It may have taken a day longer than what officials scheduled, but the victor of the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice World Championship, Event #13 on the 2024 World Series of Poker roster, has been determined. Coming back this afternoon with the chip lead, four-time WSOP bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi became a five-time winner after dispatching Michael Martinelli and Ryutaro Suzuki in a quick ninety minutes. Whether Mizrachi will now make a run at the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year is the question.
Matching His Brother
Mizrachi came to the final trio with a slight lead over Martinelli (4.3 million to 3.1 million), while Suzuki (1.1 million) was going to have to find some cards or a miracle to climb. It was not to be for Suzuki, however, as he lost a set of Deuce to Seven Triple Draw hands to watch his stack go down to only 100K in chips. Martinelli would finish Suzuki off in the first hand of Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Eight or Better as Martinelli’s A-J-7-2 flopped two pair against Suzuki’s K-K-J-6 on a J-9-7 flop. Neither the eight on the turn nor the deuce on the river helped Suzuki and he departed the Mothership in third place only thirty minutes into play.
Staked to more than a 2:1 lead, Mizrachi was the epitome of the former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden saying “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” He meticulously took the game to Martinelli, defeating him for small pots in PLO Hi/Lo, Badeucey, and PLO straight. Once the game switched to Pot Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, Mizrachi ended the tournament.
On the final hand, both men drew three cards and, after Martinelli bet pot and Mizrachi called, Martinelli drew one card and Mizrachi two. Another pot bet came out of Martinelli, but this time Mizrachi repotted, which was enough to commit the remainder of Martinelli’s chips. Martinelli called and, after he drew one, Martinelli had to feel the weight when Mizrachi stood pat.
With all the draws complete, Mizrachi turned up a 9-5 that was going to be tough to beat. Martinelli had the right start with his 7-5-4-2 to do the job but, as he squeezed the final card, all he could do was reluctantly flip up another four that paired his hand. With that, Mizrachi took the championship and his fifth-ever WSOP bracelet.
1. Robert Mizrachi (USA), $333,045
2. Michael Martinelli (USA), $215,848
3. Ryutaro Suzuki (Japan), $144,431
4. Ben Lamb (USA), $99,885*
5. David Bach (USA), $71,476*
6. Richard Bai (USA), $52,985*
(* – eliminated on Wednesday, part of official WSOP final table)
With this victory, Robert matches his brother, three-time Poker Players’ Championship winner Michael, with five bracelet victories. It also leads one to think that if Michael is worthy of discussion for the Poker Hall of Fame with his achievements, why isn’t Robert included in that discussion?
Malcolm Trayner Leads Unofficial WSOP Player of the Year Race
At this point in the WSOP, it is way premature to discuss the Player of the Year race. Because of the rules instituted this year by the WSOP, players must have five points-earning finishes to be eligible to win the WSOP POY, with a maximum of thirteen counting tournaments and only one of those can be from an online event. A quick look at the current UNOFFICIAL standings (because nobody has five points-earning finishes…yet) shows that winning the “tentpole” events can push you a long way.
The winner of Event #5, the $1000 Mystery Millions, was Australia’s Malcolm Trayner, who banked the million-dollar first-place prize for winning that tournament. It also banked him a boatload of WSOP POY points (1416.41). To this mark of the Series, however, it is Trayner’s only cash on his scorecard; if the Series were to end today, he would not even be counted in the “official” standings because he does not have five points-earning finishes.
Several players behind Trayner have already made inroads to clicking off their five points-earning finishes to qualify for the POY. $1500 Dealer’s Choice champion John ‘World’ Hennigan has earned three points finishes to currently sit in second place, while Champions’ Reunion victor Asher Conniff has two finishes to enter third place. These numbers are meaningless, however, until a player actually reaches that five points-earning finishes level, at which point they will officially “qualify” for the WSOP POY.
Nevertheless, here is how the players line up for the Player of the Year race now:
1. Malcolm Trayner (Australia), 1416.41 points (one points finish)
2. John Hennigan (USA), 1174.76 (three)
3. Asher Conniff (USA), 1165.98 (two)
4. Bryce Yockey (USA), 1164.08 (three)
5. Scott Seiver (USA), 1117.9 (three, one online)
6. Daniel Willis (United Kingdom), 1048.77 (one)
7. Nick Guagenti (USA), 1034.73 (three)
8. James Chen (USA), 1027.14 (one)
9. David Prociak (USA), 1005.8 (two)
10. Yuchung Chang (USA), 783.26 (four, one online)
With his next cash, Chang will officially become the first player to qualify for the 2024 WSOP POY award, which gives the player an entry into the 2025 WSOP Championship Event, a commemorative trophy, and a banner that will permanently fly each year at the World Series of Poker.
(Photo courtesy of WSOP.com)