Brandon Cantu (pictured) reportedly nearly came to blows with another player at his table during a heated incident in Event #41 at the World Series of Poker late last week.

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The argument went down during a hand of 2-7 Triple Draw in the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice Six-Max event. According to witnesses, a miscommunication took place when Cantu checked his hand to high-stakes pro Matt Szymaszek. Believing his opponent had checked behind, Cantu began to flip his cards over when suddenly Szymaszek shouted that he hadn’t, in fact, checked.

“I had a 9-8 something, so obviously I don’t want to face a bet,” Cantu told PokerNews. “I mean, he probably didn’t mean to check, but he did. It’s happened to me; it’s happened to everybody.”

Then, according to Cantu’s version of events, Jesse Martin, a friend of Szymaszek’s, started yelling at Cantu, calling him an “angle shooter” and saying that “no one liked him.”

“If you call someone an angle shooter, especially a poker player, most people are going to get cracked right in the face,” he added. That’s when those near the table saw Cantu rush at Martin, with some saying that the pro actually landed a blow or slap to Martin’s face.

Security quickly rushed in and broke up the melee, penalizing Cantu for one round with the stipulation that he apologize to Martin. “If I apologize to him, I’m not really sorry. I’ll have to say it to stay in the tournament,” he said.

“He’s truly just a piece of shit, he really is,” continued Cantu. “He’s such a scumbag.”

But Martin’s recollection of the event put Cantu as the one who started screaming and hurling insults at Szymaszek. Martin(pictured with Sarah Grant of PokerNews) described his friend as an honest and mild-mannered high-stakes cash regular who is not as comfortable playing tournaments as someone like Cantu, a two-time bracelet winner. When Cantu began screaming at Szymaszek, calling him an angle shooter and a liar, Martin came to his defense, shooting back the same insults.

He has a terrible reputation in poker,” Martin told PokerNews in his own interview. After referencing Cantu’s own interview where he admitted to shooting an angle five years ago, Martin brought up the pro’s past affiliation with Ultimate Bet. “He backed Ultimate Bet for many years, and while not all who did are bad, it’s still a huge stain against your record,” he said. He also claimed that Cantu owes a lot of money to people in the poker community.

“All I was doing was defending a very good friend of mine because he needed defense, everyone was crowding around him, and I know he’s right,” he continued.

Martin then implied that Cantu was the one who was trying to angle shoot with a mediocre hand by taking advantage of their dealer’s inexperience dealing Draw Games. “She’s a very good Texas Hold’em dealer, but unfortunately doesn’t understand well the mechanics of the Draw Games. It was clearly her mistake,” he said.

Martin was resolute in his belief that his friend would never have made the mistake of accidentally checking in that situation due to the fact that he has so much experience playing Draw cash games.

You might recall that Cantu has already reportedly been in a scuffle during the 2014 WSOP, exchanging words with Jeff Lisandro (pictured), allegedly over an unpaid debt.

In a TwoPlusTwo thread, poker players were largely on Martin’s side. “Poker world needs more Jesse Martins and fewer Cantus for sure,” said “Scary_Tiger”. “Cantu has been involved in numerous incidents at WSOP over the years and is always the instigator,” posted “abracadabrab”.

Martin confirmed that Cantu ended up apologizing, but it was clear he didn’t mean it. “That’s fine. I can exist in the Rio without talking to him again, not that we ever really talked before.”

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