Monday was an historic day at the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) as Aussie Jeff Lisandro won his sixth career WSOP bracelet, taking the title in the AU$1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Event. In doing so, he defeated fellow Australian Poker Hall of Fame member Jason Gray heads-up, denying him of his first gold bracelet.
Lisandro is best known for the incredible accomplishment of winning three bracelets in a single World Series, achieved in 2009. In that Series, he won the $1,500 Seven Card Stud, $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, and $2,500 Seven Card Razz, making him the first and only player to win all three Seven Card Stud varieties in the same World Series. Naturally, he earned the WSOP Player of the Year title that year. Lisandro earned his first WSOP bracelet in 2007, also in Seven Card Stud and his fifth in 2010 in Pot-Limit Omaha at WSOP Europe.
Casual poker fans may remember Lisandro from an incident caught by the ESPN television cameras during the 2006 WSOP Main Event in which Prahlad Friedman accused Lisandro of not contributing his ante in a hand, calling him a thief. Greatly offended, Lisandro blew a gasket and threatened to “take his head off.” Lisandro finished 17th in that tournament.
Jeff Lisandro is now the second player, after 2014 Poker Hall of Fame nominee Daniel Negreanu, to win a bracelet at WSOP APAC, WSOP Europe, and the traditional WSOP in Las Vegas. His sixth bracelet overall ties him with T.J. Cloutier, Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, Jay Heimowitz, and Negreanu, good for ninth all-time.
It was an interesting final table lineup on Day 3, as Lisandro and Gray were joined by another Australian Poker Hall of Fame member, Gary Benson, as well as Paul Mac, Paul Sharbanee, and Zane Ly, who had just finished sixth in the Accumulator Event, the first tournament of this year’s WSOP APAC. It was also the second of the three final tables to be an all-Aussie affair (the official final table actually consisted of eight players, but play went so quickly on Day 2 that they played down to the final six instead of eight).
Within just six hands, Mac, Sharbanee, and Benson were all eliminated and Ly was gone on Hand 35, leaving it up to the friendly rivals Lisandro and Gray, heads-up. Their one-on-one bout was not nearly as quick, though, taking a solid 100 hands to finish. In the end, Lisandro limped pre-flop and Gray checked to bring on a flop of 7♥-5♥-2♣. Gray bet, Lisandro raised, Gray shoved, and Lisandro made the call to put Gray’s tournament life on the line. Gray showed J♥-7♣-5♦-4♦ for two pair, while Lisandro had A♥-K♥-J♦-5♠ for a pair and a flush draw. The 4♠ on the turn was good for Gray, but the 3♦ on the river gave Lisandro the improbable wheel (Ace-to-5 straight) and his sixth gold bracelet.
2014 WSOP APAC Event #3: AU$1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha – Final Table Results
1. Jeff Lisandro – AU$51,660
2. Jason Gray – AU$31,931
3. Zane Ly – AU$22,771
4. Gary Benson – AU$16,563
5. Paul Sharbanee – AU$12,282
6. Paul Mac – AU$9,282
7. Stephen Woodhead – AU$7,146
8. Oliver Gill – AU$5,603
* Tournament updates and info courtesy WSOP.com.
