And yet that is exactly what happened. Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 WSOP main-event champion, broke all kinds of records on Saturday in producing an extraordinary final table comeback to become the first player to have won the WPT Championship as well as the WSOP main-event. The feat is even more extraordinary when you consider that Mortensen was already one of only four players to have won a regular WPT title along with the WSOP championship.

Despite a slow start the final table of the WPT Championship turned out to be one the most exciting we have ever seen. Play began with Paul Lee holding a huge chip lead over his rivals, having won a massive pot on the last hand of Day Five to knock out Thomas Wahlroos in seventh place. But Lee started extremely passively, clearly trying to protect his big stack instead of using it to his advantage, and this played right into the hands of players like Mortensen and Morrison.

Mortensen took control of the table early on with his aggressive play, but it was Kirk Morrison who made the headlines courtesy of a number of huge hands. First Morrison knocked out Mike Wattel with K-J versus J-9, and then he sent Tim Phan to the rail and won a $4 million pot in the process when he picked up A-A in the blinds and Tim Phan moved all-in from the button with 9-9.

Despite these huge pots, Mortensen’s relentlessly aggressive play meant that it was he who first wrestled the chip lead from Paul Lee, although it lasted for just ten hands. Then, in the biggest pot of the tournament so far, Mortensen came out on the worst side of a battle with Kirk Morrison.

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, before calling and revealing pocket jacks for a set, an absolutely un-foldable hand in the circumstances. He was miles ahead of Mortensen’s A-Q and when the formality of the turn and river was over Mortensen’s stack had been decimated; he was left with just $1.15 million while Kirk Morrison raked in a pot worth over $16 million!

Morrison didn’t stop there however, busting Guy Laliberte on hand #73 when he moved all-in with 2c-2d on a Qc-6c-3c flop. Laliberte called with Ad-Jc but was unable to hit either his flush or one of his overcards, and Morrison’s stack swelled to a seemingly unassailable $22 million.

Mortensen however would not lie down, and after picking up a number of pots he doubled up with Qd-8d versus Morrison’s T-6. He then received a further boost when Paul Lee moved all-in with T-9 on a flop showing A-T-4. Mortensen insta-called with A-9 and all of a sudden El Matador was back in the race with chips to play with. Lee meanwhile was left with just $1.225 million, and he made his exit 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, with many pro’s tipping Mortensen to win despite Morrison’s $18.8 million to $13.8 million chip lead. It wasn’t long before they had to re-assess that prediction however, after Morrison won a huge pot on the sixth hand of heads-up play.

Morrison began by raising to $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 out for $4 million and Morrison went into the tank for a good few minutes before finally calling with A-J for three tens with an ace kicker. It proved one of the best calls of the tournament as Mortensen revealed 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. Then he finally got the double up he needed to kickstart his challenge, winning with A-T versus Kh-6h to leave him trailing by $22 million to $9.8 million.

It was still a big ask, but El Matador is a superbly talented heads-up player, and he began to exert some serious pressure on Morrison, playing with a level of aggression that the less experienced player simply couldn’t live with. By consistently winning the blinds, along with a couple of bigger pots, Carlos took the lead by hand #127, and was one card from winning the tournament at one point. With the board showing Ah-Qh-6d-3d a series of raises and re-raises saw Kirk Morrison all-in for his tournament life, and trailing with A-T to Mortensen’s Q-6 two-pair. It looked like one of the greatest comebacks in WPT history was complete, but a ten popped out on the river and turned the tables once more. From being one card away from victory, Mortensen was now facing a $7 million to $24.5 million chip defecit. Once again he had mountain to climb.

With the blinds reaching prohibitive levels Carlos put his foot back on the gas again, and once more Morrison seemed unable to live with the Spaniard’s constant aggression. Soon Mortensen was back up to $12 million, and then in a crucial hand he double 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 Morrison on the ropes and within a few hands he once again found himself once card away from victory. Amazingly the same card popped out to deny him for a second time, with the ten of diamonds giving Morrison a flush on the river. When on the very next hand Morrison completed back-to-back double ups to regain the chip lead the watching crowd could hardly believe their eyes.

By now Mortensen must have been wondering if he would ever be able to finish Morrison off, but he stuck commendably to his game plan, and continued to play aggressively against the bigger stack of Morrison. It was a wise plan, as Morrison simply did not have an answer to the questions Mortensen was asking, and before long Carlos had regained the chiplead for the umpteenth time. Eventually Morrison, backed into a corner by Mortensen’s aggression, decided to make a stand. With Mortensen raising $6.5 million preflop Morrison moved all-in over the top, and was marginally ahead with A-4o against Mortensen’s Kh-Jh. It was a fragile lead however, and when a jack fell on the turn Morrison was drawing to five outs. They never materialised; Mortensen finally had his man!

In coming back from the brink of elimination on at least three occasions Mortensen had completed the greatest ever comeback in the WPT, and possibly one of the greatest comebacks in the history of poker. His achievement in winning a WPT championship title to go with his WSOP main-event title is, in the words of Mike Sexton: “an impossible feat that might never be matched.” It is not an 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 achievements. Nevertheless, the prize money was significant (it was the fourth biggest first prize in the history of poker and the biggest prize in the history of 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