Michael Mizrachi wins 4th $50k WSOP PPC bracelet

[Dan Druff]

Really amazing accomplishment.

The $50k Poker Players Championship is one of the toughest events at the WSOP, featuring not just a high buyin, but a large number of games and a group of mostly very skilled opponents. Unlike the high roller NL events, which attract a fair number of rich businessmen, this one is almost all pros.

Mizrachi won it for the 4th time tonight.

Having 4 bracelets is impressive enough, but winning the PPC 4 times is really astoundingly good.

This is especially true in the age of solvers, game evolution, and everything else which makes keeping up with the top pros harder than ever. Mizrachi is not a studier. He isn't an intellectual. He is just a regular guy who happens to be a savant when it comes to poker tournaments, especially the PPC.

He also must be doing something different than everyone else. My theory is that he has a unique playstyle which matches up well with the pro players, and yet the rest of them probably play similar enough to each other to where their victory is more card-dependent.

That's a theory I was going to put to use at this WSOP for myself, but I only played 2 events this year, and didn't run well enough to really test it. That is, it may be correct to play a sub-optimal style in tournament poker, if it differs enough from everyone else's style to where it sets you apart from the crowd, and therefore might make you more difficult to deal with. It's a variation of the old theory of, "Play tight in a loose game, and loose in a tight game."

Anyway, congrats to The Grinder. He and I were never friends, but I always got along with him, and he was always pleasant at the table to everyone.

[420powersme]

Really amazing accomplishment.

The $50k Poker Players Championship is one of the toughest events at the WSOP, featuring not just a high buyin, but a large number of games and a group of mostly very skilled opponents. Unlike the high roller NL events, which attract a fair number of rich businessmen, this one is almost all pros.

Mizrachi won it for the 4th time tonight.

Having 4 bracelets is impressive enough, but winning the PPC 4 times is really astoundingly good.

This is especially true in the age of solvers, game evolution, and everything else which makes keeping up with the top pros harder than ever. Mizrachi is not a studier. He isn't an intellectual. He is just a regular guy who happens to be a savant when it comes to poker tournaments, especially the PPC.

He also must be doing something different than everyone else. My theory is that he has a unique playstyle which matches up well with the pro players, and yet the rest of them probably play similar enough to each other to where their victory is more card-dependent.

That's a theory I was going to put to use at this WSOP for myself, but I only played 2 events this year, and didn't run well enough to really test it. That is, it may be correct to play a sub-optimal style in tournament poker, if it differs enough from everyone else's style to where it sets you apart from the crowd, and therefore might make you more difficult to deal with. It's a variation of the old theory of, "Play tight in a loose game, and loose in a tight game."

Anyway, congrats to The Grinder. He and I were never friends, but I always got along with him, and he was always pleasant at the table to everyone.

Huge congrats to The Grinder, really well deserved! I watched the last two days of play on PokerGO and he was in complete control at all times, I don't think he gave up the chip lead once during that entire period (though there may have been some brief periods that it did happen). Especially at the FT, he just dominated from start to finish. He ran hot as the sun and got smacked in the face by the deck over and over, but he also played extremely well, from what I could tell in my limited experience with mixed games. I do believe his level of aggression was definitely higher than the rest of the players, and so that made it quite difficult for the other players to deal with, especially once he built up a significant chip lead. The ICM implications kept everyone else handcuffed while he picked up pots.

The last thing you said about playing a style that complete differs from what is expected or from everyone else's and that sets you apart from the crowd, reminded me of something Dan Harrington wrote in "Harrington on Tournament Hold Em", I think it was in Volume I. He said something to the effect of: once your opponents have seen what your style of play is and are used to you playing a certain way, you will make the most profit when you suddenly switch gears 180 degrees and begin playing completely the opposite of what is expected of you and the hands you are expected to be playing and showing down. I think that definitely holds a lot of merit, especially in non-turbo tournaments with long enough levels to take advantage of that.

[Dive_Bar_Dave]

I watched most of the last few tables on Pokergo. Mizrachi seemed in control all the way. I have also thought, at times, about how Mizrachi doesn't seem like an intellectual. He seems like a garage mechanic or a deli employee. But clearly some part of his brain is perfect for poker. I also like that he acts pretty quickly, none of this stalling and acting like a robot.

