The World Series of Poker (WSOP) just saw the end of Event #2: $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship. The final table marked just the second time in WSOP history that two brothers made the final table of a tournament, with Robert Mizrachi holding the chip lead heading into play, while his brother, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, sat in fifth.
In the most intriguing hand of the final table, Michael actually eliminated his brother Robert in fifth place. “The Grinder” opened his button for 200,000 and when Robert shoved 465,000 more from the big blind, Michael made the call with Qh-Jc. Robert tabled Ac-Th, but when the board ran 8s-2h-3c-Jh-2c, Robert was forced to the rail in fifth place.
Another interesting hand saw John Juanda move all-in for 1,365,000 with just Kd-9d, only to be called by Vladimir Schmelev’s Th-Td. When the flop came down Ad-Ah-4h, Juanda was in trouble and, after the 3c and Qc fell on the turn and river, he was sent to the rail in fourth place. Juanda, the proud owner of four WSOP titles, will have to wait another tournament for his fifth bracelet.
When play reached heads-up, it was “The Grinder” versus Vladimir Schmelev for all the marbles. In the winning hand, Mizrachi moved all-in from the button with Qs-5c only to be called by Schmelev’s Qd-8s. However, the 5h on the turn sealed Schmelev’s fate and gave “The Grinder” his first WSOP bracelet. Mizrachi also received the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and, of course, $1,559,046 in cash. The official results of the $50,000 Player’s Championship are as follows:
1. Michael Mizrachi – $1,559,046
2. Vladimir Schmelev – $963,375
3. David Oppenheim – $603,348
4. John Juanda – $436,865
5. Robert Mizrachi – $341,429
6. David Baker – $272,275
7. Daniel Alaei – $221,105
8. Mikael Thuritz – $182,463
Meanwhile, Event #3: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em, which garnered 4,345 players and a $3.9 million prize-pool, will crown a winner later today. Play resumes at 2:30pm PT with Canadian Aadam Daya leading the way. The rest of the final table stacks up like this:
1. Aadam Daya – 2,855,000
2. Cory Brown – 2,315,000
3. Gabe Costner – 1,830,000
4. Dash Dudley – 1,355,000
5. Bart Davis – 1,355,000
6. Nicholas Mitchell – 1,280,000
7. Isaac Settle – 970,000
8. Rich Rice – 690,000
9. Deepak Bhatti – 400,000
In Event #4: $1500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Michael Chow outlasted 818 players en route to a bracelet and $237,140. Losing the heads-up battle and settling for $146,505 was Dan Heimiller, while Ylon Schwartz took third for $94,561.
Day 2 of Event #5: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em saw the field trimmed to just 23 players, with Canadian Vincent Jacques and his 1,498,000 stack sitting atop the leaderboard. Other players with notable chip-counts include Kyle Knecht (971,000), Calvin Kordus (876,000), and David Sands (628,000). DoylesRoom pro Chris Moorman, who had a big stack for most of the day, was eliminated late last night along with other big names like Antonio Esfandiari, Shaun Deeb, and Adam Levy.
The biggest pot of the tournament occurred just as play ended for the day. Dwyte Pilgrim opened to 35,000 from middle position only to be three-bet by Jacques to 82,000. To the surprise of both players, Kordus then 4bet to 175,000. After Pilgrim folded, Jacques moved all-in, which sent Kordus into a lengthy five-minute deliberation. He finally called and they both tabled A-K. The two players chopped the massive 1,800,000 pot that, ultimately, was much ado about nothing.
Event #6: $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout played down to 36 yesterday, with names like Chad Brown, Tom Dwan, Chris Ferguson, and David “Chino” Rheem among the table winners. As an interesting aside, Dwan, who isn’t often seen in $5,000 events, has a hefty sum riding on numerous bracelet bets for this year’s WSOP. After busting very early in the first four tournaments he played, Dwan has to feel good about advancing to Day 2. Of the size of the bets, he simply said, “If I win the bets, it’ll be my biggest day ever.”
Also kicking-off yesterday at the Rio was Event #7: $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. Due to the small field and despite knowing admittedly very little about the game, Dwan entered the event, but failed to make it through Day 1. Salim Hanna, however, managed to make Day 2 and his 65,000 stack leads the way. Other notables who will return later today include Isaac Haxton, Greg “FBT” Mueller, 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro, Alexander Kostritsyn, and Allen Kessler.
The lone tournament on today’s WSOP schedule is Event #8: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, which begins at Noon PT.
