Jeffrey Lisandro Wins His First Bracelet

Sportscasters will often expose this statement when debating the greatest athletes of all time. "…yeah, but he never won the…" You can insert the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup, or the original World Series after this statement. This holds true for poker as well, and the World Series of Poker bracelet is the true measure of a champion in this game.

Many elite players have come close to WSOP gold, and yet, it has eluded them. Some of these names may surprise you. Erick Lindgren, Gus Hansen, J.C. Tran, Gavin Smith, Phil Gordon, David Benyamine, John Phan, Michael Mizrachi, and Marcel Luske are among those who don't own a bracelet. Smith and Phan both came close this year, but each finished as runner-up. Another player who had finished second in his quest to win a first bracelet at this WSOP was Jeffrey Lisandro. He lost a superb heads-up battle to Allen Cunningham over a week ago in event No. 13. He came into the final day of event No. 32 as the chip leader, received a large blow early, and then fought back to claim the golden prize.

On Thursday, June 21, Jeffrey Lisandro defeated Nick Frangos in a heads-up match to win $118,426 in the $2,000 seven-card stud event. More important, he claimed his first gold bracelet and further solidified his place in poker's elite. Lisandro followed in the footsteps of Eli Elezra a few days before him and joined the timeless fraternity of bracelet winners.

"This is the greatest feeling; it means so much to win a bracelet," said Lisandro in an interview with Norman Chad after the win. "You get so close a number of times, and it's never over until you get that first one," said Lisandro. "Jeffrey Lisandro, this has been a long time coming," exclaimed WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla before the Italian player received his prize. Max Pescatori came by to congratulate his fellow countryman as the victor took some winner's shots with his new prized possession. The lack of a bracelet had become a monkey on the back of Lisandro. Now that he had thrown that pressure off his shoulders, you could see he was happy, and relieved.

Here is the last hour of action from the CardPlayer.com event logs:

Severin Walser Eliminated in Fourth Place ($28,105)

Severin Walser made an all-in call and Nick Frangos flipped over A-Q-10 on third street. Walser flipped over two deuces, with a five, and it was off to the races. The race was made interesting when Frangos was dealt K K and Walser was dealt 9 9 through fifth street. Frangos now had a pair of kings, but Walser had made nines up. Frangos made aces up when he received the A on sixth street. Walser received the 5 for a better version of nines up. Walser's hopes were crushed on seventh street though, when Frangos received the K to make kings full of aces. Walser was eliminated in fourth place, and took home $28,105 in prize money.

Threehanded

There was a slight pause in the action, and then the chip counts were announced once again:

Nick Frangos: $385,000
Jeffrey Lisandro: $239,000
Nesbitt Coburn: $236,000

Lisandro's Move

Lisandro then went on a tear, playing the majority of the pots, while also winning them. He got Frangos to lay down his cards in a big confrontation and that grew his stack to almost $300,000.

Break Time

After scoring yet another pot, the players went on a 15-minute break. The players returned from break and the limits were kicked up to $15,000-$30,000 with a $3,000 ante.

Nesbitt Coburn Eliminated in Third Place ($42,643)

Nesbitt Coburn was all in against Nick Frangos for his tournament life. Unfortunately for Coburn, Frangos made eights full of threes on the hand. Coburn was eliminated in third place, and he took home $42,643.

Heads Up!

The stage was now set for an intriguing heads-up match. Two great players, with close to even chip stacks, were about to face off. Here is how the stacks looked:

Nick Frangos: $408,000
Jeffrey Lisandro: $449,000

Out of the Gates

These two players approached each other a bit apprehensively. Neither wanted to give up too much early and they felt each other out with raises here and there. Lisandro maintained his lead, but he did not pull away either.

Momentum Shift

The fatal blow of the heads-up match was dealt by Lisandro about 40 hands into the action. He made a jack-high straight to take a $250,000 chunk out of the stack of Frangos. Lisandro now held a massive chip lead and the writing was on the wall. Frangos did put up a fight though, and doubled up a few hands later with aces up.

Jeffrey Lisandro Wins Event No. 32 ($118,426)

On the final hand, Lisandro turned up three aces on sixth street when Frangos moved all in. Frangos was drawing dead on the river. He walked away from the table and Lisandro tracked him down to congratulate him. Frangos finished in second place and he took home $65,902 in prize money. Lisandro had finally claimed the bracelet that had eluded him after many close calls. He also took home $118,426 in prize money.

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