On the very first hand we had a player eliminated. In an Omaha 8 round, Raul Paez raised to 8,000 and Howard Lederer made the call from the big blind. The flop fell 7c-6h-2d and Lederer bet out for 4,000. Paez called. The turn fell the 4c and Lederer put Paez in for his last 5,500. Paez held 10h-Ah-10c-8c for a flush draw, gutshot straight draw, and a bad low. Lederer showed 5h-5s-6s-7h for two pair, a straight draw, and a seven low. The river fell the Jd and Lederer scooped the pot and eliminated Paez in 11th place. Paez received £6,188 for his finish.

Yuval Bronshtein was the next player to fall. During a Stud 8 round Yuval Bronshtein was all in on Fifth Street and Phil Ivey made the call. Bronshstein was on an 8 gutshot straight draw on 6th holding 5s-9h-Ad-8d (Jh-Qd). Ivey was holding a pair of kings. The final card for Bronstein was a 4c, and Bronshstein was eliminated in 10th place. £6,875 was his prize for falling to the great Phil Ivey.

Erik Albinsson was forced to take a stand shortly after, going all in on Fourth Street in a Stud 8 round holding (3d-6d) 5c-Qd). Jeffrey Lisandro made the call with (Ah-4s) 10c-10d. Albinsson caught a 5h on Fifth Street to give him a pair, but Lisandro caught a 4c to put him far in the lead. Albinsson would need running diamonds, a queen, a five, or running kings or aces to win the hand. He lost one of his outs on 6th when Lidsandro caught a 5s. Albinsson caught a 9h. A 6h on Seventh Street missed Albinsson, and he becomes the 9th place finisher, earning £6,875.

The final table was now set with Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Spencer Lawrence, Sherkhan Farnood, Jeffrey Lisandro, Ivo Donev, Mark Gregorich, and Jeff Duval.

It took nearly three hours for the next elimination. Spencer Lawrence was all in on Third Street and three players stayed in the pot. Jeff Duval made an open pair of tens on fourth and Ivey ducked out. Duval bet out on fifth into Howard Lederer, who was showing three spades, and Lederer made the call. Sixth Street showed duval with three cards to a straight on board and Lederer with three wheel cards. Both players checked. The same action occurred on seventh. Lederer could only muster a pair of aces. Duval showed buried kings for kings up. Lawrence only held nines and threes, and Spencer Lawrence was eliminated in 8th place for £8,938. This was Lawrence’s third final WSOP final table this year, all coming in mixed events. It will be interesting to see how he follows up this performance at the WSOP in Las Vegas next year.

One of the strongest performers at the World Series of Poker the last two years has been Jeffrey Lisandro. Including today, he has 10 WSOP cashes in the last two years, 4 final tables, and a bracelet in the 2007 $2,000 Seven Card Stud Event. During a holdem round, with the board showing 6h-4c-Kh-8h, Lisandro raised all-in to 15,000. Howard Lederer made the call. Lisandro showed Jh-Jd for a pair of jacks and a flush draw. Lederer showed 7h-5s for a straight and a weaker flush draw. Unfortunately for Lisandro, the river fell the Ac, and he became out 7th place finisher, taking home £11,000.

Phil Ivey had a roller coaster final table. He was up and down throughout. For an half an hour after the Lisandro elimination, Ivey went on a losing streak and was left with only 14,500. During a stud round, Ivey became involved in a hand with Mark Gregorich. Gregorich bet out into Ivey on every street and even bet dark on Seventh Street. Ivey begrudgingly made the call on seventh with the last of his chips. Gregorich revealed buried queens to go with a pair of sixes showing on his board for queens-up. Ivey mucked his hand and headed for the rail. Phil Ivey was our 6th place finisher, taking home £13,750.

Although Gregorich eliminated Ivey, he still was only sitting on around 32,000 chips. With the limits 6,000-12,000, Gregorich has to make a stand. In a holdem round, the pot was three bet between Sherkhan Farnood and Gregorich. The flop fell Kc-9c-8c. Gregorich bet and Farnood threw out a raise. Gregorich made the call. The turn fell the 4d and Gregorich checked to Farnood, who bet. Gregorich only had 13,000 left and he elected to put the chips in. Farnood called. Farnood showed 5c-5s for a pair and a flush draw and Gregorich showed Ad-Jh for air. A 9s on the river sealed Gregorich’s fate, and he becomes our fifth place finisher. £17,188 was his reward for a strong performance.

Howard Lederer was controlling most of the action at this final table to this point. He had moved up to 553,000 in chips at one point four handed due to a big stud pot between him and Sherkhan Farnood. Lederer is known for being a limit holdem expert, but other than a win in an Aussie Millions preliminary, Lederer has not had a really big score in poker for a while. He holds two bracelets, one in Omaha Hi-Lo and Deuce to Seven Lowball.

While Lederer was the chip leader at this point, things in Limit poker can change quickly. By the time the players were four handed, the limits were 8,000 and 16,000. A couple of pots could mean a big swing in chips.

The conclusion of this event will be posted in the next post. Did Lederer pull off capturing his 3rd bracelet, or did someone else make a startling comeback?