And yet that is exactly what transpired. Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 WSOP main-event champion, broke all sorts of records at the Bellagio in producing an extraordinary final-table comeback to become the first (and possibly last player) to win both the WPT Championship and the WSOP main-event. The feat is even more extraordinary given that Mortensen was already one of only four players to have won a regular WPT title along with the WSOP championship.

Despite starting slowly the final table of the WPT Championship ended up being one of the most exciting we have ever seen. Play began with Paul Lee wielding a huge chip lead over his rivals, having won an enormous pot on the last hand of the previous day that gave him twice as many chips as second placed Carlos Mortensen. But Lee began the final table extremely passively, clearly trying to protect his lead instead of using it to his advantage, and this played straight into the hands of players like Mortensen and Morrison.

Mortensen became the table captain early on with his aggressive play, but it was Kirk Morrison who made the headlines courtesy of a number of eliminations. First Morrison knocked out Mike Wattel with K-J versus J-9; then he sent Tim Phan to the rail when he picked up A-A in the blinds and Phan moved all-in from the button with 9-9. That pot alone was worth over $4 million.

But despite these huge pots Mortensen’s relentless aggression meant that it was he who first wrestled the chip lead from Paul Lee, although no sooner had he got it lasted than Kirk Morrison took it away in the biggest hand of the tournament thus far.

After re-raising Morrison to $2.7 million before the flop Mortensen didn’t hesitate to push all-in when the flop came Qc-Jc-9d. Amazingly Morrison did, mulling over his decision before calling and revealing pocket jacks, an absolute no-brainer. He was of course miles ahead of Mortensen’s A-Q, and when the formality of the turn and river was over Mortensen’s stack had been crushed; he was left with just $1.15 million while Kirk Morrison raked in a pot worth more than $16 million!

Morrison didn’t stop there however, and he continued the hottest of hot streaks when he busted Guy Laliberte on hand #73. On a Qc-6c-3c flop Morrison moved all-in with 2c-2s and was actually slightly behind when Laliberte called with Ad-Jc. A three on meant Guy had 18 outs going into the river, with any club, ace, queen, jack, or six destined to win him the pot. The river was the eight of spades . . . . Guy was on his way to the rail, and Morrison’s chipstack swelled to a seemingly unassailable $22 million.

Mortensen however is not one to lies down, and after picking up a good number of smallish pots he managed to double up with Qd-8d versus Morrison’s T-6. He then received a further boost when Paul Lee pushed all-in with T-9 on an A-T-4 flop. Mortensen insta-called with A-9 and El Matador was back in the race when the board blanked out. Lee meanwhile, was left with just $1.225 million, and was eliminated on the very next hand, losing with A-9 to Morrison’s A-T.

With the money presentation out of the way Mortensen and Morrison began their heads-up battle, and despite Morrison’s $18.8 million to $13.8 million chip lead many of the watching pros tipped Mortensen to win. The Spaniard’s greater experience was considered more important than Morrison’s chip lead, but within a few hands it seemed the pendulum had swung irreversibly in Morrison’s favour.

In what looked like being the crucial hand, Morrison raised $1 million preflop and Mortensen called. The flop came Tc-8d-3c and they both checked; the turn was the ten of diamonds and Mortensen bet $1.6 million; Morrison called and the river was the ten of hearts. Mortensen now bet $4 million, sending Morrison deep into the tank. He finally made one of the calls of the tournament, showing A-J for three tens with an ace kicker. It proved enough, with Mortensen revealing K-2 for a worse kicker. The Spaniard was now seriously short stacked and in big trouble.

Things got worse for Carlos before they got better, and within 15 hands he was down to just $4,350,000 chips, while Morrison sat with over $28 million. But he finally got the double up he needed to kickstart his challenge, winning with A-T versus Kh-6h to leave him trailing by a more manageable $22 million to $9.8 million.

It was still a huge ask, but El Matador is a supremely talented heads-up player, and he quickly began to exert some serious pressure on Morrison, playing with a level of aggression that his less experienced opponent simply couldn’t live with. By consistently winning the blinds, along with a couple of bigger pots, Carlos even took the lead by hand #127, and was one card from winning the tournament when this happened: with the board showing Ah-Qh-6d-3d a series of raises and re-raises saw Kirk Morrison all-in for his tournament life. When the cards were on their backs Morrison was trailing with A-T to Mortensen’s Q-6 two-pair, but just when it looked like one of the greatest comebacks in WPT history was complete, the ten of diamonds popped out on the river to give Morrison a better two-pair. How the tables had turned! From being one card away from victory, Mortensen now faced a $7 million to $24.5 million chip defecit. Once again he had mountain to climb.

With the blinds reaching the highest levels ever seen in the WPT Carlos put his foot back on the gas again, and once more Morrison seemed unable to cope with the Spaniard’s constant aggression. In no time Mortensen was back up to $12 million, and then, in a crucial hand, he doubled up with A-K versus T-T preflop. The flop blanked out but an ace on the turn gave Carlos a $27 million to $5 million chip lead.

Mortensen now had Kirk Morrison on the ropes and within a few hands he once again found himself within one card of victory. Amazingly the same card popped out to deny him for a second time, when the ten of diamonds on the river gave Morrison a flush. When, on the very next hand, Morrison completed back-to-back double-ups to regain the chip lead the bulging crowd could hardly believe their eyes.

By now Mortensen must have been wondering what he had to do to finish Morrison, but he stuck admirably to his game plan, and continued to play aggressively against his opponents bigger stack. It was a wise plan; Morrison simply did not have any answers to the questions posed by Mortensen and before long Carlos had regained the chiplead for the umpteenth time. Eventually Morrison, backed into a corner by Mortensen’s ceaseless assault, decided to make a stand. With Mortensen raising $6.5 million preflop Morrison pushed all-in over the top, and was marginally ahead with A-4o when Mortensen called with Kh-Jh. It was a fragile lead however, and when a jack fell on the turn Morrison was drawing to just five outs. They never materialised - Mortensen finally had his man!

In recovering from having his chip stack decimated on at least three occasions Mortensen’s victory represents the greatest ever comeback in the WPT, and possibly stands out as one of the greatest comebacks in the history of tournament poker. His achievement in winning a WPT championship title to go with his WSOP main-event title was, in the words of Mike Sexton, “an impossible feat that might never be matched.” That is no exaggeration.

The $3.9 million first prize almost seems an irrelevance in comparison to the epic nature of Mortensen’s comeback, and the historical significance of his achievement. Nevertheless, the prize money was significant (it was the fourth biggest first prize in the history of poker and the biggest prize ever awarded in the WPT) and the list of payouts is below:

Juan Carlos Mortensen - $3,970,415

Kirk Morrison - $2,011,135

Paul Lee - $1,082,920

Guy Laliberte - $696,220

Tim Phan - $464,110

Mike Wattel - $309,405