button in SafariWe Are Witnessing Yet Another Miraculous Mizrachi Comeback at the WSOP
Death, taxes, and Michael Mizrachi making the seemingly impossible look possible at the World Series of Poker.
Reduced to less than one big bet with just 3,000 chips after late registering Day 1 of the $10,000 Seven Card Championship, 'The Grinder' now chipleads one of the most decorated fields of the summer, bagging a stack of 1,429,000 after a whirlwind Day 2 performance, reminiscent of last summer's Main Event heroics.
Entering the day 37th of the 47 players who returned, the reigning world champion had little room for error, and what followed was vintage Mizrachi. A fearless, pedal-to-the-floor display that saw him put his tournament life on the line on multiple occasions as he surged from the bottom of the chip counts to the top.
'Don't Call It A Comeback, I Been Here Last Year'
After picking himself up off the canvas in last year's WSOP Main Event repeatedly, Mizrachi is no stranger to a comeback story, but even the world champ must have had doubts after being reduced to so little, so early on Day 1.
No sooner had Mizrachi taken his seat after late regging the event, he was immediately dragged into a sizeable pot. On his very first hand, he called after Naoya Kihara completed, with James Cheung also entering the mix.
Kihara held A♥6♥10♣4♦ and continued betting on fourth street, with Mizrachi showing 9♥7♠Q♥J♥ and Cheung holding J♦8♠10♦8♣ both calling down. Kihara fired again on fifth street, Mizrachi called once more, and Cheung then raised, with both opponents sticking around.
On sixth street, Cheung kept the pressure on, forcing Kihara out of the hand, while Mizrachi stayed the course. After the final card, Cheung bet again and Mizrachi paid it off.
Cheung revealed Q♣Q♥9♣ for a straight, while Mizrachi’s 9♥7♠Q♥J♥ was quickly mucked, leaving the reigning world champion with less than a big blind after just one hand at his new table.
The Recovery Act
Mizrachi somehow survived that early gut punch and, with less than a big bet to his name, began the long climb back.
His first major double-up came against Kihara. Showing A♦2♦5♣, Mizrachi got the rest of his chips in on fifth street and found himself trailing Kihara's eventual two pair. By seventh street, however, Mizrachi had found the J♠ he needed to make jacks and threes and climb back to around 80,000.
"He's beatable," tablemate Brad Ruben joked as Mizrachi stacked the chips.
Not long after, Mizrachi was at risk again, this time against David Benyamine. With A♣6♦7♠A♦ showing, Mizrachi improved to trip aces on sixth street after the chips went in. Benyamine peeled first and conceded the pot before Mizrachi even looked at his final card.
"You got it," Benyamine said. "It didn't matter anyways!" Mizrachi replied after turning over a meaningless 5♥ on seventh that improved him to a full house and boosted his stack to around 120,000.
Old Dog, Same Tricks
Once he had breathing room, Mizrachi began doing what Mizrachi does.
Against Matthew Schreiber, he turned 8♠Q♥J♥6♥ into a straight, revealing 10♠9♦4♣ at showdown to move up to around 600,000. Later, in a fierce raising war with Maksim Pisarenko, Mizrachi four-bet fifth street before firing the final two streets with 2♠A♦8♠9♣ showing. His A♠2♥Q♠ in the hole made aces and deuces, good enough to push him beyond 800,000.
From there, the comeback story became a chip lead story. Mizrachi continued accumulating late on Day 2, eventually bagging 1,429,000 to finish atop one of the toughest fields of the summer so far.
Incredible Final Day in Store
And Mizrachi will need every one of those hard-earned chips on tomorrow's final day, too.
All but two of the remaining field of eleven are previous bracelet winners, with eight drafted into 25K Fantasy teams. The chasing pack includes players of the caliber of six-time WSOP champion Jeremy Ausmus, five-time winner Ruben, and Kihara, looking to win back-to-back WSOP events after victory in the No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship just days ago.
Legendary WSOP grinder Allen Kessler is still in the mix, chasing an elusive maiden bracelet, while Cheung could make WSOP history by becoming the first player to win both the $1,500 and $10,000 Seven Card Stud titles in the same series.
A mouthwatering final day is in store then, with $301,970 up top for the winner. Check out the chip counts at the end of Day 2 below, and you can follow all the action from Day 3 on PokerNews with expert live reporting available:
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Mizrachi | United States | 1,429,000 | 36 |
| 2 | Chris Brewer | United States | 1,301,000 | 33 |
| 3 | James Cheung | United Kingdom | 1,242,000 | 31 |
| 4 | Ryan Miller | United States | 845,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Naoya Kihara | Japan | 702,000 | 18 |
| 6 | Jeremy Ausmus | United States | 702,000 | 18 |
| 7 | Maksim Pisarenko | Russian Federation | 644,000 | 16 |
| 8 | Allen Kessler | United States | 582,000 | 15 |
| 9 | Dan Sepiol | United States | 187,000 | 4.5 |
| 10 | Brad Ruben | United States | 132,000 | 3.5 |
| 11 | Jason Kluska | United States | 59,000 | 1.5 |
