Michael Mizrachi 
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi made history today as a two-time winner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $50,000 Poker Players Championship. With 108 players in the field and almost every one of them a member of poker’s elite, Mizrachi ploughed through his opponents to claim the USD $1,451,527 in first place prize money.
His monumental victory backed up his first gold bracelet win in the event two years ago. That win proved to be the mark of an epic comeback for Mizrachi, who had a much publicised meteoric rise in poker, only to later fall from grace into financial turmoil. That year, he went on to final table three other WSOP events, including an amazing fifth place finish in the Main Event for USD $2,332,992. All up, Mizrachi has earned three gold bracelets and around USD $5 million in prize money at the WSOP over just the last two years, which is a truly remarkable accomplishment.
Today’s final table was over and done with in a lightning quick five hours. As the overnight chip leader, Mizrachi exploded out the gates with a double elimination in just the third hand. During No-Limit Hold’em, he picked up A♦ A♣ and got it all in against Bruno Fitoussi’s 8♣ 7♣ and Bill Chen’s A♥ K♣. The board of K♦ 5♥ 5♣ 8♥ 4♥ gave something to both his opponents but saw Mizrachi’s bullets hold up.
He then eliminated Stephen Chidwick during Pot-Limit Omaha to scoop almost half of the chips in play at five-handed but, from that point, his opponents went on to bust each other out. Chris Klodnicki enjoyed a brief moment as the chip leader and knocked out Andy Bloch in third place, but Mizrachi had already wrestled back the advantage by that time and came into the heads up with almost a 2:1 chip lead.
The duel continued the fairytale for Mizrachi, proving to be largely one-sided. The final hand came during Omaha-8 and, with the money all in preflop, Klodnicki’s A♠ J♥ 9♣ 2♠ lost out to Mizrachi’s Q♦ J♣ 9♥ 8♥ when the dealder tabled 10♣ 10♠ 7♠ 6♥ A♥. The moment will no doubt become one of the greatest in this year’s WSOP and is a reflection of just what an unbelievably talented player Mizrachi is.
Final Table Payouts
1. Michael Mizrachi – USD $1,451,527
2. Chris Klodnicki – USD $896,935
3. Andy Bloch – USD $561,738
4. Luke Schwartz – USD $604,736
5. Roland Israelashvili – USD $317,882
6. Stephen Chidwick – USD $253,497
7. Bill Chen – USD $205,856
8. Bruno Fitoussi – USD $169,879
Read more at WSOP.com.
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