Michael Mizrachi Sets Record For Winning 3rd WSOP Poker Players Championship Bracelet
Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi set a new record at the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) when he took down the Poker Players Championship event and defeated some of the best poker pros in the world
Michael Mizrachi Creates History At WSOP
Mizrachi has done well at the WSOP in previous editions and had won two Poker Players Championship previously. The Grinder loves playing the Poker Players Championship and competing with the best and this week he once again showed why he is one of the best players in the world when he finished in first place.
Michael Mizrachi etched his name in the poker books as he became the first three-time winner of the Poker Players Championship, one of the biggest and most prestigious events in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). This is yet another great accomplishment in an illustrious poker career that has three WSOP bracelets (prior to this win), two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles and more than $15 million in live earnings, putting him consistently inside the Top 20 All Time Money list.
The Grinder is also known for having some of the biggest chip leads in his last 10 years of playing poker, and for playing some of the most aggressive and unpredictable hands on the felt which helped him win the WSOP Poker Players Championship (PPC) bracelet in 2010 and 2012.
2018 Poker Players Championship
According to Mizrachi, he started Day 1 and 2 of the event in a bit of a daze, spilling his coffee at the table on Day 2 so they had to move tables and start after a 7-minute delay. Despite his unfortunate start, he started to really turn things around as he got in to the game, and never let go of his chip lead position until he bagged the title. Mizrachi says that he has never ran this good in any of his games recently, that’s why he knew from the onset that he was going to win it.
That was massive confidence considering the fact that he was up against some of the best poker pros in the world including poker great Phil Ivey, 2014 PPC champ “Johnny World” Hennigan, two-time PPC bracelet holder Brian Rast and Mike Leah.
Chip Reese Memorial Trophy
In the end, Mizrachi says that his experience playing mixed games both live and online really helped him hold his never and use his experience to emerge on top of the PPC. The Grinder won $1,239,126 for his efforts along with his third Chip Reese Memorial Trophy that’s engraved with his name.
The 2018 WSOP PPC is the 13th year that the event is taking place and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy is awarded in tribute to the late Poker Hall of Famer Chip Reese, who won the inaugural PPC. In the years that the WSOP has been holding the PPC, the game has evolved from being a H.O.R.S.E. event to an eight-game mix with pot-limit Omaha, no-limit hold’em, and triple draw deuce-to-seven lowball.
Settling for 2nd place at the 2018 WSOP PPC is John Hennigan with $765,837 in winnings, while Dan Smith finished 3rd with $521,782. Mike Leah finished 4th and took home $364,197 while Ben Glaser came in 5th and won $260,578.
The Mizrachi strategy
Mizrachi said that his kind of play has always been the aggressive kind of play and this is what he credits most of his poker success to. According to Mizrachi, part of why he is one of the toughest pros to go against is because of his ability to quickly build his chips and play unpredictably. He says that his play style requires him to have a big stack so he seeks out the risks and can deliver the goods when his opponents think he’s bluffing.
Mizrachi also credits his win to the support of his poker-playing family and fans. In fact, when his name was called out as the champion of the event, at least 40 people came down to the stage to celebrate with him, chanting his nickname, “Grinder! Grinder! Grinder!”
Mizrachi comes from a poker-playing family and is the other half of the Mizrachi brothers. His newest PPC win now puts him toe-to-toe with his brother, Rob, who also has four WSOP bracelets to his name. Mizrachi says he is now using this to fuel their brotherly competition and push himself to achieve more.
In a statement, Mizrachi said, “Rob has four bracelets and I have four good ones as well. I can’t complain. It’s pretty crazy that I won the $50K three times and I have three bracelets in that one and a $10K, but now Rob is in trouble. I’m going to overcome him. I’m going to play every event just to get the fifth one.”
