Stud Star Jeff Lisandro Tops WSOP Event #10 Day 2

Italian pro Jeff Lisandro ended Day 2 of event #10 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas with a healthy chip lead over nearest rival Eugene Katchalov.

Salerno’s Lisandro bagged 276,500 chips during the $5,000 buy-in Seven-Card Stud tournament in the Amazon Room of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, while New York-based Ukrainian Katchalov ended the day on 207,000 to sit just ahead of California’s John Monnette (188,000) in third place.

There were 145 starters in this event – creating a prize pool of $681,500 – with just 16 making it into Day 3 from the starting 92 on Day 2 in the chase for the gold bracelet and $190,826 winner’s cheque.

Nick Schulman In Immediate Danger

In fact, only there 16 will be paid, with New York’s Nick Schulman the most likely candidate to fill that first cash spot as he has just 14,000 chips – or less than 1.5 big blinds – to sit 47,500 behind 15th placed New Jersey native David Rosenau (61,500).

Ten levels were played out last night, with the money bubble just being burst when one-time WSOP champ Freddie Ellis hit the rail in 17th place after seeing his 10s run into the kings of Seattle’s Lee Goldman (10th on 124,500).

But Day 3 will start off with 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Lisandro – who took down three Stud tournaments that year – well in control, although not every entrant enjoyed such a good day, with last year’s second place finisher Steve Landfish, of Vermont, crashing out after failing to recover from oversleeping.

Steve Landfish Out of Comfort Zone

Landfish had been anted off for a short while before he eventually made it to his seat, but then struggled throughout as his stack became shorter and shorter – before he decided to move all-in after completing the bring-in against Todd Barlow and Brandon Guss.

Barlow called, only for Guss to raise. Barlow made the call, with the same action repeated on the turn, fifth and sixth streets, before Guss checked on seventh. Barlow then bet out, prompting Gus to muck his cards with a fold.

Landfish showed J♦ A♣ 10♦/2♦ Q♦ 6♦ 6♠ for a pair of sixes, while Barlow revealed Q♣ J♣ 4♣/8♣ 10♣ 6♥ 3♦ for a queen-high club flush for the knockout.

Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier Fails To Cash

Defending champion Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier also failed to cash, while the French Triple Crown winner was also joined at the rail by the likes of Bill Chen, Todd Brunson, Frank Kassela, Andy Bloch, Steve Billirakis, David Oppenheim, Allen Cunningham, Cory Zeidman, Maxwell Troy, Chris Reslock, Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, David Williams, Matt Hawrilenko and Matt Glantz.

But, of course, other big-name pros made it into the final day, including Max Pescatori (fifth on 170,500), Bryn Kenney (sixth on 170,000), Perry Friedman (eighth on 160,500), Team PartyPoker Pro Mike Sexton (14th on 62,000) and former Full Tilt Poker Pro Cyndy Violette (12th on 88,000).

WSOP 2012 Event #10 Final 16 Chip Counts

1. Jeff Lisandro (Italy) – 276,500

2. Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine) – 207,000

3. John Monnette (USA) – 188,000

4. Huu Vinh (USA) – 173,000

5. Max Pescatori (Italy) – 170,500

6. Bryn Kenney (USA) – 170,000

7. Raymond Dehkharghani (USA) – 169,000

8. Perry Friedman (USA) – 160,500

9. Timothy Finne (USA) – 133,000

10. Lee Goldman (USA) – 124,500

11. Mark Dickstein (USA) – 105,000

12. Cyndy Violette (USA) – 88,000

13. Yuval Bronshtein (USA) – 72,500

14. Mike Sexton (USA) – 62,000

15. David Rosenau (USA) – 61,500

16. Nick Schulman (USA) – 14,000