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Jeff Lisandro is crushing the WSOP in 2009.  He may have just shut the door on poker phenom Phil Ivey, double bracelet winner Brock Parker, set-to-retire-regardless-of-5-cashes Ville Wahlbeck, and poker greats Roland DeWolf and James Van Alstyne for the Player Of the Year award.  (How sick is this?: the top 10 in the race before the start of event 48 have more POY points than any winner since 2005.)  To top that all off?  He wants more.  Lisandro has already stated that he wants a 4th to break a record (and made a run at it today in the 1.5k PLO/8) just to crown this incredible run.

This is really nothing new to him.  In 2007, he was just edged out (literally by ONE spot on a finish at the same final table) by Tom Schneider.  In 2008 he had three cashes and about $400,000 to take home as well as backing a certain deep finisher in the Main Event.  He’s also had at least four cashes every year in the WSOP since 2004.  There are several pros out there that would give their left arms for that kind of consistency.

What really motivated him this year?  Strangely enough, it may have been a bit of spite.  As you’ll see in the official “3rd Bracelet” interview from WSOP Media Genius Nolan Dalla below even with this kind of track record — Jeff Lisandro could not find a sponsor.  Now, Lisando and some business associates have always done pretty well in the poker world and he owns all or part of several poker portals out there now including, ironically enough, the newest back-a-player idea found at ChipMeUp.com, but none of the “big three” or even the minor online poker sites seemed to want “Iceman” sporting their patch.  For a guy that has done his fair share of backing and has legitimately earned the right to be in the running for backing (without having to hunt for it) versus other sponsored players that have never achieved his results, this had to really stick in his craw.  So while certain online poker sites might have thought that the portly, Aussie/Italiano dynamo was a bit too much of a “freak and a weird dude” or some such non-sense to represent them, it did not deter Lisando.  He donned his trademark fedora, put on his rather menacing game face, plotted a course across his best events and began destroying fields full of some of the best players in the world.  Its not over yet and the Main Event and 50k HORSE do count this year, so who knows…but I won’t be putting any money on the line AGAINST the determined “Stud Triple Crown” holder any time soon.

And after all this, Jeff Lisandro has maintained a really, really low media profile.  So much so that my pleas to friends in the upper circles of poker media came back with replys like “I’d love to talk with him too” and “yeah, the line forms on the left.”  The only person that he seems to be really spending any time with outside of his normal circle might be Barry Greenstein and that is probably because The Bear is Jeff’s teammate in a rather large POY prop bet against the total scores of Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren.  (Daniel has quite a few of these and many are in danger as the Canadian is ‘pulling the sled’ by himself for the most part.)

HOWEVER!  If I do one thing well, it is finding some kind of solution in any kind of situation.  So, into the vaults we went and found a Random Questions interview shot at the WSOP in 2008 right after Jeff had finished second to Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow in the prestigeous NL 2-7 Single Draw event.  (He has some strong opinions about that.)  After some video magic by the amazing Frank-o (or maybe voodoo rituals as f’ed up as it was) we solved a video playback issue that had kept it in the cooler for a year and present it to you here.  Jeff talks about not only the tournament, but goes into his views on political interference in personal freedoms, why OJ got a bum deal and deals with a fews calls with people already pestering him for a stake.

To give you a little more up to date input on Jeff’s feelings to this point, I’m going to include the WSOP media-provided interview with the media shy Lisandro here for you to read.  Buckle up folks, we still have 5 events to go to the big one and a lot of people in the hunt for the POY award…not the least of which is Phillip ‘No Home Jerome’ Ivey who has already bitten a chunk out of the 50k HORSE as I write this.

JUNE 25, 2009 — WSOP NEWS FLASH:

THE RACE IS ON!  JEFFREY LISANDRO WINS HIS FOURTH CAREER WSOP GOLD BRACELET

VICTORY IN YESTERDAY’S RAZZ CHAMPIONSHIP GIVES LISANDRO RECORD-TYING THREE WINS AT 2009 WSOP – WITH A DOZEN EVENTS REMAINING FOR AUSTRALIAN POKER PRO TO SET NEW MARK

Jeffrey Lisandro is originally from Perth, Australia.  He currently resides in Salerno, Italy.  On June 24, 2009 Lisandro won his fourth career WSOP gold bracelet.  He won the Seven-Card Razz championship, which currently gives him three wins at the 2009 World Series of Poker.

The victory also gives Lisandro three wins this year, which ties him for the most gold bracelets won within a single year.  Lisandro became only the fifth player in the 40-year history of the WSOP to achieve this mark.  He joins poker greats Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Ted Forrest, and Puggy Pearson as the only players in history to win three gold bracelets in one year. On the morning following his record-tying victory, Lisandro was interviewed at the WSOP.  The following quotes may be used by all media:

QUESTION: What were your expectations coming into this year’s World Series of Poker?