[Sloppy Joe]

Always thought he seemed retarded whenever he was on TV, would have guessed he would have been dead broke way more than any sustained success.

Baller shit.

[sonatine]

Always thought he seemed retarded whenever he was on TV, would have guessed he would have been dead broke way more than any sustained success.

Baller shit.

i mean the brothers from florida, cut him some slack.


also if he was nom'd for the poker hall of fame at his point it would make more sense than every other name i saw on that list.

[Sloppy Joe]

Is he a successful cash player as well?

I'm about 15 years behind on who the winners are.

[sonatine]

Is he a successful cash player as well?

I'm about 15 years behind on who the winners are.

no idea, i just remember seeing his name all over the place during the gabe kaplan / hsp era and he never once acted like a flake.

[TheXFactor]

Sick.

They should just call it "The Michael Mizrachi" bracelet.

[VaughnP]

Brian Rast has won it three times, Daniel Cates won back to back. One would assume that players in an event of this kind are mostly competent at all of the mixed games, but three guys now being responsible for half of the victories probably means that there's quite a few players entering as dead money in the more obscure games hoping to run it up in their specialties.

[Dan Druff]

Some Mike Mizarchi facts:

He's from an Israeli family, and has duel Israeli and American citizenship.

He doesn't play much cash. He seems to be mostly a tournament guy. However, he doesn't play many tournaments, either. A look at his Hendon Mob shows almost all WSOP cashes, with a few random 3-figure events thrown in here and there.

He was almost surely backed for this. He goes through money quickly, and is a big degenerate. He's also generous to a fault, and in the past was surrounded by "friends" from Florida who followed him like an entourage. Many of those friends also played poker, the most successful of whom was Chino Rheem, who obviously has much worse degeneracy issues himself. Obviously Mizrachi will have a lifelong ability to get backed into this event.

Before I met Mizrachi in person, I thought he would be a douche at the table, based upon how he looked. I was totally wrong. He ended up being softspoken and nice, and very friendly to me. That continued every time we played or whenever he saw me around, even after he blew up huge. In general, he's an easygoing guy and doesn't really beef with anyone.

Mizrachi is not one of those guys who has evolved with the game to study with solvers or run simulations. He's just an old-school "feel" player who seems to have a great idea of where he's at in the hands, and when to apply pressure. Many were impressed last night how well he handled newer-school opponents who were otherwise thought to be extremely tough.

In the vein of Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey, he has been willing to stamp his name on a lot of failbusinesses which talked themselves up and promised can't-miss, gigantic returns. It is assumed he was given pieces of these companies for free, in exchange for allowing his name to be used, much like Chan and Ivey. All of them have failed.

For all the talk of putting him in the HOF, note that this is his 5th year of eligibility (he was born in 1981), and he has been nominated, but never even made the final 10 for the voting phase. Now there is pressure to put him in ahead of otherwise worthy 40-year-old candidates like Nick Schulman and Scott Seiver. I actually agree he should be voted in this year, as it would be a fitting time to do so. It would be a shame to keep a 4-time PPC winner out of the HOF.

Nobody in WSOP history has ever won the same event 4 times until now.

[Dan Druff]

Brian Rast has won it three times, Daniel Cates won back to back. One would assume that players in an event of this kind are mostly competent at all of the mixed games, but three guys now being responsible for half of the victories probably means that there's quite a few players entering as dead money in the more obscure games hoping to run it up in their specialties.

I forgot about Rast having 3 victories. I had thought nobody else had more than 2.

Cates got lucky to win his second. Ryan Leng had a huge brain fart with like 4 left, and folded when he otherwise should have obviously called, which would've busted Cates. Had Leng not made that misstep, Cates would not have won that second time. It's not like Leng is a fish. He just made a bizarre, uncharacteristic, really bad play at the worst time.

[sonatine]

Some Mike Mizarchi facts:https://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sh...10#post1161210

He's from an Israeli family, and has duel Israeli and American citizenship.

He doesn't play much cash. He seems to be mostly a tournament guy. However, he doesn't play many tournaments, either. A look at his Hendon Mob shows almost all WSOP cashes, with a few random 3-figure events thrown in here and there.

