After battling through a heads up match that lasted longer than the elimination of the previous eight players, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo finally defeated Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi to become the latest champion of the World Series of Poker Circuit at Caesars Palace late last night.
Originally scheduled to finish today, the 187 player field that put up $5000 each started play on Monday and quickly set about eliminating players from the field. When action started on Wednesday, only sixteen players were remaining and it was decided that the remaining players would play on through, rather than wait until today to determine a champion. Consistent with the action of the previous days, the final table was decided in rapid fashion.
In roughly an hour and a half, positions sixteen through eleven were determined, with notables such as 2006 Irish Open runner up Ian Woodley (15th) and 2007 WSOP bracelet holder Robert Cheung (11th) taking home some profit from their stay at Caesars. As the players stepped to the felt for final table action, such notables as Bonomo, Mizrachi, 2009 WSOPC-Rincon champion Dwyte Pilgrim and poker legend Men “The Master” Nguyen were in contention. They were all following the up and coming Russian player Evgeny Serebryakov, who entered the final table with the chip lead.
Some expected play would slow down once the final table was determined, but they were surprised to see the action ratchet up even more. After Bert Fujisaki was dismissed in tenth place ($20,181), players took turns doubling each other up. Nguyen went from the bottom of the leader board to the middle of the pack and Bonomo and Mizrachi surged towards the top of the heap.
Serebryakov was the victim of much of this action as he was taken out of the tournament in ninth place after about two hours of play by Bonomo. On the very next hand, Nashaat Antonious fell at the hands of WSOPC ring bearer Jack Schanbacher. Even with the elimination, Schanbacher was unable to rally much further and finished in seventh at the hands of “ZeeJustin”. In roughly two and a half hours, the table was down to six-handed play.
Unbelievably at this point, play at the table moved up another gear as heads up action was determined within the next half hour of battle on the felt. Bonomo dismissed Pilgrim in sixth place, then Mizrachi blitzed through WSOP bracelet holder Matt Graham (fifth) and Jeremiah DeGreef (fourth). “The Master’s” run at the final table was finally ended by Bonomo and heads up action was determined.
As heads up play began, Bonomo held a slight 500K chip lead over Mizrachi and the two decided to divvy up most of the final table money. What was held back was the gold and diamond championship ring, some cash and the all-important seat at this year’s WSOP Championship Event.
The two battle-hardened professionals then proceeded to put on a show for the crowd gathered at the Caesars Palace poker room. Over the next four hours, the duo swapped the chip lead back and forth with each man almost down to the felt on several occasions. After three hours of play, Bonomo faced an all in from Mizrachi and made the call, only to find his [Qh] [Qd] cooled by “The Grinder’s” [Kc] [Kh] which doubled him up. “ZeeJustin” struck back moments later when his Ace out-kicked Mizrachi’s and the battle continued on.
Another hour later, Bonomo was finally able to put Mizrachi away. On a [9d] [Td] [Kc] board, “The Grinder” pushed the remainder of his chips to the center and “ZeeJustin” made the call. Bonomo’s [Ks] [Qd] and top pair was ahead of Mizrachi’s [Jd] [9s] bottom pair and, once the board ran with two more diamonds, Justin Bonomo hit an unnecessarily higher flush to capture the WSOPC championship at Caesars Palace.
In all, heads up action lasted a half hour longer than eliminations ten through three took. The final ten rounded out as such:
1. Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo $227,692
2. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi $143,512
3. Men “The Master” Nguyen $91,937
4. Jeremiah DeGreef $71,756
5. Matthew Graham $56,059
6. Dwyte Pilgrim $44,848
7. Jack Schanbacher $35,870
8. Nashaat Antonious $ 29,151
9. Evgeny Serebryakov $24,666
10. Bert Fujisaki $20,181
There is one final stop left on the 2008-09 World Series of Poker Circuit. Players will have their final chance to win their way into the 2009 WSOP with the $5000 championship event of the Bayou Poker Classic at Harrah’s in New Orleans from May 8-20. It will all lead up to the start of the World Series at the end of May.