LISANDRO: Before it all started this year, I was very disappointed.  I could not get a sponsor.  I made the usual rounds to find out if anyone needed a player.  I could not get a response.  I spoke about it with a few of my friends.  Finally I said, you know what – never mind.  I am going to blast them right out of the water.  I think I have done a lot in poker.  But I’ve always been a little bit short of doing something really great.  So, there was this doubt and maybe an excuse that I had not done quite enough to deserve (being sponsored).  This year, I asked around.  There was no response.  No one got back to me.  I’m just going to go ahead and win three (gold bracelets).  I said that to a few of my closest friends.  And, now I have done it.

QUESTION: So, is there now a greater sense of joy in winning, especially after you may not have gotten the support you probably deserved prior to the start of this year’s WSOP?

LISANDRO: This is all one the record.  Even after winning three bracelets, the sponsors have not approached me.  They are still not approaching me.  Maybe there is a little bit of jealousy.  Maybe it is because I have knocked out so many high-profile players.

QUESTION: Jeffrey, you are part of a very elite group of poker players.  Yet, most of the public does not see what goes on inside your inner circle.  Are there rivalries and are bragging rights at stake when you win multiple gold bracelets?

LISANDRO: No.  Not for me.  I have no one who I am racing against.  I want to accomplish something in poker for myself.  If I’m the fifth-ranked player all-time, that will be great.  If I’m tenth, that’s okay.  If I make the top-100, that’s still an accomplishment.  You can’t say ‘I am competing with the number one player.”

QUESTION: You probably have the best chance of anyone in history of winning four gold bracelets within a single year.  Have you thought of the historical implications of what another win would mean?

LISANDRO: That would be nice — to be remembered one-hundred years from now.

QUESTION: You’ve been playing high-stakes poker for a very long time.  But only in recent years have you been focusing on playing in poker tournaments and winning WSOP titles.  What made you change your ambitions?

LISANDRO: You are right.  I have not really played in that many tournaments, up until the last few years.  I remember back in 1994 and 1995, I won like ten tournaments over in Europe.  It was an incredible run.  But I remember that (some magazines and websites) spelled my name wrong and I never got credit for the results.  During that run I went to Ireland, and I played in four tournaments.  They were all really great players.  Each one of them had Irish professionals – like 150 or so in each one of them.  I went there and no one knew me.  I won the first tournament and they said, ‘we don’t event know that guy.  Why is he here?’  And then the second tournament – I won it.  And then — the third tournament (I won).  And in the last one I had the chip-lead heads-up and ended up coming in second.  Then I won like three more tournaments after that and afterwards I looked at all the money I won and it was something ridiculous.  It was like $100,000.  And I said, I couldn’t do any better and I still only made $100,000 which does not count my travel and hotel, and expenses.  So, I didn’t play many tournaments for the next seven or eight years.  It was in 2003 when the prize money started getting much bigger that I came back and started to play them again.  Now, it’s worth it.

QUESTION: Imagine had you played in WSOP events during that period how many gold bracelets you might have won?

LISANDRO: Yeah, I waited a little too long to come back.  I should have come back around 2000.  I definitely would have had a few more wins than what I have now.  I might have even been a better player than I am now.  I think I am a fairly good player.  I am improving all the time.  I’m getting a little bit better, marginally better, each time.

QUESTION: That’s a remarkable statement; you are still getting better and improving as a player.  What do you mean?

LISANDRO: I learned how to achieve better results in tournaments.

QUESTION: What do you mean?  You have been playing poker for a lot of years.  What have you learned recently that you didn’t know a year or two ago?

LISANDRO: Take for example, the H.O.R.S.E. tournament.  If I go through all the five games, I am going to be playing Limit Hold’em.  The whole field knows how to play Limit Hold’em.  So, I am going to adjust my strategy marginally.  I am not going to waste chips in that game.  If it was a cash game and there was a value bet, I might get involved.  But in a tournament I am going to save those chips.  I want to use them for one of the other games where I have a massive edge (such as Stud, Eight-or-Better, and Razz).  In Limit Hold’em I am playing with people who all know the game as good as me.  So, I fold the marginal situations to conserve chips for the game where I have a bigger advantage.  It is something I am perfecting.   You only have so many bullets.  You have to pick your best spot to fire.

QUESTION: On a more personal level.  You are known for your trademark fedora.  Why the hat?

LISANDRO: The hat makes me feel better.  It helps me to get into the zone.  When I put that hat on, it’s all concentration.  It’s business.  It’s war.  It’s time to go to work.  When I take the hat off, it’s time to relax.

QUESTION: So, how many hats are in Jeffrey Lisandro’s closet?

LISANDRO: Let’s just say, I’ve got a few (smiling).

QUESTION: Who is the best poker player from Australia – Joe Hachem or Jeffrey Lisandro?

LISANDRO: In Australia, I don’t think anyone is bigger than Joe Hachem.  Winning the Main Event is a huge achievement.  He’ll always be remembered for that.  It’s like in horseracing.  I could win ten races in a row.  But everyone remembers who wins the Kentucky Derby.

UPDATE: video error occurred.  Re-uploading video now.  Video and write up are UP and they are amazing! (MW)  PS — Jacko’s death is sad, but really folks…TMZ/E/Enquirer were using him for CHUM a month ago, now their selling ad-space by cannonizing him.  ‘Remeber the Times’, indeed.  Meh.

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