Sunday, June 28, 2009
WSOP event 44: Record books torn up as Lisandro captures third bracelet for 2009

2009 World Series of Poker Event 44: $2500 Seven-Card Razz (315 entries; 32 players paid; USD $724,500 prize pool)



Jeff Lisandro continues to smash record after record at the 2009 WSOP after winning the $2500 Razz event, his third bracelet this year and fourth overall.

He won $188,390 for first place – the biggest cash prize for any Razz event in poker history. Sharing in the historic occasion was Sydney’s Warwick Mirzikinian, who finished fourth.

Lisandro became only the fifth player in WSOP history to win three gold bracelets within a single year. The other four players to accomplish this feat were Puggy Pearson (1973), Ted Forrest (1993), Phil Hellmuth (1993) and Phil Ivey (2002).

He has a chance to become the first-ever four-time gold bracelet winner (single year) in WSOP history. The closest any player has ever come to accomplishing this feat was Phil Hellmuth in 1993 when he finished first, first, first and second in four events.

Poker fans and historians will debate Lisandro’s accomplishment. There were clearly more events for Lisandro to enter this year (61 total), more than any other year, to date. Contrast the number of tournaments in 2009 with significantly less events played in 1973, 1993, and 2002 (the years other players set their records). In Lisandro’s defense, he had to overcome much larger field sizes in his three wins.

Based purely on the number of events in a year, Puggy Pearson’s three wins in 1973 stands as a record that will probably never be equaled. He won half of the events played that year (three out of six).

But taking into account the size of the fields, Lisandro’s three wins clearly stands above the rest. He defeated a combined total of 835 players in his three wins. Contrast this with Phil Ivey in 2002, who defeated 529 players in his gold bracelet trifecta.

Lisandro’s victory places him with the Stud all-time great Artie Cobb, who holds the record for the most Seven-card wins and cashes. Cobb holds four Stud-related gold bracelets and 18 cashes, the most of any player in WSOP history.

The Aussie simply obliterated the competition, particularly at the final table. No player came within two-to-one of his chip advantage. He also knocked out six of the eight players in the finale.

His decimation of the field took place in relatively quick time. This was the shortest final table of any of the 44 completed events, clocking in at two hours and 40 minutes – a lightning pace given this is a limit game known for conservative play.

Following his win, Lisandro departed the tournament area quickly. He is believed to have played more hours than any player at this year’s WSOP. Lisandro said he has yet to have more than six hours of sleep on any night thus far, now four weeks into the WSOP. He intends to play as many events as possible in order to set a new record for most wins in a single year.

The final table also included several veterans with many years of experience playing at the WSOP such as Don Zewin, Lisandro, Steve Diano, Kenna James and Michael Craig, who finished runner-up.

Craig has become an accomplished poker player in recent years, with five WSOP cashes and three final table appearances. But he is perhaps best known for his talent as a writer. He penned the critically acclaimed The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King, a true story about the highest-stakes cash game in poker history.

Other former WSOP gold bracelet finishers who cashed in this event were Rami Boukai, David Sklansky, Bob Slezak, Ville Wahlbeck, Layne Flack, Thang Luu, Jens Voertmann, Blair Rodman and David Chiu.

Results: Event 44 – $2500 Seven-Card Razz

1 Jeff Lisandro (Perth, Australia) $188,390
2 Michael Craig (Scottsdale, AZ) $116,405
3 Ryan Fisler (Waterloo, ON, Canada) $76,260
4 Warwick Mirzikinian (Sydney, Australia) $52,772
5 Eric Rodawig (Arlington, VA) $38,470
6 Kenna James (Las Vegas, NV) $29,472
7 Steve Diano (Las Vegas, NV) $23,669
8 Allen Bari (West Orange, NJ) $19,880
9 Don Zewin (Las Vegas, NV) $15,569

• Report by Nolan Dalla, additional reporting by Sean Callander, pic: IMPDI for the 2009 WSOP