Poker Tournament Results

LA Poker Classic / WPT Event Season 3

Michael Mizrachi

Tournament Report

Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi is Big Chip Leader for Championship Final Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi, a young pro player from Hollywood, Florida, will hold a huge chip going to the final day of the LAPC championship/WPT event. He started day 4 in 18th place with 132,000 chips. After three hours of play, he was down to 55k. He moved in and won with pocket deuces and kept going from there. By the time the field of 27 was cut to sixâ?”all prosâ?”he held 2,190,000 of the 5,380,000 chips. in play. At the other end was Andy Bloch, who began day 4 with a big lead of 560k, but could finish no higher than 13th. Today's action started with blinds of $3,000-$6,000 and $1,000 antes, with 39:59 left at level 6. First out was Alan Goehring. He had A-6. Erick Lindgren, with 8-5, made a straight when the board came K-9-6-10-7. Next was Steve Zolotow, beaten by Bloch's aces-full. Then, right after blinds went to $4,000-$8,000, Brian Anderson lost with queens when Erik Seidel hit an ace to his A-J. Steve Brecher finished 24th. He had A-K and flopped a king, but Sammy Morcos turned a set of jacks. A hand later, Annand Ramdin, all in with pocket 4s, lost when Mizrachi, with A-Q, caught a lady on the river. With blinds at $5,000-$10,000, Bloch was the chip leader with about 800k, while Seidel, Ted Forrest and Freddy Deeb all were in the 500k range. Bloch left David Rubin in 22rd place when he rivered an ace to his A-J to outrun Rubin's pocket 9s. Simultaneously, at another table, Martin DeKniff was all in from the big blind for 18k with 8-3 and couldn't make anything. Forrest won when his K-7 made trip sevens. Kevin Song went out 20th with J-J. Deeb had A-Q and hit an ace. We Finally got down to two tables after Razi Babak, with As-7s, made a nut flush on a flop of Qs-10s-8s, then slow-played it and paid the price. He moved in when a queen turned. Eugene Todd had Q-2 and filled when a deuce hit the river. The players now took a dinner break. When they returned, the big chip leaders were: Forrest, 635k; Bloch, 605k; and Seidel, 520k. Jenny Kang was the last woman in the tournament. She moved in with A-3 and got blown out when Deeb flopped a set of 10s. Blinds were now $6,000-$12,000 with $2,000 antes. Soon after, Mizrachi began his march after his deuces kept him alive. Dan Harrington, the only World Series champion still in action, got short-chipped with his pocket 4s ran into Harley Hall's pocket aces. He stayed alive for a while, but finally busted out with K-Q against Forrest's K-K. After hand-for-hand play, Mizrachi, also with K-K, left Todd, a big dog with K-10, in 16th place. And then, for the third time in a row, K-K did the job. Mizrachi had them again and blew out Greg Debora, who held A-8. Morcos was next out when his A-J couldn't beat Haralabos Voulgaris' A-Q. Bloch, meanwhile, had been losing chips. He was left with 325k after Tommy Hang, flopping a paired 10 and a flush draw, moved in. After having the clock put on him, Bloch shrugged and called with a straight draw. He missed and Hang flushed. With blinds at $8,000-$16,000, Mizrachi and Forrest were in a dead heat for the lead with about 875k each. Bloch went out soon after. He had A-Q, lost when Hang flopped a set of 10s, and in frustration, bent the ace. We were getting close to the last table when Deeb moved in for 29k with Jh-8h. He lost when Lindgren raised with Kd-9d and hit a 9. At last we got down to 10 when David 'Piano Man' Slan hit the wrong note by moving in with pocket 5s. Lindgren called with Kd-Jd and flopped a king. Here was the count when we got down to 10, starting with seat 1: Hang, 765,000; Forrest, 1,086,000; Mizrachi, 1,149,000; Seidel, 299,000; Lindgren, 985,000; Hung La, 219,000; Glyn Banks, 245,000; Voulgaris, 294,000; Ben Johnson, 182,000; and Harley Hall, 162,000. A monster pot developed on hand 10 between Lindgren and Mizrachi. The betting was capped pre-flop when Lindgren moved in. No damage was done because they both had A-K. But plenty of damage was done to Banks on hand 11 at this last table when he opened for 40k with Qs-10s and Voulgaris, with A-6, put him in for about 115k more. Banks had a great flop: 10-7s-6s, but an offsuit ace turned and finished him. One hand later, Seidel moved in for 195k with A-Q. Forrest called with K-K, and for the fourth time, this hand knocked out a player after the board came J-8-4-2-6. Lindgren and Forrest now had the lead with a bit over 1 million each in chips. Blinds now went to $10,000-$20,000 with $3,000 antes. The short stacks belonged to Hall and Johnson, and on hand 21, they went against each other, Hall in the big blind, Johnson the small. Hall, with A-9, made a set of 9s and Johnson was left with about 10k. Three hands later he was all in with 10s-8s against Forrest, who raised with A-K. The board came J-7-4-J-4. Johnson was out in eighth place, and we were now one away from our final table of six. Getting rid of that final player would take another 29 hands, though. Forrest showed a lot of muscle on hand 38. He opened for 60k and called when Lindgren made it 150k to go. When the board came 9-7-6, Forrest bet 525k and Lindgren folded. Forrest then lost 330k to Mizrachi on hand 40. With a board of K-Js-3s-As, Mizrachi had a flush and Forrest called his final 200k bet on the river. Mizrachi now took a big lead with about 1.75 million, then moved to 2.4 million in another hand, again against Forrest, after Forrest folded on the river. The fourth day finally came to a close on hand 54, right after limits went to $15,000-$30,000 with $5,000 antes. Hang, with pocket 9s, moved in for 250k and Forrest called with A-J. The board came J-8-2-Q-3, and the six finalists were ready for their day 5 showdown. Max Shapiro