Tonight ESPN will air one of the most high-profile tournaments on the 2008 World Series of Poker slate, the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship. Up for grabs in the 50th event of the WSOP is an $859,549 first place payday and the title of Pot Limit Omaha Champion. Last year, Robert Mizrachi, brother of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, took down this prestigious tournament. Now, The Grinder is at the final table, having dominated the field of 381 players. The Grinder is the chip leader at the final table, holding 1.7 million chips, which is about 500,000 more than the next largest chip stack. This preview doesn’t contain any spoilers, so read on with confidence.
Mizrachi leads the way in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship event, which kicks off at 8:00pm ET (20:00 ET) on ESPN and runs for two hours. It’s the final preliminary event before ESPN begins to air the Main Event next Tuesday through October 28th. The Main Event Preview Show will air on Election Night in the United States, November 4th, followed by the final table on November 11th. Tonight, the cards will lie as follows when play begins:
In Seat 1, Kido Pham has 1,080,000 chips. Pham made deep runs in both the 2007 and 2008 Main Events. He’s also made three final tables on the World Poker Tour; they amount to over $850,000 in earnings.
In Seat 2, Brandon Moran has 1,286,000 chips. This will be Moran’s first career WSOP cash. He made the final table and finished fifth in the Borgata Poker Open during Season III of the World Poker Tour, banking $135,900.
In Seat 3, Peter Jetten has 492,000 chips. Jetten finished eighth in the No-Limit Hold’em six-max event during the 2006 WSOP, cashing for $43,401. He placed 18th in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic during Season VI of the WPT, taking home $77,085.
In Seat 4, Michael Mizrachi has 1,767,000 chips. The chip leader, The Grinder has won a pair of World Poker Tour events, the L.A. Poker Classic during Season III and the Borgata Poker Classic during Season VI.
In Seat 5, Billy Argyros has 729,000 chips. He finished 15th in the 1995 WSOP Main Event. He’s nicknamed “The Croc.”
In Seat 6, Greg Hurst has 637,000 chips. Hurst made the final table and finished third in the $2,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Holdem/Omaha event at the 2008 WSOP. He also cashed in the $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split Eight or Better event.
In Seat 7, Tom Hanlon has 192,000 chips. Hanlon finished 343rd in the 2008 Main Event, which was held just after the Pot Limit Omaha World Championship was held. He’s a professional bridge player by trade.
In Seat 8, Marty Smyth has 1,068,000 chips. He recorded his first WSOP cash in Event #19 of the 2008 World Series of Poker, a $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.
In Seat 9, Richard Harroch has 372,000 chips. He made the final table and finished seventh in a Pot-limit Hold’em tournament during the 2006 WSOP. He has four cashes on the World Poker Tour circuit for $103,000 total.
If The Grinder pulls off the win, it will mark just the fourth time in WSOP history that two siblings have won WSOP bracelets. The others: Annie Duke and Howard Lederer, J.C. and Puggy Pearson, and Grant and Blair Hinkle. Tune into ESPN on Tuesday night, August 26, 2008 at 8:00pm ET.
That should be “…it will mark just the 4th time…” Other than that, great article!
Indeed! Thanks for the heads up, it has been fixed.