Michael Mizrachi wins $50k Players Championship

Michael Mizrachi wins $50k Players Championship

Friday, 29 June 2012

Michael Mizrachi has cemented his position as one of the finest players in tournament poker after winning his second WSOP $50k Players Championship.

The Grinder, who went into the last day with the chip lead, gave a final table masterclass, eliminating four players en route to his third World Series of Poker bracelet. The fireworks started just three hands in when Mizrachi eliminated short stack Bruno Fitoussi and Bill Chen in the same hand when his aces held against 89s and AKo.


Britain's Stephen Chidwick was the next to go after running into Mizrachi's flopped full house in a round of PLO. Roland Israelashvilli had largely avoided the early carnage and nursed his short stack a few lucrative spots up the pay ladder. His tournament came to an end at the hands of Andy Bloch in a round of triple draw when his J-8-6-4-2 couldn't beat the 2006 runner up's 8-7-5-3-2.


Luke Schwartz was the next to go and he can count himself very unlucky. The talkative Londoner looked in great shape for a double up in the round of no limit hold'em holding A9 against Chris Klodnicki's A6 on a K-K-Q-5 board. Unfortunately for Schwartz the dealer turned over one of the three remaining sixes on the river to send him the rail in the fourth. The $406,736 is “_Fullflush_'s” best live score so should provide some consolation.


Andy Bloch's attempt to win his second bracelet of 2012 hit the rocks in a round of PLO when his queens full ran into Mizrachi's kings full. The 2006 runner up departed soon after when his Q4s couldn't overturn Klodnicki's AJ.


Mizrachi went into heads up play with an almost two to one chip lead and, befitting his nickname, ground his way to an even more dominant position after crushing the round of 2-7 Triple Draw. The end came in the round of Omaha 8 with Mizrachi's Qd-Jc-9h-8h hitting a straight to beat Klodnicki's pre flop shove with As-Jh-9c-2s.


It’s the best you could ever run at a final table,” said Mizrachi. “The cards went my way, and I think I played my best. When I got down to heads-up with Chris, it just kind of fell apart [for him]. I was just getting all the cards.”


Mizrachi pocketed $1,451,527 for the win to take his career earnings to over $6.5m in the last three year.


The final table positions and payouts were as follows:


1. Michael Mizrachi $1,451,527
2. Chris Klodnicki $896,935
3. Andy Bloch $561,738
4. Luke Schwartz $406,736
5. Roland Israelashvili $317,882
6. Stephen Chidwick $253,497
7. Bill Chen $205,856
8. Bruno Fitoussi $169,879



Tags: Michael Mizrachi, Luke Schwartz, Stephen Chidwick, Bill Chen, Andy Bloch, Chris Klodnicki, WSOP 2012, $50k Players Championship