2008 WSOP Day 31: Last $10k before the Main Event

Robert Mizrachi took down the PLO championship in 2007. Can he come back to do it again this year?

On Sunday at the Rio Hotel and Casino the seventh installment of the $10,000 WSOP Championship Series will start turning cards. So far this year these tournaments have paid out as much as $794,112 to their winners, as well as the gold bracelets to go with it.

Now, with the advent of Event 50, World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha, players have one last shot at Championship glory before the 2008 Main Event gets under way on Thursday.

The event's reigning champion is Robert Mizrachi, who took down 313 other entries to claim the $768,889 first-place prize in 2007. He defeated Rene Mouritsen ($464,877) heads-up by putting him away with a set of nines after 152 hands.

Mouritsen was down to his last few hundred thousand in chips at one point but doubled up three times to make it a match.

Others making the final table in order of finish included Patrik Antonius ($311,394), Tommy Ly ($209,564), Marco Traniello ($156,435), Doyle Brunson ($123,967), Stephen Ladowsky ($92,975), Jonas Flug-Entin ($69,363) and Steve Sung ($50,177).

"This is a game that Europeans are the best in the world at so I felt like it was a real challenge for me," Mizrachi said to Pokerlistings reporter Matthew Showell after the win. "But I'm part European myself. It was very exciting because I think it was more challenging than any other event."

Robert became the first of the brothers Mizrachi to win a WSOP bracelet. Robert's brother Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi is a World Poker Tour (WPT) Champion and tied a record by cashing in seven different events during the 2005 WSOP.

They have two other brothers, Eric and Daniel. Eric is also a professional card player, while Daniel is a professional magician.

Previous winners of Pot-Limit Omaha events include Amarillo Slim Preston, Dewey Tomko, T.J. Cloutier, Hoyt Corkins, Humberto Brenes and Phil Ivey.

For this particular event, players begin with $10k in tournament chips and may get $10k more anytime during the first three levels of play. If a player hasn't taken their add-on by the end of the third level, they're automatically given it.

Other winners of Championship Events in the 2008 WSOP to date include:

• Nenad Medic ($794,112, Event 1, Pot-Limit Texas Hold'em)
• Anthony Rivera ($483,688, Event 8, Mixed Event)
• Eric Brooks ($415,856, Event 14, Seven-Card Stud)
• Kenny Tran ($539,056, Event 25, Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em)
• Rob Hollink ($496,931, Event 30, Limit Hold'em)
• David Benyamine ($535,687, Event 37, Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better)

The Milwaukee's Best Light "Player of the Year" standings have Jacobo Fernandez (222 points) in the lead with the last Championship event winner David Benyamine (220 points) following close behind. Three other big-name pros, Barry Greenstein (190 points), Erik Lundgren (185 points) and Daniel Negreanu (170 points), round out the top 5.