He was almost surely backed for this. He goes through money quickly, and is a big degenerate. He's also generous to a fault, and in the past was surrounded by "friends" from Florida who followed him like an entourage. Many of those friends also played poker, the most successful of whom was Chino Rheem, who obviously has much worse degeneracy issues himself. Obviously Mizrachi will have a lifelong ability to get backed into this event.

Before I met Mizrachi in person, I thought he would be a douche at the table, based upon how he looked. I was totally wrong. He ended up being softspoken and nice, and very friendly to me. That continued every time we played or whenever he saw me around, even after he blew up huge. In general, he's an easygoing guy and doesn't really beef with anyone.

Mizrachi is not one of those guys who has evolved with the game to study with solvers or run simulations. He's just an old-school "feel" player who seems to have a great idea of where he's at in the hands, and when to apply pressure. Many were impressed last night how well he handled newer-school opponents who were otherwise thought to be extremely tough.

In the vein of Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey, he has been willing to stamp his name on a lot of failbusinesses which talked themselves up and promised can't-miss, gigantic returns. It is assumed he was given pieces of these companies for free, in exchange for allowing his name to be used, much like Chan and Ivey. All of them have failed.

For all the talk of putting him in the HOF, note that this is his 5th year of eligibility (he was born in 1981), and he has been nominated, but never even made the final 10 for the voting phase. Now there is pressure to put him in ahead of otherwise worthy 40-year-old candidates like Nick Schulman and Scott Seiver. I actually agree he should be voted in this year, as it would be a fitting time to do so. It would be a shame to keep a 4-time PPC winner out of the HOF.

Nobody in WSOP history has ever won the same event 4 times until now.

him not making the cut next year would be shocking at this point but who knows whose dick needs sucking to grease those wheels.


not surprised hes israel. back when i was in the dot com trenches in the early / mid 90s i worked with a lot of russians / israelis / russian israelis and they were absolutely always the most professional, reliable, bullshitless people. the only problem we ever had with them is occasionally an israeli would get called home for military service. mizrachi reminds me of those dudes vis a vis temperament.


btw are you saying cheeno is from florida? i thought he was from LA or sacramento..

[Dan Druff]

Yes. While Chino might seem like he'd fit in great with the angle-shooting crowd from Commerce, he's actually from Florida, and is a longtime friend of the Mizrachi family.

[Jayjami]

Congratulations to the Grinder. Definitely one of the all time greats.

[FRANKRIZZO]

Interesting story with the grinder who vouched for chino rheem and had deposited money in chinos account. Chino promptly refused to reimburse him. I remember this was way back , the guy who sent for chino and grinder owed A beer well known company think it was molson no sure though. Don't know if this was mentioned in this thread as didn't read in its entierty but remember this on the 2 plus 2.

[sonatine]

Interesting story with the grinder who vouched for chino rheem and had deposited money in chinos account. Chino promptly refused to reimburse him. I remember this was way back , the guy who sent for chino and grinder owed A beer well known company think it was molson no sure though. Don't know if this was mentioned in this thread as didn't read in its entierty but remember this on the 2 plus 2.

someone needs to train an LLM on the available corpus of poker drama just so we have it all in one place.

[FRANKRIZZO]

Chino gonna Chino.

[BUBBLES]

I remember a few years ago Patrick Antonious staked the Grinder and his brother Robert in this event and they both made the final table and the grinder won of course

[Dan Druff]

Not 100% Grinder related, but...

I was dumb enough to loan Chino money the year he made the WSOP Main November Nine and was paid out $1m on the spot.

This was like 2 weeks later and I figured he just needed the $8k on Stars, as he said he'd meet me the next day and just hand me cash. He and I were friendly acquaintances at the time.



Of course I got Chino'd (I didn't know his rep yet, somehow), and he ghosted me. I felt so stupid.

Fortunately my rep for calling shit out had already gotten around, given that this was post-AP scandal. Someone in Chino's orbit told him it wasn't a good idea to stiff me, but of course Chino had degened off my $8k and couldn't pay. Suddenly I got a message from Chino saying that one of his friends would pay me that day. Sure enough, Robert Mizrachi sent me $8k. Whether Robert got the money back from Chino is up for debate, but that's not my problem.

To this day, I'm probably the one who got paid back the fastest from a Chino loan.

[simpdog]

Chipleader in the main event with 5 left......insane