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#841 – 2009 WSOP Revisited #4 – Eyewitness to History, Razz Final Table, Part II
So far, I have mostly told you about Jeffrey Lisandro’s aggressive style and the way the other players behaved against it. There’s also the matter of his table image which, though not decisive, definitely worked in his favor. How did Jeffrey Lisandro behave at the table?
Lisandro clearly fits in that class of elite players who are stoic, much like Phil Ivey. That doesn’t just mean that he maintains an expressionless face but that he expresses very little at the final table, even between hands or in small talk. I tried to engage him a couple of times and, I have to admit, had a first impulse to be intimidated by his silence. I recognized, of course, that this was part of what he did and so I didn’t let myself get intimidated by it.
For instance, when we started the final table, Lisandro and Kenna James had approximately half the chips in play. Jeffrey immediately won a couple of huge pots against Kenna, opening up a giant chip lead. As he pulled in another monster pot, I said, jokingly, “I got to tell you Jeff, I think you might have a chance today.” I said it in jest and with a chuckle and he made no acknowledgement.
Later on after I got into a hand with him and he showed some aggressiveness, I made a fold after fifth street in what was probably a close folding situation. As I mucked my cards, I said, “I’ll let you have it Jeff, but do me a favor. Please save me for last.” Again, there was no response or acknowledgment.
Despite the silent treatment, the man behaved like a gentleman. Obviously, in poker, there is nothing rude about being silent and stoic. Nobody has a license to speak with other players and expect that they get responded to in kind. In addition, when Ryan Fisler busted in third place, after we both stood up to shake Ryan’s hand, I sat back down to play even though I knew that there would likely be a break. Jeffery asked if we could take a five-minute bathroom break. Without looking up, I nonchalantly said, “Sure Jeffrey, whatever you want. Take as long as you want.”
As the two of us walked alone to the bathroom on the break I decided I wasn’t going to speak with him, I wasn’t going to make eye contact, and I wasn’t going to acknowledge him. I wasn’t going to make any self-deprecating remarks about his fifteen-to-one chip lead or his having won two bracelets already or him having dominated the final table. His game face was on, so regardless of all the reasons why he was a huge favorite against me, I would have my game face on as well. As we approached the restroom though, he extended his hand to me and said, “Well played, good luck heads-up.” I said the same thing and added, “Good luck going for your third bracelet.”
He responded by saying, “Thanks. I am pleased to have made it this far.” We spent the rest of the break in the bathroom and going back to the table in silence. I thought it was a small nice gesture on Jeffery’s part that despite his obvious interest in being an intimidating presence, he could offer a few polite words to an opponent. Not that it stopped him from annihilating me in our very brief heads-up.
I recognized that, heads-up, a lot more hands were playable and with so few chips I would be committed to a hand very quickly. On the first hand heads-up, I brought it in with (7-8) – Ten. When he completed, I raised him. He called and we both hit decent cards on fourth street. He bet and I called. On fifth street, he hit another low card – I think his board was 7-3-4 – and I hit a terrible card, another eight. He bet out, and now had a hand that, even if it was unplayable based on the two down cards, was now at least even with my hand and probably better. I had very few chips left but with two eights and a ten in my hand on fifth street I folded to his bet. A couple of hands later I drew an awful fourth street card after his third and fourth street cards were better than mine and folded again. On the final hand, I started with A-6-8 and committed myself to the hand. I then hit another ace, and then another eight, and then two picture cards after all the chips were in. Jeffrey, of course, continued to draw well.
In short I have to say that it was a dominating performance and that I felt lucky being there even as an observer. More important to me than the history, though, is that it was no accident Lisandro brought a big chip lead into Day Three and a bigger chip lead after almost every elimination. He played world-class poker. He was an intimidating presence at the table with an intimidating strategy and he knew the variants on that strategy and how few correct options a less experienced player (even a skilled player) would have against him. He used them fully to his advantage and also knew, on the few instances the cards didn’t go his way, when and how to get away cheap. It was a perfect example of what makes a great player great.
As an opponent at the final table, I felt gratified that I even understood what he was doing and sometimes figured out the right way to play against him. I was also pleased that I got a chance to play against such a great player at the top of his game because that experience allows me to reflect on my own game and how to make it better: both how to incorporate what he was doing into my game, which I did sometimes at the final table, and how to combat that in situations where I had to face a player of his skill, experience and intimidation. As with every aspect of every poker player, I am a work in progress and I lost to the better player as I should have. But I was pleased with my performance under the circumstances and with what I learned for next time. On the other hand maybe it was all just an example of the old poker saying: “Sometimes the lamb rises up and kills the butcher, but you should bet the butcher.”
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