WPT Tournament of Champions: Mizrachi Makes Final Table Again
For the second straight year, Michael Mizrachi will compete at the World Poker Tour Tournament of Champions final table.
A year after he finished third for $140,450 as Farid Yachou maneuvered past him for the title, "The Grinder" will go into the final six with a great chance to redeem himself with the second-biggest stack. His 699,000, good for a hair shy of 70 big blinds, trails only the 872,000 bagged by chip leader Daniel Weinman.
Erik Seidel, Dylan Wilkerson, Daniel Santoro and David Ormsby make up the rest of the televised final table.
Here's a look at how and where everyone will be sitting when play resumes for the final day:
Official Final Table
| Seat | Player | Stack | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Mizrachi | 699,000 | 70 |
| 2 | Daniel Weinman | 872,000 | 87 |
| 3 | David Ormsby | 299,000 | 30 |
| 4 | Daniel Santoro | 250,000 | 25 |
| 5 | Erik Seidel | 540,000 | 54 |
| 6 | Dylan Wilkerson | 641,000 | 64 |
One of the players to watch on Day 2 was the defending champ himself, but Yachou came in with a short stack and busted early in a flip with Wilkerson.
Sam Panzica, Niall Farrell, Scott Seiver and freshly minted $10,000 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale champ Ryan Riess were some of the players joining Yachou on the rail en route to the final two tables.
That's when Weinman, who had been grinding a short stack all day, began making his move when he had less than 15 big blinds remaining. He was fortunate enough to pick up queens when Wilkerson had nines and scored a full double. Right after that, Mizrachi opened for a raise and called when Weinman shoved all in.
Weinman: A♠Q♠
Mizrachi: 9♥9♣
After a queen-high board was dealt, Weinman suddenly had a very healthy 255,000 at 2,500/5,000/500.
Weinman and Mizrachi battled a bit more, and another pot came up that saw Mizrachi send a chunk of his stack to Weinman. Mizrachi raised early and bet 14,000 on a K♦8♣6♠ flop, getting a call from Weinman. Mizrachi slowed down on the J♣ and check-called 38,000. Mizrachi came out betting with 75,000 on the 6♥ river, and Weinman called after using two time extension chips. Mizrachi indicated he was bluffing, and Weinman showed K♠Q♥.
After Jonathan Little flopped two pair against the better two pair of Ormsby, the tournament reached the bubble.
All-time WPT cashes leader Lee Markholt played a three-bet pot with Mizrachi that resulted in Markholt being the unfortunate player eliminated on the bubble. He got it in with jacks on a six-high flop and was dodging aces and hearts as Mizrachi rolled over A♥8♥ for a flush draw. The river brought the flush in and got everyone left in the money.
Mizrachi lost a big chunk of his stack in a series of pots, but he got some back when Jonathan Jaffe jammed A♦3♦ over his open, and Mizrachi called with A♣A♠ to bust his opponent.
Jesse Sylvia ran A♠Q♠ into the A♥K♥ of Seidel, and the tournament reached its second bubble, that of the TV final table.
Twelve hands later, Stefan Schillhabel got it in with ace-queen against the pocket tens of Wilkerson. A seven-high board hit the felt, and the remaining six players bagged up.
They'll reconvene for the final table at 4 p.m. local time on Sunday here at Seminole Hard Rock, with all eyes on the $381,500 up top.
Stay tuned to the live updates on WPT.com to see if Mizrachi can finish the job this time, Weinman uses his chip lead for the win, or some other player emerges as champion.
Photos courtesy of WPT
