Michael Mizrachi’s Rollercoaster Ride to WSOP Main Event Glory

WSOP Main Event: Day 1

Mizrachi entered Day 1b of the Main Event this year. He made a strong start to proceedings, having jammed the river on 6 J J 10 Q against fellow countryman Brent Jenkins. 

With the blinds at 300/500 on Level 4, Jenkins bet 17,000 from the small blind. Mizrachi, in the cutoff, responded by moving all in. Whether he had a superior hand only he will know, but Jenkins flashed pocket tens to show he folded a full house. 

Photo Credit: Austin Currington

By the end of the break at Level 5, he was fourth in chips with 166,300, good for two and a bit starting stacks. 

Mizrachi ended the day with 297,000 and was the chip-leader at the end of Day 1b. 

WSOP Main Event: Day 2

Mizrachi entered Day 2 in 7th place in the counts. His 297,000, which equated to 371 big blinds when play resumed at Level 6 with the blinds at 400/800. 

He chipped up to 320,000 shortly into the day’s play at the Horsehoe and Paris Ballroom, before dropping to 278,000 in Level 7 with the blinds at 500/1,000. He ended the day in 142nd with 331,500 chips. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

WSOP Main Event: Day 3

“The Grinder” chipped up through the start of Day 3, more than doubling his stack to 686,600 a few hours into play. He peaked at 988,000, claiming the stack of Steven McCartney at Level 14 with the blinds at 3,000/5,000. McCartney was all in with 9 8 against The Grinder’s A J . 

Photo Credit: Spenser Sembrat 

Mizrachi sealed the win with a rivered A as McCartney missed his flopped open-ended straight draw and turned flush draw across the 10 3 7 2 A runout. 

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Mizrachi. He six-bet jammed with K K against Joey Padron’s A A . Padron was on the right side of the classic cooler, and he scooped a huge pot to leave Mizrachi with 335,000. 

Mizrachi declined further and ended the day with 186,000. 

WSOP Main Event: Day 4

Day 4 saw the approach and subsequent bursting of the money bubble. Mizrachi had 175,000 in his stack when the counts were taken post-bubble. 

Mizrachi found a double in a cooler spot versus Safiya Umerova. He flopped a set of fives after opening from the hijack. Umerova called in the small blind with king-jack offsuit and flopped two pair. 

Photo Credit: Alicia Skillman

All the chips found their way into the middle, and Mizrachi held across the turn and river. He continued to chip up, winning a pot versus Yifu He with second pair against his ace-high. 

He then reached the 1,000,000 chip mark after winning a pot versus Stephen Dauphinais, who mucked his hand after calling a small river bet from Mizrachi.

He finished the day with a stack of 2,270,000.

WSOP Main Event: Day 5

Mizrachi claimed the stack of Patrik Zidek with pocket eights against Zidek’s jacks. “The Grinder” made a straight across the 7 10 9 6 A runout to stack Zidek and chip up to just over 3,000,000.

He ended the day with a healthy stack of 4,025,000. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

WSOP Main Event: Day 6 

Mizrachi trended down to start Day 6. He reached 2,500,000 in the opening frames before eclipsing 4,500,000 with kings versus Stefan Nemetz. Mizrachi check-called two streets before the river was checked down, and he was good at showdown on a jack-high board. 

“The Grinder” continued to trend up, winning another pot with the Cowboys. He three-bet from the big blind versus Sam Darkin and Kyle Grupp. Grupp was the only caller. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

Grupp check-called on the ace-high flop of A 7 4 before Mizrachi barrelled again on the 2 turn, which prompted Grupp to fold. This took Mizrachi up to 7,125,000. 

Mizrachi hit the next big milestone of 10,000,000 having flopped the nuts on 6 7 8 with 9 10 . Craig Trost had kings, and he was in awful shape. The 6 gave him so hope and boat outs, but the 8 river was a brick and his fate was sealed. 

He then went on to bust Richard Buckingham, who had fours, with pocket queens, before stacking Dillon Ott in a classic race. Ott had ace-king suited, and Mizrachi had queens again. This propelled him to a 15,000,000 chip stack, before ending the day in third place with 19,925,000, good for third in the overall standings. 

WSOP Main Event: Day 7

Around three hours into play on Day 7, Mizrachi claimed his first scalp of the day, again with queens. He stacked Kyle Grupp who was all in with nine-eight suited, on an eight-high flop. He was open-ended on the 6 7 8 flop, but the 2 turn offered no help, and Mizrachi made top set on the Q river. 

This took his stack to just over 31,000,000. Lautaro Guerra halted “The Grinders” progress slightly, as the Spaniard check-raised flop and led turn on Q Q 2 10 . 

Photo Credit: Alicia Skillman

Leo Margets also took from Mizrachi. She doubled up with sevens after moving in a preflop all-in situation against Mizrachi’s ace-ten suited. She flopped a set, and Mizrachi had a Broadway draw, but the turn and river changed nothing. 

