Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi Stung By Jellyfish While in Las Vegas for VPL
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On Saturday night, reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, who next month will be in the Bahamas for the World Tournament of Slots (WTOS), was in Las Vegas for a return visit on Venetian Poker Live (VPL).
The game was played $100/$100 no-limit hold’em with a minimum buy-in of $10,000, though the game played much bigger as evidenced by an all-in hand on the very first hand (it ended up being a chop). It also included two brand new players to the Venetian Poker Live in Classic Mike and a player known only as "Jellyfish." As usual, Squid Game was in full effect.
What is the Squid Game at on Venetian Poker Live?
It’s a variation of the stand-up game designed to increase action. When a player wins a pot, they earn a “squid” token. Players who fail to win a pot during the squid game must pay a penalty to those who did. It is usually played in rounds (i.e. every eight hands or however many players are in the game).
Remko Rinkema and Tristan Wade were on commentary. Here’s how things stacked up at the start of the game:
| Seat | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Isaac | $20,000 |
| 2 | Tiger | $26,000 |
| 3 | Classic Mike | $15,000 |
| 4 | Michael Mizrachi | $20,000 |
| 5 | Jellyfish | $25,000 |
| 6 | Brian Okin | $40,000 |
| 7 | Royski | $25,000 |
| 8 | Noam Lucas | $10,100 |
You can watch the replay of the September 6 stream below, or keep on reading for a look at some of the biggest and most entertaining hands.
Grinder Stung By a Jellyfish
In an early hand, Isaac raised to $1,400 with the 6♦5♣ and Mizrachi called from the button with the A♦J♥. Jellyfish then called out of the big blind with the 7♠5♠, and it was three-way action to the flop of 6♠9♣8♣.
Jellyfish checked after flopping a straight, and both of his opponents checked behind. The J♦ turn saw Jellyfish bet $2,700, Isaac called with bottom pair, and Mizrachi, who turned top pair with top kicker, raised it up to $8,800.
Jellyfish then clicked it back to the tune of $20,000 straight, and that got Isaac out of the hand. Mizrachi had $12,900 remaining and thought long and hard about what to do. Traditionally, “The Grinder” has avoided missteps on the Venetian stream, but in this spot, he stepped in it as he moved all in for $21,700 all day.
Jellyfish called the additional $1,700, and the duo agreed to run it twice. It was a moot point, however, as Jellyfish held an unbeatable hand, and Mizrachi watched the $50,500 pot pushed to his opponent after the meaningless 10♥ river on the first run and the 9♦ on the second were put out for good measure.
Another Big One for Jellyfish
Fifty minutes into the stream, Jellyfish was sitting with $65,700 when he raised to $500 with the 6♣2♣. Royski then three-bet to $1,500 with the A♠J♥ and Noam Lucas called with the K♥Q♥. Action folded back to Jellyfish, who may have been looking for a squid, four-bet to $7,500.
Royskia called the additional $6,000, and then Noam Lucas moved all in for $11,300. It wasn’t enough to reopen the action, so both Jellyfish and Royski just called. The former proceeded to flop a flush when the Q♣9♣10♣ came down.
While Wade advocated for a check on commentary, Jellyfish instead bet big to the tune of $17,500. Royski, who had $27,400 behind, had flopped an open-ended straight draw, but he thought better of it and released his hand.
Jellyfish and Noam Lucas agreed to run it twice, and the latter got a little sweat when the Q♠ appeared on the first turn. Unfortunately for him, he failed to fill up when the 4♦ bricked the river. On the second, neither the 7♦ turn nor 8♦ river changed a thing, and Jellyfish scooped a $34,200 pot.
Tiger Straightens Out Jellyfish
In the biggest pot of the night, Tiger raised to $1,000 with the A♦Q♠ and Jellyfish called holding the Q♦J♥. Noam Lucas called $900 from the big blind with his Q♣2♣, and Isaac, who had straddled for $200, came along with his 7♣5♣ to make it four-way action to the flop of 2♥K♥J♣.
Two checks saw Tiger continue for $2,000, and Jellyfish, who was ahead with middle pair, called before both Noam Lucas and Isaac got out of the way. On the 10♠ turn, Tiger made Broadway and bet $13,000 into a pot of $8,500.
Jellyfish had picked up an open-ended straight draw and called to see the river, which was the disastrous 9♠. Tiger already had the nuts with his ace-high Broadway straight, and he paused for a few beats before coyly checking.
Jellyfish, who had an inferior king-high straight, bet $26,500, and Tiger sprung to life with a check-raise to $68,000. Jellyfish hit the tank for several minutes before saying, “I don’t think I can fold my hand.
Indeed, after several more minutes in the tank, Jellyfish made the call and watched the $170K pot pushed to Tiger.
Final Results
At the end of the night, Tiger ended up the big winner with $43,200 in profit, while Okin wasn’t far behind, up $36,300. Isaac was the only other winner $17,600 in the black. On the flip side, Mizrachi ended up a $9,200 loser, which didn’t seem so bad compared to Jellyfish and Royski, who were down $35,000 and $36,900, respectively.
| Player | Profit |
|---|---|
| Tiger | +$43,200 |
| Brian Okin | +$36,300 |
| Jon Isaac | +$17,600 |
| Classic Mike | -$1,600 |
| Michael Mizrachi | -$9,200 |
| Noam Lucas | -$14,400 |
| Jellyfish | -$35,000 |
| Royski | -$26,900 |
Next week, the Venetian will host the PGT Venetian Las Vegas Classic, the tenth stop of the PokerGO Tour season. The stop will take place Sept. 11-16 and will culminate with a $3,300 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Main Event featuring a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, according to PokerGO.
The event will see players starting with 40,000 chips and levels lasting 40 minutes each. After two more starting flights, the event will play down to a winner on Day 2 on Sept. 14, eventually awarding the biggest slice of the $1 million guaranteed prize pool.
The series at the Venetian will also feature three $5,300 buy-in High Rollers, the first of which kicks off on Sept. 14 with starting stacks of 125,000 and levels lasting 30 minutes each. Action will wrap up with $5,300 NLH High Roller #3 on Sept. 16.
