If it sounds like the same song, different verse, you would not be mistaken. Once again, Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi is leading the way at the 2025 World Series of Poker’s $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship. With seven players remaining (including for the first time a female competitor), Mizrachi has a better than average chance at becoming the first player to win this tournament four times, much like he did when he became the first player to win it three times in 2018.
‘The Grinder’ Pushes His Way to the Top
On Day Four of Event #66, Mizrachi found himself behind only Andrew Yeh and Albert Daher when the cards went into the air. Befitting his nickname, Mizrachi was able to methodically work his way through the seventeen players who came to the tables on Friday while other notable names would fall by the wayside. Justin Liberto (thirteenth place), Mike Matusow (twelfth place), and Erick Lindgren (eleventh place), were just a few of the names who had departed before Mizrachi made his move up the standings.
During a round of Seven Card Stud (the PPC is a nine-game rotation), Mizrachi hooked up in a battle against Ben Yu after Yu completed the bet and Mizrachi called the action. They both would check on Fourth Street (with Yu holding the lead with a pair of eights over Mizrachi’s pair of sevens, the PokerGO stream would show), but Yu powered out another bet on Fifth Street. Unimpressed (and with a King up in his run of cards), Mizrachi attacked with a raise, and Yu made the call.
On Sixth Street is where lightning struck. Yu would lead out with his A♥ on the board, and Mizrachi drew him in with just a call despite catching a ten to make two pair, tens and sevens. Once Seventh Street was dealt down, Yu bet again, and nearly instantly Mizrachi made the call. Yu had found a four in the down card to make two pair himself, eights and fours, but it wasn’t enough to top Mizrachi’s tens and sevens as ‘The Grinder’ scooped the pot and the chip lead, leaving Yu on scraps; he would eventually depart in eighth place and not a part of the action today.
Mizrachi will reign supreme – at least at the start of the day – holding the chip lead when the final seven come to the baize:
1. Michael Mizrachi, 10.44 million
2. Andrew Yeh, 5.285 million
3. Bryn Kenney, 5.045 million
4. Joao Viera, 3.64 million
5. Albert Daher, 3.36 million
6. Esther Taylor, 3.17 million
7. Ben Lamb, 1.14 million
The intriguing name on the final table list is that of Taylor. She is the final woman standing in the event, but that could have been said from the start…she was the ONLY woman who entered the tournament. Popping $50K for the tournament is a bold move, and it is going to pay off for Taylor, who is guaranteed a minimum of $175,096. She, like the others on the table, will be looking to drive to the $1,331,322 first-place prize, the WSOP bracelet, and having their name etched on the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy – but they will have to go through ‘The Grinder’ to get there.
Mizrachi’s Storied History with the PPC
The Poker Players’ Championship has been the domain of Mizrachi. In the twenty-year history of the event (it was first contested in 2006, when it was simply the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event), Mizrachi has emblazoned his name on the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy (Reese was the winner of the inaugural event) three times. In 2012, ‘The Grinder’ topped Vladimir Shchemelev to capture the title; two years later, Mizrachi would become the first double winner of the tournament, defeating Chris Klodnicki to earn the title. Mizrachi would give some other players a chance to win the event, coming back in 2018 (after Brian Rast had tied him with two wins in 2016) and beating John Hennigan for the third PPC/WSOP bracelet on the mantle.
It is achievements like this that make many wonder why Mizrachi has never been given the proper accolades for his achievements. Rast, who won his third PPC title in 2023, was inducted the same year into the Poker Hall of Fame; Mizrachi has never even earned a nomination to the final ten-person field for consideration for the Hall. It is not something that can be laid at the feet of the ‘Chip Reese Rule’ (minimum of forty years of age), either, as Mizrachi has been eligible for induction since 2021.
Mizrachi will have a chance to close the deal on yet another Poker Players’ Championship today in Paris Las Vegas. The final table will begin at 3 PM (Pacific Daylight Time) and will be part of the streaming package offered by PokerGO. If Mizrachi can capture one of the most prestigious titles in the world of poker for the FOURTH time, there should be no debates come next year with the Poker Hall of Fame nominations.