Photo Credit: Regina Cortina

Mizrachi lost another all-in versus Theo Tran, who had king-ten offsuit; Mizrachi had queens. Tran paired his ten on the flop, turned two pair, and filled up on the river to double his short stack. 

Mizrachi was left with 20,000,000. The downtrend continued, but he still had a healthy stack. He lost with queens once again, this time to the ace-jack offsuit of Jarod Minghini. Mizrachi finished the day with a stack of 19,925,000. 

WSOP Main Event: Day 8

Day 8 saw the final 24 take to the felt in search of Main Event glory. Shortly into the day’s play, Mizrachi was all in for 11,500,000 with the blinds at 300,000/600,000 in Level 35, against John Wasnock who was covered only slightly. 

Mizrachi had A J , but Wasnock had the best of it with A Q . Both made two pair across the ace-high and paired board and Mizrachi was out kicked and was left with dust. He had 1,900,000, just over two big blinds. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

Mizrachi doubled with A 6 from early position versus Braxton Dunaway who had A 7 . Mizrachi hit a spade flush across the K 8 5 J A runout to secure a crucial double up.

“The Grinder” kept grinding and hit another runner-runner flush against Dunaway once again. Mizrachi hit a four-liner with king-jack offsuit against the pocket fives of Dunaway, who was ahead all the way until the river. Just like that, Mizrachi had 17,000,000. 

He completed the comeback by doubling through Tony Gregg. Mizrachi had queens, and Gregg had nines. This took Mizrachi up to 38,400,000, the most chips he had had in the tournament so far. 

Mizrachi kept rising, winning pot after pot, until Dunaway took back some chips from Mizrachi. Dunaway ascended to the chip lead with ace-six offsuit, having paired his ace on the flop. Mizrachi had tens and bet two streets into Dunaway. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

Mizrachi kept up the aggression, four-bet shoving queen-jack offsuit preflop and winning multiple pots. He then took the remainder of Gregg’s stack, who had ace-four suited. Mizrachi made a flush with ace-jack suited to send Gregg to the payout desk. 

He finished the day third in chips, with a stack of 93,000,000, or 58 big blinds, a remarkable comeback given the dire situation he was in earlier in the day. 

WSOP Main Event: Day 9

The penultimate day of the Main Event kicked off with a bang; two early eliminations and a monster pot between the top two in the chip counts. 

Wasnock and Mizrachi played a chip-lead pot just 25 hands into the days play. Wasnock three-bet a cutoff open from Dunaway before Mizrachi four-bet with ace-king offsuit. Dunaway folded, and Wasnock moved all in with kings. 

Photo Credit: Austin Currington

Wasnock was ahead until the river, where Mizrachi had three live outs in the form of two aces and a ten to make Broadway. The ace of diamonds river was the tonic that Mizrachi needed, and he erupted out of his seat, arms aloft at the result of the runout. This took Mizrachi to 151,000,000, and Wasnock remained in second with 110,000,000. 

Mizrachi kept at it, and he eliminated Adam Hendrix, who had jacks. Mizrachi had a suited variation of Big Slick this time, and he binked a king on the turn to stack Hendrix. 

He then left PokerStars Ambassador Kenny Hallaert short, after he made a hero call on the river with king-jack suited on a king-high board. However, his hand was no good, as “The Grinder” had two pair with queens and tens. 

This confirmed that he would be going into the final day with a monstrous stack of 445,000,000, or 178 big blinds. 

WSOP Main Event: Day 10

Only four remained on the final day. Mizrachi quipped in an interview that it would take “around an hour” to seal the deal and walk away as the 2025 Main Event Champion. Is prediction was pretty much spot on. 

Mizrachi stacked Hallaert in the opening exchanges. The Belgian had the best of it with ace-queen offsuit versus Mizrachi’s king-jack suited. Mizrachi binked a jack on the turn and Hallaert’s last eight big blinds went to “The Grinder”. 

Photo Credit: Eloy Cabacas

Dunaway quickly followed suit, as his ten-six suited was no good against Mizrachi’s ace-ten suited. Mizrachi made a flush and Dunaway departed to the payout desk. 

It wasn’t long before Wasnock was at risk. Mizrachi defended 10 3 against Wasnock’s A 9 . He flopped two pair on A 9 7 . The flop was checked around before Mizrachi checked again on the 4 turn, which gave him the flush. 

Wasnock bet 10,000,000. Mizrachi lifted his arms to the rail and the dealer, indicating he was going to raise it up. He made it 30,000,000, and Wasnock moved all in for 70,500,000. Mizrachi couldn’t get the chips in quickly enough. The 5 proved to be overkill, and “The Grinder” completed a historic summer, winning the $50,000 PPC and the $10,000 Main Event in the same summer. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

Now, his legacy is firmly cemented in the annals of poker history, as he was immediately inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. This was also the first year two players were inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he joined Nick Schulmann as this year’s inductees. 

And now the dust has settled, it could be a very long time until this achievement is accomplished again, if it ever will be at all.