Poker pro Jeffrey Lisandro captured his second World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in Seven Card Stud on Monday night. He took down a $1,500 buy-in tournament, the 16th event of the 2009 WSOP, in the age-old genre of poker.
Lisandro’s first Seven Card Stud bracelet came during the 2007 WSOP, when he defeated Nickolas Frangos in a $2,000 buy-in event. Two years later, he was back in the spotlight. He defeated Rod Pardey heads-up after Pardey was all-in after fourth street. Lisandro flipped up A-K-5-K with three diamonds and added two more for a flush to take down the hand. Lisandro pocketed $124,000 for his efforts and, more importantly, his second gold bracelet. Lisandro became a household name in the poker world after finishing 17th in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, a run that included a well-publicized tiff with Prahlad Friedman over a missing ante.
Mitch Schock was the first to go from the talented eight-handed final table. He was all-in after third street against both 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event Champion John Juanda and Frangos, who was back at the feature table. Frangos would ultimately end up boosting his chip stack considerably in the hand after showing queens in the hole and another one up for trips. Juanda held a pair of tens and Schock reluctantly mucked, $13,373 richer for his wear. Juanda then recouped some of his losses by ousting Daniel Studer from the event when he spiked a fifth spade on the river for a flush. Studer showed kings and sevens for two pair and hit the rails in seventh place for $15,862.
Eliminated in sixth place was Eric Pardey, one-half of the uncle-nephew combination at the final table of Event #16. Lisandro was the bearer of bad news for Pardey, who committed his stack after fifth street and promptly ran into Lisandro’s two pair. Pardey showed a pair of eights and hit the exits, cashing for $19,690. Shortly thereafter, Juanda was ousted at the hands of Steven Stencil, who made a full house on sixth street. Juanda showed two pair and headed to the cage inside the Amazon Room to collect his $25,634 in earnings, his first in the money finish of the 2009 WSOP.
Frangos was sent packing in fourth place for $35,087. Lisandro ended Frangos’ tournament run by showing 7-3-Q-A-J-7-3 for two pair, while Frangos flipped up 5-4-4-Q-2-9-5 for a lower two pair. The hand propelled Lisandro to a sizable chip lead over Pardey and Stencil; at one point, he held nearly 70% of the chips in play three-handed. Meanwhile, Pardey busted Stencil in third place after the younger half of the uncle-nephew team hit the nut flush. Stencil earned $50,626 for his efforts.
Heading into heads-up play between Lisandro and Pardey, Lisandro held better than a 3:1 chip edge. However, he was up against some stiff competition, as Pardey owns two WSOP bracelets in Limit Seven Card Stud. They came in 1991 and 1994; Pardey also finished 57th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event for $173,000. However, a three-peat was not in the offing. On the final hand on Monday night, Lisandro woke up with an ace-high diamond flush to win his second WSOP bracelet and $124,000. If Pardey had earned his third Stud gold bracelet, he would have joined Artie Cobb for the most wins in this genre of poker.
Here were the results and payouts from Event #16 of the 2009 WSOP, a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament:
1. Jeffrey Lisandro – $124,975
2. Rodney Pardey – $77,229
3. Steve Stencil – $50,625
4. Nickolas Frangos – $35,086
5. John Juanda – $25,633
6. Eric Pardey – $19,689
7. Daniel Studer – $15,862
8. Mitch Schock – $13,373
Lisandro elected to have the Australian national anthem play today during the daily bracelet presentation at 2:20pm PT inside the Amazon Room. Of the first 14 bracelets given out, only two have been won by players from outside of the United States, with Lisandro’s win marking Australia’s first piece of hardware in 2009.
