,570.40
9. John McClean – $31,619.13