The first of the Pot Limit Omaha events at the 2014 World Series of Poker APAC began Sunday and ended Tuesday with Australian Jeff Lisandro capturing his sixth gold bracelet in the AUD $1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Event. Lisandro beat another formidable Aussie, Jason Gray, in heads-up play to win the title.
The Australian Poker Hall of Famer who is considered to be more of a cash game specialist shot to fame after winning three gold bracelets in the same World Series back in 2009. This earned him the Player of the Year. Some non-Australian poker fans will have become familiar with Lisandro after an incident that was televized on ESPN during the 2006 WSOP Main Event whereby Prahlad Friedman accused the Australian of being a thief for not contributing his ante in one particular hand. Lisandro was very insulted by the comment, which instigated an argument that become quite heated.
Besides Daniel Negreanu, Lisandro is the only player to have won a bracelet in all three WSOP series (the WSOP in Las Vegas, WSOP Europe and of course WSOP APAC), which is a remarkable accomplishment.
His journey to win the bracelet in the Pot-Limit Omaha WSOP APAC event wasn’t an easy one, he had to overcome a tough final table comprising of fellow Australian Poker Hall of Fame members, Jason Gray and Gary Benson, as well as Paul Mac and Zane Ly who final tabled the AUD $1,100 Accumulator Event, the first tournament of the 2014 WSOP APAC series.
With the action on Day 2 going so quickly the tournament director actually decided to play down to the last six players instead of eight. As a result the final table action was fast and furious. Within the span of a few hands, Paul Mac, Paul Sharbanee and Gary Benson had been resigned to the rail out in sixth, fifth and fourth place respectively. Just 35 hands into the action at the final table, Zane Ly busted out in third place, creating the heads-up battle between Australia’s Jeff Lisandro and Jason Gray.
Both players had about the same chips at the start of the heads-up play, and as a result, the action had slowed down considerably and proved to be a tight contest. For Lisandro, he was going for his first WSOP APAC bracelet, and Gray was playing for his first ever gold bracelet.
On the final hand, Lisandro limped into the pot pre-flop and Gray was happy to check it back to see a cheap flop. The flop came down 7h-5h-2c. Interestingly, Gray lead out, probably thinking Lisandro knows this flop would have crushed his big blind check it back range. Lisandro raised, and Gray replied be moving all-in. Lisandro made the call and tabled Ah-Kh-Jd-5s for a pair and the nut flush draw. Gray tabled Jh-7c-5d-4d so had top two pair but needed to fade lots of outs. The 4s on the turn didn’t change anything, but the 3d gave Lisandro the backdoor wheel straight which beat Gray’s two pair.
Lisandro’s victory in the WSOP APAC PLO Event #3 was good for AUD $51,660. With six gold bracelets to his name, Lisandro joins elite company including the likes of T.J. Cloutier, Layne Flack, Ted Forrest, Jay Heimowitz, and Daniel Negreanu. It’s the ninth most all-time WSOP bracelets.
The WSOP APAC events at Melbourne’s Crown Casino have been coming thick and fast. The AUD $1,650 NLHE Terminator Event is nearing its conclusion and the AUD $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Event has begun with a small albeit very talented field.