Michael Mizrachi Leads Final Eight in $50K Poker Players Championship
Mizrachi is looking to win his third World Series bracelet, the first of which came in this same event two years ago when he topped a field of 116 to earn the David "Chip" Reese Memorial Trophy and a $1,559,046 first prize.
It was another drama-filled day and night at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino where Event #45, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, played from 26 down to a final table of eight. When players bagged their chips at night's end on Wednesday, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi led the final eight with 3.648 million chips, followed closely by Andy Bloch with 3.598 million.
The day began with early eliminations of the short stacks, including Phil Hellmuth, David Chiu, Joe Cassidy, and Michael's brother Robert Mizrachi.
Phil Ivey was also among the group making it to Day 4 of the five-day event yet failing to reach the final 16 and the cash. Ivey's final hand came in the seven-card stud round, with Viktor "Isildur1" Blom eliminating him with an ace-high flush versus Ivey's pair of kings.
The last two out before the cash were John Monnette (18th) and Ben Yu (17th). It would take the rest of the night eight more players to fall, with Michael Mizrachi using that stretch to accumulate chips and push out into the lead as the field continued to shrink, having crossed the 4 million-chip mark by the time Andy Bloch eliminated David "ODB" Baker in 10th in an Omaha-8 hand.
David Oppenheim would be the last elimination of the night after getting gradually ground down during the 2-7 NL triple draw round, then losing the last of his chips to Mizrachi to go out in ninth.
Here's a look at the payouts thus far in Event #45:
9th: David Oppenheim ($142,197)
10th: David "ODB" Baker ($142,197)
11th: Daniel Alaei ($120,994)
12th: John Hennigan ($120,994)
13th: Jeff Lisandro ($105,235)
14th: Viktor Blom ($105,235)
15th: Mike Wattel ($91,549)
16th: Brett Richey ($91,549)
And here's how the chip counts look heading into tomorrow's final day of play:
1. Michael Mizrachi -- 3,648,000
2. Andy Bloch -- 3,598,000
3. Chris Klodnicki -- 3,276,000
4. Stephen Chidwick -- 2,026,000
5. Luke Schwartz -- 1,494,000
6. Bill Chen -- 1,293,000
7. Roland Israelashvili -- 694,000
8. Bruno Fitoussi -- 188,000
Mizrachi is looking to win his third World Series bracelet, the first of which came in this same event two years ago when he topped a field of 116 to earn the David "Chip" Reese Memorial Trophy and a $1,559,046 first prize.
Interestingly, Bloch enters the final table in second position after having finished runner-up in the memorable $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event -- the first of its kind -- won by the late Chip Reese in 2006.
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
