WSOP Event 37 – Lisandro wins 2nd 2009 Bracelet

With over two-thirds of the 2009 WSOP in the books, this year’s series has really driven home the point: tournament poker is a game of skill. Jeffery Lisandro was the latest player to exemplify this. Last night he took down 2009 WSOP Event #37, $10,000 buy-in 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship to capture his second bracelet this series (third overall) Lisandro joins Brock Parker and Phil Ivey as players winning two bracelets in the 2009 World Series of Poker. The big question now on everyone’s minds is, will someone win three?

Here’s how 2009 WSOP Event #37 day three played out:

Day three of 2009 WSOP Event #37, $10K buy-in Stud/8 Championship began today with 12 previous day survivors heading to the Rio to play it out for $431,656 top-place prize money which comes with a coveted gold bracelet. The fans packed the rail to watch this event play out as many big names remained. Among them were former WSOP Main Event champions Scotty Nguyen and Doyle Brunson, three time bracelet winner and chairman of both World Poker Tour and Pokertek Lyle Berman, two time bracelet winner and circuit veteran Jeffery Lisandro, and 2008 WSOP bracelet winners Farzad Rouhani and Anthony Rivera.

Lyle Berman found himself short stacked a few hands into the day after on a three way pot he was forced to fold on the river. He was eliminated the very next hand receiving $33,668. Receiving the same payout and following Berman to the rail was the prince of poker Scotty Nguyen. On Nguyen’s final hand Perry Friedman had the bring-in yet folded with only 9K chips chips behind after Nguyen completed. This fold earned Friedman over $8,000 increased pay as Nguyen started with three cards to a six low but bricked out while Lisandro’s trip eights took the pot. On the next hand Friedman posted the 4,000 ante and put his last 5,000 chips in with the As showing. He was up against Lisandro and Justin “BoostedJ” Smith. Lisandro folded on 7th and Smith showed trip threes, which bested Friedman’s pair of queens.

With nine players remaining, play was consolidated to an unofficial final table. When last year’s mixed game championship bracelet winner Anthony Rivera (aka Tongi) was eliminated in ninth the official final table was reached. On his final hand, Yan Chen completed after Smith’s bring-in, Anthony Rivera raised, Smith folded, Chen reraised, and Rivera called all in.

Chen: AsJc/ Ac3s4s6s/ 5s
Rivera: 10d10c/ 9h5h10h3d/ Ks

Chen made a flush and a six-low to take both sides of the pot, and Rivera was eliminated in ninth place, worth $41,885.

A standing-room-only crowd then gathered around the official final table, with many of them pulling for Doyle Brunson to win his record tieing eleventh bracelet. It took nearly two hours for the final table to experience its first casualty. Justin Smith had the misfortune of settling for the eight place position on a hand that saw:

Chen: X-X/ 10d10sQdJh/ X
Smith: X-X/ 9×2sAs9d/ X

The pot was limped five ways on third street, but Chen’s bet with his open tens on fourth chased away everyone except Smith, who made the call. Both players checked fifth street. Chen led out on sixth, with Smith coming along. Chen bet again on seventh, and, after a long think, Smith called all in for his last 24,000. Chen turned up Jd6d4d for a rivered queen-high flush. Smith had only a pair of aces, with no qualifying low, sending the entire pot to Chen. Smith received $54,896.

Much to the disappointed of the crowd Doyle Brunson 2009 WSOP Event 37 run fell short as he finished in 7th place worth $62,234. It was a previous hand against Abe Mosseri that crippled him, however his final hand was K-Q/ 2-4-9-7/ X against
Farzhad Rouhani’s A-4/ 4-4-10-10/ X. Dead on sixth-street Doyle Brunson left the table with an ovation from the crowd.

After dinner break it took roughly 90 minutes for the table to get down to five handed. This occurred on a hand where Mike Wattel had the bring-in with the 4c, Frank Mariani completed, Mosseri made it two bets, Wattel folded and Mariani called. Mosseri led out on fourth street and received another call. He bet again on fifth, then three-bet all in after Mariani raised. Mariani called and they turned up their hole cards:

Mariani: 9-7/ 9c6c7d
Mosseri: 7-Q/ Qs5h2d

Mosseri had queens, but Mariani was ahead with two pair, nines and sevens. On sixth street Mariani filled up with another nine to cinch the high, but it brought Mosseri the 8d for a low draw. An unneeded eight on the river sent Abe Mosseri out in sixth worth $74,258.

The slow pace of the tournament came to an end as minutes from Mosseri’s elimination two more players hit the rail. This first of these came on a hand where Chen had the bring-in, and committed his final 19,000 chips to the pot. At showdown the hands were Chen: As2c/ 7cKsJs2s/ 10c and Rouhani: 5d6d/ Ad6c10h3h/ X as Chen headed to the rail to collect $93,513 for his fifth-place finish. Next out was Frank Mariani (4th place – $124,684) he was crippled in a pot against Lisandro where his kings fell to Lisandro’s aces up. He then lost his final 10,000 chip in the next pot.

Three handed play was a 90-minute grueling battle that finally ended with Mike Wattel out in third place ($176,605) when he check raised on in on forth with split 7’s while Lisandro had four to a low and a gut shot straight. Lisandro made neither a low nor straight but caught a runner-runner two pair to best Wattel’s unimproved pair of sevens.

When heads up play started Farzad Rouhani had a small chip lead of 2,860,000 to Jeff Lisandro’s 2,150,000. Rouhani maintained the chip lead for an hour an a half of play but finally Lisandro grabbed the lead. On the final hand both players seemed to like their hole cards, as they got to four bets on third street. Fourth street was checked, but Lisandro bet fifth and Rouhani made the all-in call.

Rouhani: As5s/ 2c3c10s2h/ Kd
Lisandro: 2s6d/ 6s10c10hKh/ 5h

Lisandro had been ahead from the outset, and when Rouhani couldn’t catch up after the last of the chips were in, he had to settle for second place and its accompanying $266,804. Lisandro picked up the $431,656 top place prize, his third career WSOP bracelet and joins Brock Parker and Phil Ivey as multiple bracelet winners this 2009 World Series.