Michael Mizrachi has a twin brother, Eric, but it was actually his older brother, Robert, who got him interested in poker because of his successful online playing. Michael started with Paradise Poker's $5 - $10 Limit Hold'em and quickly moved on to PokerStars' $30 - $60 and then $100 - $200 games. Though Michael originally harbored intentions of becoming a doctor, he dropped out of college in order to pursue poker full-time.

When Michael branched into tournament play, he enjoyed whopping success at it. He has earned the nickname "The Grinder" because he keeps playing the same way, good and steady, often winning tidy sums that make others wish they could "grind" in the same manner.

Michael made back-to-back final tables on Season 3 of the World Poker Tour, placing fifth in Tunica's World Poker Open in January of 2005 then winning the L.A. Poker Classic and its $1,859,909 first place prize in late February.

The Grinder would follow up his Season 3 heroics with a return to the final table in Tunica in Season 4, where his AJo ran into Scotty Nguyen's AQ of spades on the first hand of heads-up play, ending Mizrachi's night early and denying him a shot at a second WPT title.

But the iced-out Floridian wouldn't have to wait long for another shot at that title, as he found himself at the final table of the very next WPT event, this one at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

In A.C., Mizrachi outlasted a spectacular final table that included Amnon Filippi, Erick Lindgren and John D'Agostino, defeating J-Dags in heads-up play to earn his sweet vindication, which came conveniently wrapped in a $1,173,000 first prize that also included a brand new Cadillac Escalade.

He says that all of his online experience prepared him well for live play. "Playing online helped me learn how to play against passive and aggressive players. I adjust to many styles of play, so it makes it harder to play against me."

Michael resides in Florida with his wife, the poker player Aidiliy Elviro, and their children, Paul William and Julie Malka. Although his home is in Florida, he now spends much of his time traveling the tournament circuit, at one time conveying his whole family along with him in a massive tour bus.

The bus is gone, but the Grinder is not, and Michael Mizrachi continues to be one of the most feared professionals in the world of big buy-in Hold'em affairs.