Australian Poker Hall of Fame legend Jeff Lisandro has written yet another chapter in one of the poker world’s most decorated resumes by winning his sixth WSOP bracelet in the $1,650 Pot Limit Omaha Event at the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC). This victory on home soil elevates Lisandro into elite company as part of the top ten all-time leading bracelet winners list, joining the likes of Jay Heimowitz, Layne Flack, TJ Cloutier and Daniel Negreanu on six WSOP bracelets.
Lisandro started the day well-placed among a tough final six that also included two other members of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame in Jason Gray and Gary Benson and it was fireworks from the very first hand of the day.
Paul Sharbanee landed a big double up through Jason Gray on Hand #1, before the short-stacked Paul Mac was eliminated next hand after his all-in bluff was picked off by overnight chip leader Zane Ly.
Just two hands later and Zane Ly had also claimed the scalp of Paul Sharbanee. The two saw a flop of and Sharbanee committed with his top two pair but Ly had top set of aces to leave Sharbanee drawing pretty thin. The turn and river bricked out and just four hands into the final table, things were already down to four players.
Even more incredibly was that it would only take another two hands to lose Gary Benson. The action was preflop with Benson four-bet jamming all in with against Zane Ly’s . The board fell to give Ly the flopped flush to end the chances of Benson in fourth place.
Ly was on fire but he’d have to tackle two of the toughest Aussie players going around in Jason Gray and Jeff Lisandro.
A key hand would see Lisandro with his tournament on the line holding against Ly’s but the board changed nothing to see Lisandro’s kings double him up.
It was a blow that Ly was unable to recover from. Ly decided to kick up the aggression with a four-bet jam holding an ambitious but his timing was astray as Lisandro snapped it off with . The board of would leave the aces in front to eliminate Ly in third place.
Just 35 hands into the final table and it was heads up between HOF’ers Jason Gray and Jeff Lisandro. Both were pretty much even in chips which meant the heads-up battle would be a tight, tough encounter.
Lisandro chipped away to increase his lead with most of the pots kept pretty small during the 99-hand heads-up duel. Lisandro made a baby flush to extend further before the final hand would see the players commit their chips on a flop of . Gray was at risk with for top two pair against Lisandro’s for pair and nut-flush draw. However it would be the turn and river which brought Lisandro a backdoor wheel straight which was good to take it down and claim the title.
This was Jason Gray’s fifth WSOP final table, and while the bracelet eludes him once more, he can take comfort from the fact Lisandro took even longer than that to win the first of his six WSOP bracelets. Four in America, one in Europe and now one in Australia, gives Lisandro the full set and elevates him into elite company in the history of this great game.
Event #3: $1,650 Pot Limit Omaha Results
1st Jeff Lisandro - $51,660
2nd Jason Gray - $31,931
3rd Zane Ly - $22,771
4th Gary Benson - $16,563
5th Paul Sharbanee - $12,282
6th Paul Mac - $9,282
7th Stephen Woodhead - $7,146
8th Oliver Gill - $5,603
While Lisandro was busy making history, the final table was reached in the $1,650 Terminator Event. Day 2 of this event started with just 27 players and each having secured a payday. Action was fast-paced for much of the day and by the day's end, we were treated to a solid final table line-up.
Nelson Maccini has the chip lead heading into the final table. Joining him are Tony Hachem, Joe Cabret and new WSOP Player of the Year leader Brandon Shack-Harris.
Early in the day, Nelson Maccini and Dylan Hortin tangled in a huge pot that resulted in Hortin's elimination and led to Maccini's ascension up the leaderboard. At the turn, the board read and Maccini bet 8,000. Hortin raised it to 17,800 and Maccini moved all-in for 68,900. Hortin insta-called and showed for trip sixes while Maccini showed for two pair. Hortin was slightly covered and looked to double up, but the river was cruel and brought the to give Maccini a full house. Hortin hit the rail in 26th place and Maccini sat with 150,000. He would run his stack up from there to finish the day with 266,800 and the chip lead heading into the final table on Wednesday.
The majority of the poker community will be watching Brandon Shack-Harris on Wednesday. He reclaimed the WSOP Player of the Year lead with his final table run in this event. Shack-Harris was hovering around the middle of the pack most of the day until a big pot with Yanji Ge saw him begin to climb the leaderboard.
After an open by Ge to 4,000, Shack-Harris three-bet to 9,000. Ge then shoved for 31,100 and was called. Ge turned over but Shack-Harris had him crushed with . An ace on the flop gave Shack-Harris a stranglehold on the hand and a harmless on the turn left Ge drawing dead and eliminated in 14th place.
Shack-Harris would continue to climb from there. A while later, he sent Xue Wu to the rail in 12th place when his pocket nines held against . When the final table was reached, Shack-Harris was fourth in chips with 111,000. He is the only American at the final table and is looking for his second bracelet of 2014. Should he win this event, he will likely lock up the Player of the Year title.
Also making the final table in this event are Tony Hachem and Joe Cabret. Hachem comes in as the second short stack and will need to go to work early to compete. Cabret is in a little better shape with a middling stack. The 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event runner up will return with 85,900, or right at 35 big blinds.
$1,650 No Limit Holdem Terminator Final Table Chip Counts
Nelson Maccini - 266,800
Andrew Dales - 196,000
Scott Calcagno - 189,700
Brandon Shack-Harris - 111,100
Nick Piskopos - 107,100
Joe Cabret - 85,900
Duncan McKinnon - 63,000
Tony Hachem - 57,500
Henry Tran - 52,000
Play will resume in this event at 12:10pm local time on Wednesday and will continue until a new champion is crowned.
While the Terminator event was reaching the final table, the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha kicked off with a small, but highly talented field. A field of 73 players took their seats on Tuesday in the hopes of taking down the last Omaha bracelet of 2014.
After finishing their gruelling heads-up battle in the $1,650 PLO Event, Jeff Lisandro and Jason Gray both hopped into this event. Lisandro won't be winning his seventh bracelet in this event, but Gray is in good shape after Day 1. He finished the day seventh in chips with 75,800.
Other big names advancing out of Day 1 include Billy "The Croc" Argyros, Richard Ashby, Daniel Negreanu, Jonathan Duhamel and Jamie Pickering who will return on Wednesday as the overall chip leader with 105,900.
Only 19 players advanced from Day 1 but this number could increase slightly as late registration is open until the start of action on Wednesday. We will know the prize pool at that time.
$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Top Ten Chip Counts
Jamie Pickering - 105,900
Jonathan Duhamel - 102,000
Ismael Bojang - 96,600
Geoffrey Mooney - 96,200
Mike Watson - 92,200
Richard Johnston - 77,600
Jason Gray - 75,800
Daniel Negreanu - 68,800
Greg Merson - 63,800
Sam Higgs - 60,500
Click here for the complete Day 1 chip counts and Day 2 seating draw
Day 2 of this event will kick off at 12:10pm local time and will continue until at least the final table is reached. One new event is scheduled for Wednesday, the $1,650 8-Game Dealer's Choice. The first ever dealer's choice event was held at the 2014 WSOP in Las Vegas this summer and was a huge success. Officials are hoping for another solid turnout in this event.